From fairies to ghosts to historical women, Storyteller Joanna Demarest will take you on an adventure as she spins tales old and new. She delights, enchants, touches, and motivates her audiences as she takes them on journeys to fascinating places, helping them to understand what has gone before, and seeing what the future may hold.
Joanna has been telling stories to children and adults for over 30 years. It all started when after reading every book on her daughter’s bookshelf — multiple times — she wanted something new so she started creating fresh stories of her own. This passion for sharing her stories has been fueled by her nineteen moves within the US and overseas, and her seven years traveling full-time with her husband in an RV in the US and Canada. Joanna specializes in Liar’s Tales, Historical, Traditional, Nature, and Southern Tales, Ghost Stories, Personal Narrative, her own unique Ladybug Stories©, and Storytelling Workshops.
Joanna is dedicated to providing quality entertainment that is delivered in a personalized and highly interactive environment. She has performed and facilitated workshops from Seattle to Boston to Florida. She performed at the 2025 Northwest Folklife Festival in Seattle and won 1st place in the Liars’ Contest and at the 2023 Florida Storytelling Festival where she won 2nd place in their Liar’s Contest. She has also performed at The National Storytelling Network’s National Conference Regional Showcase, and numerous libraries, tea shops, open mics, summer camps, concerts, and for senior groups across the country, especially in Washington, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and New England.
Joanna was the Resident Storyteller at the Barberville Pioneer Settlement in Barberville, FL for several years bringing the stories of Lucretia Underhill’s life on the Florida frontier in the late 1800’s to the patrons of the museum. She also worked as a demonstrator showing the pioneer arts to school students that travel to the museum from all over Central Florida. While living in Pennsylvania, Joanna frequently appeared at the Depreciation Lands Museum in Allison Park, PA as a historical character interpreter, in personally hand-made period attire, bringing history alive and telling the stories of what life was like for a woman on the frontier in the late 1700’s.
Joanna has been a member of multiple guilds across the country and is currently an at-large board member of the Seattle Storytelling Guild and the Storytelling Community Coordinator for the Northwest Folklife Festival. She is also a member of the National Storytelling Network and the NSN YES! The Youth, Educators and Storytellers Alliance Special Interest Group.
Currently, Joanna is living in the Seattle area. She is available for programs at festivals, concerts, museums, libraries, schools, and private engagements.
