Laura Simms is a senior teacher of Shambhala Buddhism and Shambhala Arts, as well as a professional storyteller, writer and activist working worldwide for peace and human rights. She has been practicing meditation since 1973 and conducts storytelling workshops that integrate Dharma Arts, meditation practice and the wisdom tradition of engaged storytelling. She performs for audiences of all ages worldwide.
Laura has served as an artist-in-residence for the Lincoln Center Institute and teaches at the University of Milwaukee, New York University and The Naropa University. She is a Senior Research Fellow for the Rutgers University Human Rights Center and directs the 25-year running Laura Simms Storytelling Residency. She has appeared in festivals in Romania, United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, Norway, Republic of China, Bhutan, Mexico and Austria. She has been featured at A Traveling Jewish Theater in San Francisco, New York's Provincetown Theater and the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesboro, Tennessee. Her most recent performance piece is called Rejoice Regardless and is inspired by 35 years of mindfulness awareness practice.
As a writer and editor, Laura has served as contributing editor for Parabola Magazine since 1996. After 9/11, she spearheaded the publication of
Stories to Nourish the Hearts of Children in a Time of Crisis (Holland & Knight). She assembled A Key to the Heart and Other Afghan Tales (Chocolate Sauce) to benefit children's education in Afghanistan. With a Hasbro Grant she wrote
Becoming The World (Mercy Corps, Inc.) that has inspired thousands of teachers worldwide in addressing issues of tolerance and resilience. She won the Sesame Street Sunny Days Award in 1999 for her contribution to children around the world and has received many awards for her books, tapes and projects. Her most recent adult title,
The Robe of Love: Secret Instructions for the Heart (Codhill Press), is a book of traditional love stories. Her new book,
Our Secret Territory: The Essence of Storytelling (Sentient Books) will be published June 2011.
Laura founded the Gaindeh Project, an international initiative using storytelling, creativity, meditation and reconciliation for individuals and communities. She is currently working on a new training process and workbook of stories for those displaced by natural disaster for Mercy Corps, Inc. Collaborative projects include The Lion's Roar, The Lifeforce Project and Next Generation Environmental Program for the Murie Center for the Environment with Terry Tempest Williams. She is the mother of best-selling author Ishmael Beah who wrote
A Long Way Gone.
www.laurasimms.com