New publication: Not Ever Absent

Published by Inter-Disciplinary Press and edited by Nicole Kavner Miller and me, Not Ever Absent: Storytelling in Arts, Culture and Identity Formation presents analyses of storytelling in various appearances: from ancient myths and oral history, to transmedia narratives and digital stories. Different forms of narrative are analysed, as is the use of storytelling as a method for e.g. counselling, education and research. Throughout twenty-five chapters, a compelling overview of recent research on the topic is provided, both stressing the omnipresence of storytelling and exploring what storytelling is and isn’t.

In this book, storytelling is seen as an endemic form of human communication that has always played a central role in the formation of cultures and communities. All cultures define themselves and their place in the world through their stories. Similarly, our identities are largely constructed as narratives, and it is with the aid of storytelling that we manage to conceive of ourselves – our selves – as meaningful wholes. Thus, storytelling is not ever absent: it is to be found in literature, social life, in the places we visit and the buildings we live in.


The introduction by Nicole Kavner Miller and me can be read in full for free here.