I first learned about Fray through a colleague at my university, Andy Dehnart (of Reality Blurred fame), who organized Fray events at the school. One year, my son participated in Fray Day, telling a largely fictionalized story of growing up as a gang member on the streets of Newark, NJ (OK, he was born in Newark, but that’s about as much truth as the story had in it.) Fray Day no longer happens, but as the Fray site explains, the Fray concept keeps morphing:
FRAY BEGAN as a website. We presented individually designed, true first-person stories. Each one ended with a question that prompted the audience to tell their stories, too. You can see an archive here.
THEN IT EVOLVED into a series of live storytelling events, Fray Days and Fray Cafes, that took place all over the world, attended by thousands of people. You can see some photos and listen to audio of those events, too.
AND NOW Fray is evolving again – this time into a quarterly series of independently produced books. Each one will be on a central storytelling theme, and include personal stories, articles, and original art. They will come out quarterly. They will be awesome.
But the core of Fray remains unchanged: It’s about true stories. It’s about proving that extraordinary things happen to ordinary people. It’s about finding that common thread that connects us all together. And it’s an invitation and a dare to get involved: What’s your story?
Fray also offers a blog.