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Storyteller wins state award
By Justin Goble
 A local storyteller has received an award that recognizes his contributions to the state’s folklore tradition.
Sylva’s Gary Carden was presented with the Brown-Hudson Folklore award by the North Carolina Folkore Society during its annual meeting Saturday (April 1) in Black Mountain.
The award was established in 1970 to honor people who have “in special ways contributed to the appreciation, continuation, or study of North Carolina folk traditions.”
Carden was nominated for the honor by Burnsville actress Elizabeth Westall (who has appeared in a number of his plays) and North Carolina State University filmmaker Neil Hutcheson.
In nominating Carden, Hutcheson and Westall said that with his stories, books and plays, he vividly details the life and culture of Western North Carolina.
“As a folklorist, playwright, and storyteller, Gary Carden has the ability to convey the heart and vitality of an oral history, breathing life into the stories and characters of his community’s lore,” they wrote. “He has spent a lifetime doing so.”
The two also wrote that Carden should be recognized for passing the folklore traditions to a newer, younger audience. In doing so, he is keeping the art of storytelling alive, they said.
“In all of his efforts, writings, dramatic works, and storytelling appearances, Carden has demonstrated and conveyed a unique understanding of Appalachian folklore and history, interpreting and transmitting that heritage to new audiences, thereby sustaining a venerable tradition,” Hutcheson and Westall wrote. “He reminds us that folklore is a living history, into which a community pours its experiences and identity, reminding itself who it is and how it got there. We believe it is time to recognize Gary Carden as one of North Carolina’s treasures.”
N.C. Poet Laureate Kay Kay Byer of Cullowhee has also praised Careden’s writing and the essence of Appalachia it conveys.
“For the ancient tribal storytellers, words brought the world into existence; without stories, we would not know where, or who, we are,” she said. “Without Gary Carden, I would not have known quite so clearly where I was when I moved to these mountains over 30 years ago.”
In accepting the award, Carden said he was honored to join luminaries from the state who have also been so honored.
“Well, I am in some mighty prestigious company,” he said. “Doc Watson, Paul Green, Ray Hicks, Shelia Kay Adams, Freeman Owle ... I think I’m getting the ‘big head.’”
Carden, who is known for his storytelling and regional writing, has written several plays, including the “Raindrop Waltz” and “The Prince of Dark Corners.”
He has also written several Appalachian-themed books, including “Mason Jars in the Flood,” which won numerous regional awards when it was published in 2001.
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