session of tales of the ordinary and the extraordinary.

Hailed as possibly the best-known storyteller in the English language, Jackie Torrence will give just one public performance at City Hall on Thursday, March 3. In addition, she will be giving four special performances for primary and secondary school children.

Ms Torrence's visit has been arranged by the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs.

Says Cultural Affairs officer, Miss Ruth Thomas: "Her visit last year was as incredible success. We have brought her back by popular demand.'' Jackie Torrence, who says she inherited her art from members of her own family, began what became an incredible career when she started story sessions for children as part of her job as a librarian. Soon, her talents were in demand all over the US. Children and adults alike are spell-bound by the rich voice which transports them into the world of Brer Rabbit, the Jack Tales, or evoking some of the ghostly legends and folk tales of America. Some of her stories are centuries old, and some are of her own creation. Perhaps the most powerful of all are her blues legends and her tales from Appalachia.

With six award-winning albums and three award-winning television shows to her credit, Jackie Torrence plays to sold-out audiences in theatres, universities, fairs and festivals, including the Lincoln Centre, and Washington's Kennedy Centre. On television, she has appeared on NBC Late Night with David Letterman, CBS Nightwatch, CNN, and CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Kuralt.

Her fame has even spread to the UK, where the Glasgow Herald enthused about her "marvellously rich, bendy voice that can pop in and out of her various characters' mouths without breaking the narrative flow''.

Tickets for her March 3 appearance at City Hall are $15 and may be obtained from the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs, telephone 292-9447 or 295-5151. Early reservations are advised.

MASTER STORY-TELLER -- Jackie Torrence returns to narrate her spell-binding tales to Bermuda audiences.