Storyteller Bios

Donna Otter

Donna Otter has been curious about how to say, “You won’t believe what happened today!” ever since she started that first gold-keyed diary in 5th grade. (she’s now on #125) She started listening to The Moth Podcast in Portland ORE, where she wrote in her journal, "I wonder if I could ever tell a Moth story?” Turns out she could, and so can you! She lives in Bend, ORE but often returns to San Diego to encourage others to find, shape and tell their stories. Check her out at www.patreon.com/DonnaOtter

Tere Negrete

Tere Figueras Negrete is a former newspaper editor who lives in South Miami, Fla., with her husband, two sons, and the occasional peacock.

Vivienne Anderson

Vivienne Andersen, a full-time R with Restaino and Associates in Madison, WI, grew up in California, but is not at all what the Beach Boys had in mind. She has a Masters of Divinity degree to compliment her Bachelors in Psychology. She is a sustaining member of the Junior League of Madison, a member of the Wisconsin REALTORS® Association where she serves on the Cultural Diversity in Housing Committee, She blogs about the Madison Real Estate market at VivienneAndersen.com. Vivienne can fly, she can forgive sins, and she can sell a large house in a single day, she is basically a superhero in heels, you should definitely connect with her.

Pam Burrell

Pam Burrell was a political activist, storyteller, musician, and beloved wife and friend. She passed away in 2021.

Juliette Holmes

Juliette Holmes is a grandmother who grew up in the Gullah culture of the low country in Savannah, Georgia, and now resides in Queens. She spent her decades-long career as an early childhood educator communicating the importance of African-American studies to her students and, in 1985, was awarded the title of New York City Board of Education Teacher of the Year. Juliette was a Cary Fellow at the Bank Street College of Education, where she earned her Master’s in Administration and Supervision. Now retired, Juliette loves spending time with her friends and family and is active in her church community. Her passion is passing on stories, and she frequently performs with the Pearls of Wisdom, an elder storytelling group associated with Elders Share the Arts.

Craig Mangum

Craig Mangum is a writer, designer, and storyteller living in Los Angeles. He can be found on Twitter at @CraigNMangum.

Ruby Cooper

Ruby grew up in her Grampa’s Irish bar in Foxburg, PA. Stories were considered sustenance along with pickled pig’s feet and hardboiled eggs. According to Grampa, the Irish stories were about food when there was none and hope when their friends and family fell on hard times. As a little girl, Ruby begged him for stories that she retold to her friends, adding her own spin. Forty years later a story launched her into a career as a stand-up comic, teacher, and world traveler. In 2020 she moved to Charleston from Los Angeles, where she was an active part of a vibrant storytelling community, and a Storyteller traveling internationally with The Moth Mainstage. In Charleston, she spends her days sending out queries for her children’s books, editing her memoir, gardening, reading, and kayaking.

Phyllis Bowdwin

Phyllis Marie Bowdwin is a Bronx-born artist, jewelry designer, and griot, who captures her people's stories through her writing and her art.  She’s a Moth storySLAM winner, a storyteller for The Moth Mainstage, a retired Life Skills teacher and trainer for the New York City Department of Education, a volunteer Crisis Intervention Counselor, Coordinator of Daytime Casting at ABC, and a panelist on the UN's 2013 Pre-Commission Forum on the Elimination and Prevention of Violence Against Women and Girls. She won the BRIO award for storytelling in 2022 and for literature in 2013. Her story was published in The Moth’s Occasional Magic,  and she is quoted in The Moth’s new book How to Tell a Story.  Phyllis is currently completing The Quiet Fire Chronicles, a collection of mostly true short stories and A Woman for Herself, a memoir about her journey with her mother through the rapids of Alzheimer’s.

Wilson Seely

Wilson Seely was adopted from South Korea as a baby and raised in Madison, WI. He has been teaching middle school and high school in Madison for almost twelve years. He married his high school sweetheart, Samatha, ten years ago and they love traveling, watching Wisconsin sports, and spending time with their dog Billy. Wilson has won two Moth competitions and the Madison Moth GrandSLAM in 2019. All of the stories he has told can be found on Youtube and a more detailed article he wrote about his return to Korea can be found in the Wisconsin State Journal online, along with stories his father, journalist Ron Seely, wrote 35 years ago about his adoption. You can also hear an interview about a story he told through "Inside Stories" on Spotify. 

Ray Christian

Raymond Christian is a retired paratrooper. He lives in Boone, NC with his wife, children, dogs and chickens. He produces the podcast What's Ray Saying which features stories born out of his own life experiences: inner city poverty, race relations, military, family, travel, and adventure.