Residency Dates: July 26 – August 1, 2026
Application Deadline: April 3, 2026
In its fifth year, the Wilmington Black Storytelling Residency reflects on the nation’s 250th anniversary through the lens of Black memory and living voice. This theme invites storytellers to engage America not as a finished monument, but as a story still unfolding — shaped by ancestral presence, cultural continuity, imagination, and collective breath.
At 250, we honor memory carried in the body, in the archive, in the kitchen, in the sanctuary, and in the street. We honor voice as it rises in personal testimony, in ancestral tale, in poetry, in laughter, and in song. Through deep craft work and shared community space, the residency affirms that America continues to be shaped by the stories we tell — intimate and communal, inherited and newly imagined — and that Black storytelling remains central to that ongoing making.
This residency is grounded in the fundamental belief that Black Storytelling is Black Joy.
The immersive seven-day experience was created to enable storytellers to deepen their understanding of Black storytelling as a cultural practice and as a tool for illuminating the lived experiences of Africans in the Diaspora — past and present.
Participants engage in rigorous artistic development within a community of dedicated practitioners committed to excellence, truth-telling, and service.
The Wilmington Black Storytelling Residency is supported, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. The Division promotes Delaware arts events on www.delawarescene.com.
To cultivate a Black storytelling residency known for encouraging and nurturing storytellers who illuminate the African Diaspora experience, speak truth with integrity, and serve community through their craft.
To elevate the skills of emerging and experienced storytellers in story crafting and performance while expanding their knowledge of African Diaspora storytelling traditions.
We seek an intergenerational cohort of adult storytellers with a strong interest in African Diaspora history and a dedication to using their talents in service to Black communities.
The ideal candidate will demonstrate experience in oral performance and a commitment to artistic growth.
Performing artists experienced in the following African Diaspora oral art forms are encouraged to apply:
● Storytellers
● Spoken Word Artists
● Folklorists
● Oral Historians
● Performance Poets
The Wilmington Black Storytelling Residency is designed to provide an intensive seven-day learning experience grounded in four interconnected cultural pillars:
● Storytelling
● History
● Music
● Movement
Participants engage in:
● Group instruction
● Independent study
● Performance rehearsal
● Research time
● Collaborative exploration
● Community dialogue
Program sessions are led by internationally and nationally recognized performing and teaching artists. In addition to instruction in Black storytelling, elective workshops in African dance and Djembe drum circle ground participants in the understanding that Black storytelling encompasses a wide range of artistic and cultural expressions.
The residency also includes embodied practices such as meditation, movement, and site-based learning experiences that deepen creative connection and historical awareness.
“The residency has impacted me by identifying the storytelling process. This residency taught me to see my life as the story to be told, that the stories of others can be equally told through my lens.”
“As a Black storyteller, I feel that I have discovered a hidden voice that has been inside of me. I will now regularly call on this form to express not only my own story but the stories of my community, my people, my culture, my family, and so much more.”
“It has expanded and strengthened the foundation upon which I can recognize, conceive, develop, and hone a story in multiple genres for Black storytelling.”
“This residency has deepened my ability to convey pride through the stories I create. It has further opened my eyes to the fact that stories live all around us if we have the eyes to see them.”
“The inclusion of the expanded elements beyond the foundational sessions, such as meditation/yoga, African dance, and lectures/workshops at the Delaware Historical Society, was invaluable.”
“I’ve deepened my understanding of just how imperative it is to tell our stories. Every one of our stories has a place in the canon of Black history and creative expression.”
“The impact of movement, whether it was grounding in yoga or the African dance, made our creative juices flow.”
CityFest, Inc. Wilmington, DE
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800 N. French Street, 9th Floor
Wilmington, Delaware 19801
Email: Cityfest@Wimingtonde.gov
Cityfest, Inc. Programming is supported in part by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
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