Storyteller, Author, Teacher

Radio, TV & Honors

TV & Radio Appearances

  • ABC News (USA): 20/20 (1978); Good Morning America (1998)
  • ABC Radio National (Australia) : Late Night Live with Phillip Adams (1995, 1996, 2011)
  • BBC Radio 4 (UK): Tales from the Statue Documentary (2003)
  • CBC Radio One (Canada): This Morning (1991)
  • CBS Television: CBS News Sunday Morning with Charles Kuralt (1992)
  • CNN (1992)
  • NBC (WNBC–TV, New York City): Today (1993, 1999)
  • NPR (Lichtenstein): The Infinite Mind (2000)
  • NPR (WAMC–FM): The Roundtable (2003)
  • NPR (Wisconsin Public Radio): Ideas Network with Jean Faraca (1999); Here on Earth (2003)
  • NPR (WNYC–AM/FM, New York City): Stories from Many Lands (1968–1981); The Brian Lehrer Show (2003)
  • PBS (KCET–TV, Los Angeles): Storytime (PBS national series, 1994)
  • PBS (WGBH–TV, Boston) An Invitation to World Literature (PBS national series, 2010)
  • WOR–AM (New York City): The Joey Reynolds Show (2003)
  • WRHU–FM (Hempstead, New York): The Janice Buckner Learn–Along Radio Show (1998)

Also numerous more storytelling performances and interviews on National Public Radio (NPR) and its affiliated stations and networks from 1979 onward.


Interviews in Print

  • “Read It Again, Mom: Don’t stint on the art of storytelling,” New York Magazine, week of June 22, 2008.
  • “Story Wizards: Talking with Diane Wolkstein,” by Bob Reiser, The Museletter, volume 20, no. 2, May/June 2008.
  • “Toda el mundo es bienvenido: Una entrevista con Diane Wolkstein” (Interview by Regina Ress), Tantágora, Spring 2007.
  • “The Making of Esther’s Story” (interview by Joan Leotta), Storytelling Magazine, March 1996.
  • “Her Story, and Sticking to It,” by Don McDonald, New York Post, June 5, 1992.
  • “Inanna as a Woman of Power” (interview by Regina Ress), The Quest, Spring 1990.


Awards & Honors

  • Diane Wolkstein Day by Mayor Michael Bloomberg for 40 years of service to the families of New York City (June 22, 2007)
  • Who’s Who, International Authors & Writers
  • Excellence in Storytelling Award, National Storytelling Association, 1996
  • Action Poets, Canada, 1994
  • Centennial Award: Women Who Make a Difference, Smith College, 1991


Residencies

  • Yaddow (1994)
  • MacDowell (1993)
  • Virginia Colony for the Creative Arts (1980, 1987, 1989, 1993)
  • Cummington Colony for the Arts (1984, 1985)
  • Honorable Mention New York Academy of Sciences (1972)
  • Lithgow & Osborne Fellowship (1976)
  • Marshall Grant (1969)
  • M.A., Bank Street College of Education (1967)
  • B.A., Smith College, Theatre (1964)

Performance & Presentation Venues

Universities

  • Brooklyn College (New York City)
  • Brown University (Providence, Rhode Island)
  • Central Michigan University (Mount Pleasant, Michigan)
  • City University of New York Graduate Center
  • Dominican University of California
  • Douglas University
  • Lehigh University (Pennsylvania)
  • McGill University (Montréal, Québec, Canada)
  • New York University
  • Pace University (New York)
  • Pacifica Graduate Institute (Carpinteria, California)
  • Rutgers University (State University of New Jersey)
  • Seattle University (Washington State)
  • Smith College (Northampton, Massachusetts)
  • SUNY Rockland Community College/Center for Jewish Life
  • Syracuse University (Syracuse, New York)
  • UCLA (University of California at Los Angeles)
  • University of Massachusetts Amherst
  • University of Mississippi at Hattiesburg
  • University of New Mexico at Albuquerque
  • University of Tennessee/Center for Children & Young Adult Literature (Knoxville, Tennessee)
  • University of Wyoming at Laramie
  • Yale University

Libraries

  • Jewish Community Library (San Francisco, California)
  • Jewish Public Library (Montréal, Québec, Canada)
  • New York Public Library/Donnell Library Center
  • Pleasanton Public Library (California)
  • Toronto Public Library (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
  • West Orange Public Library (New Jersey)

Other Performance Venues

  • American Museum of Folk Art (New York City)
  • American Museum of Natural History/Kauffman Theatre (New York City)
  • Asia Society (New York City)
  • Austin Area Interreligious Ministries (Austin, Texas)
  • Barnes & Noble Booksellers (Greenwich Village, New York City)
  • Battery Park City/Rector Park (New York City)
  • British Museum (London, England)
  • C. G. Jung Foundation (New York City; Austin, Texas; San Francisco, California;
  • Sydney and Perth, Australia)
  • Camden Ceilidh 2007 (London, England)
  • Central Michigan Story Festival
  • Central Park/Statue of Hans Christian Andersen (New York City)
  • The Coffee Club (New York City)
  • Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival (New Jersey)
  • Interfaith Center of New York
  • ISE Cultural Foundation (New York City)
  • Jefferson Market Gardens (New York City)
  • Jewish Community Center (New York City) (International Carlebach Festival)
  • Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (New York City)
  • Madison Jewish Center Hebrew School (Brooklyn, New York)
  • Museum of Jewish Heritage (New York City)
  • National Storytelling Festival (Jonesborough, Tennessee)
  • Open Hand Theater (Syracuse, New York)
  • Open Secret Bookstore (San Rafael, California)
  • Provincetown Playhouse (New York City)
  • Rothko Chapel (Texas)
  • Scandinavia House (New York City)
  • Smithsonian Institution (Washington D.C.)
  • Storytelling Center, Inc. of New York City
  • Sufi Bookstore (New York City)
  • Tales of Graz Storytelling Festival (Graz, Austria)
  • Temple Israel (Duluth, Minnesota)
  • Temple Shaaray Tefila (New York City)
  • The Theater Project (Brunswick, Maine)
  • Theosophical Society (London, England)
  • Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at Stony Brook (Stony Brook, New York)
  • University Settlement (New York City)
  • Vancouver Storytelling Festival (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)