ATTENTION: PENTALES20 AUTHORS! For the books to be included in the PenTales Exhibition event taking place in the early fall, we need to have them back in New York City by no later than July 31st, 2010!

We handed twenty empty notebooks to twenty friends, and asked them to start a story. Each storyteller was then tasked with entrusting the book to a new storyteller of his or her own choice. As the books travel from person to person every five days, the PenTales stories will gradually unfold. The last storyteller will return the completed PenTale to New York City, where the curious collection of works will afterwards be celebrated and shared with a larger audience.

Did you receive a PenTale book?

If so, you have five days to follow these four steps!

1. Write or Illustrate Two Pages: Find the next free page and get creative with the empty space. The only rules are to stay within the two-page limit and engage in some way with the previous story. The first storyteller of each book will just have to be extra imaginative!

2. Sign the Author List: Write your name, date, and location on the list located in the back of the book. Take a PenTales 20 tag from the inside cover as a souvenir.

3. Pass the Torch On: Give your book to another storyteller. Share the book with someone whom you trust (i.e. a friend, relative, or complete stranger), and who you know will take on the responsibility of continuing your PenTale. Feel free to mail the book to a storyteller living abroad, or just pass the book on to your next door neighbor.

4. Email Travels@PenTales.com with the following information:

a. Your book number
b. Your location
c. The next storyteller’s name and location

This will enable us to track where PenTales’ books are going, and ensure that each notebook will have a happy ending.