“It is brilliant and quietly addictive” – The Guardian “New York’s hottest and hippest literary ticket” – The Wall Street Journal

What is ? The Moth is an acclaimed not-for-profit organization dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling. It is a celebration of both the raconteur, who breathes fire into true tales of ordinary life, and the storytelling novice, who has lived through something extraordinary and yearns to share it. At the center of each performance is, of course, the story – and The Moth’s directors work with each storyteller to find, shape and present it.

Since its launch in 1997, The Moth has presented thousands of stories, told live and without notes, to standing-room-only crowds worldwide.

Moth shows are renowned for the great range of human experience they showcase. Each show starts with a theme, and the storytellers explore it, often in unexpected ways. Since each story is true and every voice authentic, the shows dance between documentary and theater, creating a unique, intimate, and often enlightening experience for the audience.

Moth stories dissolve socio-economic barriers, expose vulnerabilities, and quietly suggest ways to overcome challenges and see with new eyes.

The Moth conducts six ongoing programs. The Moth Mainstage is our flagship program, which has featured stories by Malcolm Gladwell, Ethan Hawke, Annie Proulx, Salman Rushdie, as well as an astronaut, a pickpocket, a hot-dog eating champion and hundreds more. The Moth Mainstage is a staple of the literary and art scene in , but also tours throughout the and abroad as The Moth on the Road.

The success of The Moth Mainstage inspired The Moth StorySLAM, our popular open mic storytelling competition, currently thriving in New York, , and , and branching out further in the near future.

Launched in 2000 in an effort to reach storytellers who might not find their way to us, the MothSHOP Community Education Program, teaches storytelling principles to students and disenfranchised adults in underserved neighborhoods, then shares those stories within the community and beyond, giving platform to voices that might otherwise have gone unheard.

The Moth is also available for the corporate sector through MothSHOP Corporate, which trains employees to utilize the power of storytelling to promote their goals and ideas.

The Moth Podcast offers a weekly story, free of charge, via digital download, and is downloaded over a million times a month.

The Moth Radio Hour, produced by The Moth and Jay Allison at Atlantic Public Media and presented by PRX, the Public Radio Exchange, is carried by more than 200 stations across the country. The Moth Radio Hour was awarded a prestigious Peabody Award in 2010, the equivalent of a Pulitzer in broadcast media. You can find out more at www.peabody.uga.edu

Why The Moth? Ask George Dawes Green, the poet and best-selling novelist who is the Founder of The Moth. George wanted to recreate, in New York, the feeling of sultry summer evenings in his native Georgia, where he and his friends would gather on his friend Wanda’s porch to share spellbinding tales. There was a hole in the screen, which let in moths that were attracted to the light, and the group started calling themselves The Moths. The first New York Moth event was held in George’s living room, but word spread fast, and the events soon moved to cafes and clubs throughout the city. Audiences are drawn to the stories, like moths to a flame.

Get to know us! Part of The Moth’s video archive is available on YouTube at: www.youtube/mothstories. This is updated every Thursday. Two of our standout favourites are the very wonderful and sadly missed Mike Destefano: http://www.youtube.com/user/mothstories#p/u/4/N-i5ADmdO4E And Janna Levin, from our annual collaboration with the World Science Festival: http://www.youtube.com/user/mothstories#p/u/1/dVubvLgTcxg

Subscribe to the Podcast, via our website, www.themoth.org. (click on the purple icon on the top left of the screen) It’s a great way to hear stories from both the Mainstage and SLAM series. One new story is released every Monday.

Listen to The Moth Radio Hour online. The radio show is not available for broadcast in the United Kingdom, but you can stream episode for free via our distributor, the Public Radio Exchange. Sign up here: www.prx.org/themoth

We’re also on Facebook www.facebook.com/themoth And Twitter: www.twitter.com/mothstories