Jo Radner

Joan Newlon Radner is an American folklorist, storyteller and oral historian. She is Professor Emerita at American University in Washington, DC.

Education
Radner has a BA, MA, and PhD from Harvard University. Her Ph.D. thesis was titled 'Fragmentary annals of Ireland from MS 5301–5320, Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, Brussels' and was submitted in 1971.

Career
Radner began her research career in Celtic Studies, but later published in Irish history and literature, folklore and feminist theory. She was based at American University in Washington, DC where she taught courses in literature, American Studies, folklore, and storytelling.

Radner regularly presents 'Burnt into Memory', a performance based around the wildfires that ravaged Brownfield, Maine in 1947. She constructed 'Burnt into Memory' from over 30 hours of interviews with local Brownfield residents who experienced the fires.

Recognition
Her book Feminist messages: coding in women's folk culture was awarded the Elli Kongas-Maranda Prize of the American Folklore Society.

Radner served as president of the American Folklore Society (AFS) between 1999 and 2000. Her Presidential Address was titled 'AFS Now and Tomorrow: The View from the Stepladder' and stressed the need for the folklore profession to have more diverse practitioners. She also served as President of the National Storytelling Network: her Presidential Address was titled "On the Threshold of Power: The Storytelling Movement Today".

In 2013, Radner's album Yankee Ingenuity: Stories of Headstrong and Resourceful People, received a Storytelling World Award. In the same year she was awarded the Brother Blue and Ruth Hill Award from the League for the Advancement of New England Storytelling.

In 2017, Radner became a Fellow of the AFS.

Selected publications

 * Radner, Joan N. (1983) “The significance of the threefold death in Celtic tradition”, in: Ford, Patrick K. [ed.], Celtic folklore and Christianity: studies in memory of William W. Heist, Santa Barbara, California: McNally and Loftin, 180–200.
 * Radner, Joan N. (1988). “Interpreting irony in medieval Celtic narrative: the case of Culhwch ac Olwen”, Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies 16: 41–59.
 * Radner, Joan N.(1990) “‘Men will die’: poets, harpers and women in early Irish literature”, in: Matonis, A. T. E., and Daniel F. Melia (eds.), Celtic language, Celtic culture: a festschrift for Eric P. Hamp, Van Nuys, California: Ford & Bailie. 172–186.
 * Radner, Joan N. (1992-01-01). "The Combat of Lug and Balor: Discourses of Power in Irish Myth and Folktale". Oral Tradition. 7 (1): 143–149.
 * Radner, Joan N (1999). “Writing history: early Irish historiography and the significance of form”, Celtica 23: 312–325.
 * Radner, Jo (2008-01-01). "On the Threshold of Power: The Storytelling Movement Today". Storytelling, Self, Society. 4 (1).
 * Radner, Joan N. (1992-01-01). "The Combat of Lug and Balor: Discourses of Power in Irish Myth and Folktale". Oral Tradition. 7 (1): 143–149.
 * Radner, Joan N (1999). “Writing history: early Irish historiography and the significance of form”, Celtica 23: 312–325.
 * Radner, Jo (2008-01-01). "On the Threshold of Power: The Storytelling Movement Today". Storytelling, Self, Society. 4 (1).
 * Radner, Jo (2008-01-01). "On the Threshold of Power: The Storytelling Movement Today". Storytelling, Self, Society. 4 (1).
 * Radner, Jo (2008-01-01). "On the Threshold of Power: The Storytelling Movement Today". Storytelling, Self, Society. 4 (1).
 * Radner, Jo (2008-01-01). "On the Threshold of Power: The Storytelling Movement Today". Storytelling, Self, Society. 4 (1).