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Work space: Puppet story master |
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Written by Erin Frustaci
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Thursday, 14 June 2007 |
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 Nathan Kumar Scott is a storyteller for all cultures.
Born and raised in India with American parents, Scott said he has straddled different cultures his whole life. “We limit ourselves by assuming our stories and culture are enough,” Scott said. “We have so much more to gain by learning other people’s languages, stories and cultures.”
His children’s book “Mangos and Bananas” is a retelling of a traditional trickster tale from Indonesia about Kanchil, a clever mouse deer and Monyet, his sidekick monkey. Scott discovered the tale while studying Indonesian shadow puppetry in Indonesia.
“Indonesia puppetry is not just for children,” Scott said. “It’s a serious form of entertainment.”
While performing one of his stories in India, he was approached by the founder of Tara Publishing about turning his tale into a children’s book. “Mangos and Bananas’’ was published in March 2006 and features traditional kalamkari illustrations, where images are created with ink on fabric and then scanned.
It’s available throughout the United States at independent bookstores as well as in the United Kingdom, India and Japan. About 3,000 copies have been sold, excluding the Japanese version. It has also won the White Raven Award, His second book, “The Sacred Banana Leaf,” will be released in the fall.
“I think understanding a different culture is more than learning facts and figures,” he said. “Through stories, you get to know the values of other cultures. Bridging cultures brings peace.”
The 41-year-old author moved to Fort Collins about six months ago from Seattle and is the director of Studies Abroad for Global Education, an educational foundation that sends high school students to India to become global citizens.
Scott earned his bachelor’s in anthropology from Oberlin College and his master’s in South Asian performing arts from the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. He has practiced puppetry and storytelling for about 15 years.
“Sharing stories from other cultures is a way to understand each other and enrich all of our lives,” he said.
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TO GO
Nathan Kumar Scott will read from his book, “Mangos and Bananas” at 9:30 a.m. June 16 at Matter Bookstore and 10:15 a.m. June 30 at Reader’s Cove Bookstore in Fort Collins. Storytelling and a show and tell of traditional Kanchil puppets from Indonesia.
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VITAL STATS
Name: Nathan Kumar Scott
Title: Storyteller/Puppeteer/Children’s book author
How long have you been doing this: 15 years
Where you are from? Seattle, but we now call Fort Collins home
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IN HIS WORDS
What is it about puppetry and storytelling that makes it challenging?
What I love about being a puppeteer and storyteller is that there is such a diversity of tasks you have to do. Putting together a puppet show is a long and complex process, from coming up with the story, creating the puppets, the script, the set, the backdrop, the stage, figuring out the music, rehearsing the show, promoting and booking the show and finally performing it. Imagine all the people involved in creating a professional theatre performance— now imagine one person doing all of that!
Writing children’s books is a little easier because you are working with a team of people. I have a publisher, and they work with the illustrator. Once the book is published, there are people to help distribute the book, and bookstores who sell the book. But the author still has to do a whole lot more than simply come up with and write a good story!
Makes you get out of bed in the morning?
What gets me out of be in the morning is the joy of sharing a good story. I’m always interested in hearing other people’s stories.
Things that impress you?
Things that impress me are beauty— a bright red sunset, a delicate flower, a whimsical piece of art. I’m impressed by generosity— people who give of themselves even when they have so little; and the forces of nature impress me very much.
Things that don’t.
Things that don’t impress me are gossip, pettiness, arrogance.
How do young/new writers get published?
This is the million dollar question— and unfortunately I don’t have any good advice. My own story is very unusual. I didn’t have to contact a publisher or send out 100 manuscripts in hopes of getting published. My publisher found me— not the other way around.
Did you ever think in a million years you’d publish a children’s book?
No. I actually like the ephemeral quality of a live performance. It exists only in the moment, and you have to actually BE there to experience it. But when I was asked whether I would like to have my stories published, I figured, “Why not?” It is an entirely new challenge. But I still write my children’s books the way I tell them— you can “hear” the live storytelling in the words on the page.
If you weren’t doing this, what would you be doing?
If I weren’t telling stories or writing children’s books, I’d be doing art projects with local communities to help them tell their own stories— preferably somewhere along the coast of Mexico. Either that, or studying the mating habits of sea turtles in Costa Rica…
What’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever done while being a performer?
I remember when I first started telling stories professionally and had a story that was geared for older kids which had some “bad” words in it. Nothing foul, but not really appropriate for young children. I was invited to a preschool to tell stories, and I didn’t think about the language in the story until I was in the midst of telling it. I tried to rush through the part with the “bad” words in it but the preschool teacher was horrified. Needless to say, I was never invited back to that school!
Smartest?
I worked for a while as a marionette performer: the puppetry form that uses strings. In the midst of a performance, if you are not careful these strings can get tangled up with each other which would ruin a show. We were in the midst of an important fight scene, and the strings of my puppet got tangled with another puppet. We tried to get them untangled, but they were stuck. Without thinking, I grabbed a pair of scissors from backstage and cut the tangled strings, making sure not to cut the ones which held the puppets up. The puppets separated, but for the rest of the scene, we had to fake that their arms were broken and that is why they couldn’t move, because with cut strings you can’t control a puppet. But we saved the show.
What’s the most unusual thing you’ve ever done to make money?
Probably my short-lived career as a balloon twister. I’d go into family-friendly restaurants and make balloon creations for kids and adults for tips. My favorite creations were a monkey climbing a coconut tree (complete with coconuts!) and a mouse riding a motorcycle. It was fun for a while, but I got tired of working for tips. I’ve also been a professional stilt-walker; mask-maker; and shadow puppeteer; not to mention the time I was paid to go to Trinidad to study the giant puppets used in Carnival. None of these are very unusual in my book, but I suppose they are to much of the rest of the world.
Any interesting anecdotes?
I’ve got plenty. I could tell you about the time I was walking in a parade on tall stilts in Taiwan and I felt one of my stilts break under me… Have you ever seen a stilt walker crashing to the ground? Or about the time I was creating a giant parade float in San Francisco and two days before the parade, the building where we were storing our float caught on fire. The fire didn’t destroy our float, but the water from the fire trucks did. But you know what? We still were in the parade— with a cardboard float about the victims of the fire!
What’s the one thing you wish you could do on the job that you can’t right now?
I guess I’m lucky. When you are an artist— pretty much anything goes.
What do you do when you are not performing or writing books?
I actually have a full time job which I really like. I am the director of a non-profit high school study abroad organization called SAGE— Studies Abroad for Global Education. We provide opportunities for high school students from around the country to spend either a summer or an academic semester or year studying in India. For more information about SAGE, visit our website: www.sageprogram.org” www.sageprogram.org.
What’s one thing about being an artist you would do, even if you weren’t paid to do it?
As an artist, you are not paid to do a whole lot. People often expect that artists will contribute their talents or work for free. But artists need to make a living too. As a culture, we don’t value our artists enough. In Indonesia, puppeteers are highly respected and incredibly well paid because puppetry in Indonesia is a highly valued art form. Here, it is very difficult to support yourself as a puppeteer.
Name one thing in your life that has prepared you for writing children’s books.
Being born and raised in India has made a real difference. India has an incredibly rich tradition of mythology, folklore and storytelling. Since I was a young child, I have heard all kids of stories which whet my imagination. And these stories are a part of life in India— not just relegated to children’s books. I remember as a child going with my parents and a huge crowd of people to see the burning of a giant effigy of a Hindu mythological demon— celebrating the triumph of good over evil. How many American kids get this kind of experience?
What’s the biggest payoff to writing children’s books?
Knowing that my stories are out there— circulating among children and families I will never know or meet. That’s the difference between writing books and performing live. A book can have a life of its own, entirely beyond your control.
What are your favorite stories?
My favorite stories are Trickster Tales— and those are the ones I write. I’ve always been interested in tricksters and clowns— in fact, I wrote my Master’s thesis on the character of the clown in Indian folk theatre. Trickster and clowns upset the balance, get us to think outside the box, challenge the status quo. That is why I like them. Artists can be like tricksters and clowns, playing with our sense of order or perspective— offering us a fresh way of looking at the world.
Do you think that you will write another book?
As a matter of fact, my second book will be released sometime this fall. It is titled The Sacred Banana Leaf, and is another trickster tale about Kanchil the Mouse Deer, and the tricks he plays on the other animals in the rainforest.
What do you do when you’re not at work?
Spend time with my family. My wife, Kathryn Mostow, is an artist as well— a wonderful singer-songwriter with an amazing voice. We’ve got a toddler son who is turning into quite a trickster in his own right— challenging the status quo set by his parents! I also love to spend time outdoors, which is one of the reasons we moved to Colorado from Seattle. We haven’t yet spent as much time in the mountains as we would like, but certainly hope to.
Favorite TV shows. Movies. Books.
We don’t have or watch TV. Our lives are too full with other activities. I love art and foreign films however— and am delighted that Fort Collins now has the Lyric Cinema, which shows more offbeat films. Two very compelling books I have read recently are: Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson, about his mission to build schools for girls in the remote mountain regions of Northern Pakistan and Afghanistan; and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, about a boy’s childhood growing up in Afghanistan.
What Web sites do you have bookmarked?
Kathryn Mostow’s music: www.butterflysound.com, since I’m so enraptured by her voice; The sites of many great independent bookstores— here in Fort Collins is the Matter Bookstore: www.wolverinefarmpublishing.org; Various community arts sites— such as the Fort Collins Procession of the River Species: www.processionriverspecies.org, an amazing annual community parade/procession filled with music, masks, dancing, costumes and giant puppets, telling the story of the Poudre River through art and celebration.
Since I am from Seattle, the most active community arts organization there by far is the Fremont Arts Council: www.fremontartscouncil.org, which puts on an annual Summer Solstice parade and giant puppet performance in the park— among other things.
Where do you play?
I try to play all the time. My two-year old son makes sure of that. It’s great to have a toddler, because everything seems to turn into a game: eating, getting dressed, getting out the door…
Go out to eat?
Our favorite place brunch place is definitely Lucile’s— what an amazing restaurant to have here in northern Colorado. They make a mean Cajun breakfast!
Favorite spot?
I love the drive up Poudre Canyon to the Shambala Mountain Center near Red Feather Lakes. The great Stupa at Shambala surrounded by those high mountain valleys is a real jewel. | Only registered users can write comments.
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