How are literary arts at the foundation of Story Tapestries’ work?
Story Tapestries amplifies voices and builds community through the literary arts—
storytelling, poetry, spoken word, and narrative performance—centering the lived experiences of communities whose stories have been historically silenced. Founded by a storyteller, Story Tapestries believes that the sharing of stories is both an artistic practice and a civic act: a means of fostering empathy, preserving cultural memory, and engaging adult writers and intergenerational audiences alike to see their own lives as worthy of art.
Story Tapestries was founded in 2010 by master storyteller and theater artist Arianna Ross, grounded in a belief in the transformative power of written and oral narrative as well as spoken word arts. From its earliest days, the organization has centered literary expression—particularly storytelling and poetry—as a bridge between artists and audiences in nontraditional, accessible spaces. By presenting literary artists in libraries, museums, schools, parks, and community venues, Story Tapestries has expanded where and how literary arts are experienced, ensuring that writers and storytellers reach audiences beyond conventional literary stages.
Over the past fifteen years, Story Tapestries has played a vital role in the Mid-Atlantic literary ecosystem. The organization has collaborated with institutions such as Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens; Busboys & Poets; Montgomery Parks; and DC Public Library, and its work has been supported by national partners including Poets & Writers and the Nora Roberts Foundation. Arianna Ross was also a founding force behind the Gaithersburg Book Festival, helping establish a major regional platform for authors and literary conversation. Story Tapestries’ programming has consistently elevated spoken word, slam poetry, historical fiction, and narrative nonfiction, highlighting artists whose work bridges literature, performance, and music traditions such as hip-hop and rap.
Since 2020, Story Tapestries has been home to Capturing Fire (capfireslam.org), an international spoken word arts festival and publication platform led by Nuyorican Poets Café Grand Slam Champion Regie Cabico.
Established in 2010 and now a dedicated “wing” of Story Tapestries, Capturing Fire Press gathers queer poets from across North America and the United Kingdom and has featured and supported artists including Andrea Gibson, Natalie E. Illum, Tara Hardy, Chris August, and Gayle Danley. More recently, Story Tapestries has deepened its commitment to generative literary work through projects such as Langston Hughes: I, Too, Am America, a spoken word poetry writing salon and open mic series developed in partnership with Kelly King of The Movement Movement. Through funding from HumanitiesDC, the project brings together humanities scholar Dr. Casey Catherine Moore and poetry artists Regie Cabico and Dwayne Lawson-Brown, to celebrate Hughes’ enduring legacy and its relevance to contemporary voices.
Current Literary Arts efforts:
Led By Key Staff:
Regie Cabico, Literary Arts Liaison
Sarah Brady, Storyteller and Historian (Link coming)