Criss Wynters, Occaneechee: As a Spoken Word Artist Criss Wynters has mesmerized audiences for two decades. Hailing from the North Carolina Foothills, she grew up cradled in oral traditions. Her love is working for the preservation of those traditions, and through storytelling believing them to be the most vital tools for cultural preservation, education, and relationship building.

From the very tender age of ten, she started to do storytelling for her community, whose inspirations derive from the beautiful beauty of nature and the vivid cultural history that surrounded her. Today, she is a visual storyteller who bridges cultures and generations through digital storytelling, merging traditional oral storytelling and inspiring many.

This would be a perfect presentation of the depth of oral traditions, as well as the fact that Criss Wynters continues to share her love for storytelling with audiences around the world.