Jean-Andrew Dickmann, SSND, MA, has been telling stories professionally since 1983. A career as an elementary school teacher and then children's librarian opened the door to the art of storytelling.

After taking a course in the Art of Storytelling, Jean-Andrew quickly discovered the Northlands Storytelling Network, became an active member, and served on the board for 14 years. She has also been a member of the National Storytelling Network since its early days as NAAPS (National Association for the Preservation and Perpetuation of Storytelling). Wanting to bring storytelling closer to home, Jean-Andrew co-founded the Milwaukee Area Story Tellers (M.A.S.T.) guild in 1985. She is also a charter organizer for the Wisconsin Storytellers' Get-Together.

Jean-Andrew was honored for her service to the storytelling community with the Lucy Beck Award in 1999. She was an Exchange Place Teller at the National Storytelling Festival and has appeared at festivals and conferences throughout the Midwest and beyond.

A highlight of Jean-Andrew's storytelling journey was the semester she spent at Emerson College, England, in the School of Storytelling.

"Emerson was an international experience with storytellers in-training from all over the world. It was a time to get better in touch with story within me and discover amazing storytelling possibilities from the other people on the course."

Jean-Andrew returned from that experience with a freer style of telling and ideas for course work that have influenced her presentations and workshops.

Although Jean-Andrew created original stories from the start, she has found the process of creation often bridges both telling and writing.

"Telling and writing are very different skills, but wonderfully compatible for creating original stories."

Her story, "The Coming of Eostre" was published in the March 2002 issue of CRICKET, a literary magazine for children.