What is The Moth?

The Moth, a not-for-profit storytelling organization, was founded in New York in 1997 by poet and novelist
George Dawes Green, who wanted to recreate in New York the feeling of sultry summer evenings on his native
St. Simon's Island, Georgia, where he and a small circle of friends would gather to spin spellbinding tales on
his friend Wanda's porch. After moving to New York, George missed the sense of connection he had felt sharing
stories with his friends back home, and he decided to invite a few friends over to his New York apartment to
tell and hear stories. Thus the first "Moth" evening took place in his living room. Word of these captivating story
nights quickly spread, and The Moth moved to bigger venues in New York. Today, The Moth conducts eight
ongoing programs and has brought more than 3,000 live stories to over 100,000 audience members.

Why "The Moth"?

The screen around Wanda's porch had a hole where moths would flutter in and get trapped in the light.
Similarly, George and his friends found that the characters in their best stories would often find themselves
drawn to some bright light—of adventure, ambition, knowledge—but then find themselves burned or
trapped, leaving them with some essential conflict to face before the story could reach its conclusion. So
George and his original group of storytellers called themselves "The Moths". George took the name with
him to New York, where he hoped that New Yorkers, too, would find themselves drawn to storytelling
as moths to a flame. They did. With no advertising, through sheer word of mouth, every show to date has
sold out in 48 hours or less.