Biography

According to her parents, Miriam has been sharing the gift of storytelling since the age of two when she learned her first joke. She began performing for non-family members in college as part of a Medieval and Renaissance recreation society. Within the society, her storytelling skill earned her the honor of being made a Companion of the Troubadour and appointed the Baronial Bard.

Miriam has formally studied storytelling through an apprenticeship with Boston area Master storyteller Alex Newman as well as North Carolina storyteller Brian Sturm. She has performed at schools, libraries, bookstores, cafes, fairs, and festivals.

An interest in theatrical storytelling inspired her to develop a 25-minute personal narrative story based on her quest to find the tomb of al-Mu'tamid, the 11th century poet-king of Seville, in Aghmat, Morocco. She performed the piece, "Touring al-Mu'tamid," at FronteraFest and followed it several years later with "A Life for Love and Pleasure: Remembering Mata Hari." She has performed in several Vortex productions, playing Megaera (a Fury) in Dark Goddess VI, Anansi in Trickster, and Lily Mae White in The Shocker. She also played a Trumpet Flower in Wheels of Wonderland, Austin Bike Zoo's production of Lewis Caroll's Alice in Wonderland, and was part of the female ensemble in Chaotic Theater's production Alice!.

Along with her two co-Furies, she received the 2006 Austin Circle of Theatre's award for Best Ensemble Performance.

She received her MA in Folklore from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2002. She is also a trained Middle Eastern and Renaissance dancer.