On Monday, January 17, in recognition of Martin Luther King Day 2011, storyteller Bill Grimmette will speak at Hampden-Sydney College.

Grimmette has perfected the art of storytelling. In keeping with the centuries old tradition of the African Griot, he relies on the power of the spoken word to move his audience along an emotional journey. Overcoming the obstacles of poverty, a fatherless family, and life in the cotton fields of Alabama, Grimmette has his own personal story of hope and promise.

Grimmette credits his mother as his inspiration, spinning tales of powerful, positive, and perpetual possibilities. In later years, traveling around the world, he collected traditional stories from many cultures and crafted his own original stories of personal power.

Since then, Grimmette's live performances have attracted audiences as diverse as the tales themselves. Today, he is nationally known as a gifted writer, actor, storyteller, and motivational speaker. As President of the National Association of Black Storytellers, Grimmette was a featured artist at The Kennedy Center for The Performing Arts and the Smithsonian Institution. Drawing on 42 years of acting, writing, and directing, he has created a critically-acclaimed series of living history characterizations of personalities including Benjamin Banneker, Frederick Douglass, WEB Du Bois, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Sponsored by Hampden-Sydney's Office of Intercultural Affairs and the Minority Student Union, the presentation begins at 7 PM in Crawley Forum. It is free and open to the community.