She also has been a teacher, librarian, and community activist, has presented programs on numerous television and radio shows, and has written books of poetry. Philadelphian Linda Goss is official storyteller for her city, and she also has performed in numerous U.S. and Canadian communities.
An award-winning recording artist and author, she is considered an expert in contemporary storytelling. During her presentations, Goss shares African-American legends she has collected over the years and retells some of the stories she learned from her grandfather, who grew up under slavery.
She also relates tales from other family members and neighbors in Alcoa, Tennessee, where she was born and reared. As part of her performance, Goss uses field hollers and praise singing to augment a story, and encourages her audiences to participate through call- and-response techniques.
As artist-in-residence at the Rosenbach Museum in Philadelphia, Goss has been presenting Words and Wisdom: African American Literature from Slavery to the Civil Rights Movement to hundreds of students each year since 2001.
With jazz musician Alfie Pollitt, Words and Wisdom focuses on the contributions of African-American writers of the last two centuries.
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