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Brave heroines and heroes, creatures of the night, and elves of the forest are just a few of the characters that live in the storyteller's world. Karen Vuranch is a traditional storyteller. Her age-old stories of Appalachian, American and world cultures have come alive to her audiences. From the whimsical "Squire's Bride" to the poignant story of "Popplesnitch", to the spine-tingling experience in "Thomas' Journey", Karen weaves her stories with enthusiasm and energy. But Karen tells other tales as well. Believing that family stories and stories from history are equally valuable, she incorporates these into her performances. "Everyone is a storyteller and every family has its special story," she tells her audiences. Her performances become a combination of reality and fantasy, with both intimate and global perspectives.

Karen also performs at many storytelling festivals. She was the featured storyteller at Storyfest in Ashland, Ohio during the Balloon Festival in 1999, appeared at the storytelling festival at Big South Fork National Park in Tennessee, and the Cave Run Festival in Kentucky. She regularly performs at the West Virginia State Storytelling Festival, and in 1998, she performed at the Dylan Thomas Festival in Swansea, Wales.

• Traditional Appalachian and Multi-cultural Stories - Karen Vuranch can provide a solo performance of traditional stories. Karen's stories come from many sources and she can tell traditional Appalachian stories, stories from around the world, ghost stories and personal stories. Her performances can be geared to any age, from young children to adults
  
  
• Stories from a Chinese Village - a one hour show about Karen's recent participation in a storytelling exchange trip to the Chinese village of Geng Cun
  
  
• Potluck: Stories and Songs about Women, Wisdom and Food - a show that celebrates what women bring to the table, with singer/songwriter Julie Adams of Mountain Stage and Colleen Anderson. For more information about this show, visit the website:Potluck
  
  
• Appalachian Evening - the history of Appalachia celebrated through story, song and dance, with Jon and Beth Kemper and Duffy and Barbara Boyd
  
  
• Character Building Stories and Songs with Julie Adams - Julie Adams, vocalist for WV Public Radio's Mountain Stage, joins Karen in performing stories and songs that help children learn the values of respect, justice, honesty, fairness, caring, responsibility and citizenship. This participatory program for children is both fun and educational.

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