About NBC

Nordic Storytelling Centre – a resource centre for the art of storytelling

Make room for the power of storytelling and joy of listening!

Located in Skellefteå, in the region of Västerbotten in northern Sweden, Nordiskt Berättarcentrum (Nordic Storytelling Centre) was established in 2018 with the aim of creating a resource centre for the art of storytelling.

Activities are carried out locally, regionally, nationally, and in the Nordic arena, as well as with connections in Europe’s storytelling network.

Our activity platforms:

• Storytelling as a scenic art form.

• Storytelling as a way of preserving, conveying, and bringing to life our cultural heritage.

• Storytelling with an educational approach and as a pedagogical tool.

• Storytelling for social development. OSR – organisational social responsibility.

The activity profile is based on the strong Västerbotten tradition of documentary storytelling – each person’s story is worth listening to. Nordiskt Berättarcentrum organises conferences, seminars, and workshops, produces storytelling performances and organises storytelling nights with themes such as Life Stories.

Berättarkraft is a project annually supported by the local energy company Skellefteå Kraft. We are also working with other storytelling players in the Nordic Region to collaborate in various contexts, including festivals.

Nordiskt Berättarcentrum has the responsibility of operating and developing the annual Storytelling Festival in Skellefteå ”Berättarfestivalen”, arranged since 2009. A festival week featuring more than one hundred storytelling events arranged together with other cultural players, attracting about 9,500 visits.

Biannually we present a nordic conference ”Lära med Berättande” with different thematic approaches towards the field of storytelling. We are engaged in research and education at Umeå university. On these grounds we now aim to establish Nordic collaborations and partnerships for further development of storytelling from a number of perspectives.

On the European arena NBC is represented in the board of FEST (Federation for European Storytelling).

Västerbottensteatern has been commissioned by Skellefteå Municipality to establish Nordiskt Berättarcentrum. The centre also receive project support from Region Västerbotten.