Gail de Vos

Gail is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alberta. Gail teaches courses in storytelling and literature for children and young adults. She is a resident storyteller at Fort Edmonton Park and the co-organizer of the T.A.L.E.S. Storytelling Festival, held annually at Fort Edmonton Park and now in its 15th year. She has told stories and conducted storytelling and writing workshops in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, the Northwest Territories, the Yukon, Florida and Washington. She also reviews young adult literature.

Gail's first book Storytelling for Young Adults: Techniques and Treasury was published in 1991 and is used as a reference text in many storytelling classes and libraries; the tale "Boiled Eggs" was a 1995 Honor Title in the Storytelling World Awards. Telling Tales: Storytelling in the Family (1995), co-authored with Merle Harris, was awarded the first Canadian Authors Association-Alberta Branch Exporting Alberta Award. Another book, Tales, Rumors and Gossip: Exploring Contemporary Folk Literature in Grades 7-12, was published in 1996 to wide acclaim. Her most recent publication is New Tales for Old: Folktales as Literary Fictions for Young Adults, co-authored with Anna Altmann.

Gail is currently working on a second book on the reworking of traditional tales in contemporary literature. After Gail completed her BEd at the University of Alberta in 1971, she taught history for one year in Australia and then taught English as a second language to war refugees in Laos for two years. After returning to Edmonton, getting married and having two daughters, Gail returned to the University of Alberta for her MLS degree.