“Elizabeth Ellis’s words jump off the page and into the secret part of your heart where you keep treasured memories and sacred feelings. She sings to you of her life and the lives of others with whom she intersects. Compassionate and thought provoking, an Appalachian/Texan with a whole-world point of view with a little rabble rousing thrown in, Elizabeth Ellis is a true master of the written and spoken word.”
 
                --Robin Bady, Storyteller, Arts Educator, Brooklyn, New York

I grew up in the Appalachian Mountains of Tennessee and Kentucky. Because my Father died in World War Two, my Grandfather was an active force in my life. My Mother moved us to Tennessee to grow up in the house in which my Father had been
born. Every day that school was closed for two days in a row, we went “home”. That was
always the home of my Mother’s parents in Kentucky.
 
     I was a child who lived mostly in my own head. I never stopped talking, a great cross for my Mother to bear. Most of my closest friends were imaginary. On one level, that is still true today.
 
     The greatest influence on me as a child was Dr. Orvel Calhoun Crowder, the minister of the church across the street from my house in Tennessee. He introduced me to the world of books and the life of the spirit.
 
    After getting an undergraduate degree in English and History from Milligan College, I received my Masters in Education from East Tennessee State University. I came to Dallas to work for the Dallas Public Library as a Children’s Librarian, a position I kept for a decade.
 
     In 1978, my old friend Gayle Ross and I made a trip to the Appalachian Mountains to attend the National Storytelling Festival.  We met Jackie Torrance, David Holt, Donald Davis and the Folktellers, along with others who called themselves storytellers. On the way back to Dallas, “We could do that!” became “I will if you will!” We came home to Dallas and began plans to become professional storytellers.
 
     We worked as a duo, as The Twelve Moon Storytellers, for about four years or so. But, making a living large enough to support both families was extremely challenging, so eventually we each began solo careers.
 
      Making my living as a storyteller has been a great honor and a great joy. I have gotten to tell throughout the United States and Canada at festivals and conferences. A few years ago, I was invited to come to New Zealand to share my stories. In the last thirty-two years, I have told to more than a million school children.  I have received the John Henry Faulk Award from the Tejas Storytelling Association and the Circle of Excellence Award from the National Storytelling Network. Each of these is a great honor, but the greatest honor is when anyone takes the time to listen.
 
     If there is anything I enjoy more than telling stories, it is teaching other people to tell. I present workshops at conferences, intensives in people’s homes, as well as teaching in university settings. Helping other tellers develop stronger skills and deeper artistic lives is my highest accomplishment…except for raising my children and grandchildren, of course.

— MK Turner for Bookreviews.com

— Milbre Burch, storyteller and workshop leader, Columbia, MO

— Dan Keding, Circle of Excellence storyteller and author, Urbana, Illinois