Seven Stages: Story and the Human Experience is about life’s journey – how to unearth the stories embedded in our daily lives and use them to learn about ourselves, our relationships, and our place in our communities.   

Thirty years working in community arts, listening to stories from diverse voices, and creating environments for story sharing and creativity, Lambert proposes a theory of cycles of emergence, from biology to body, life span to human cultural history, consciousness to creativity. He argues that the emergent pattern underlies the very nature of story. This book offers a provocative integration of numerous fields of thought about why story matters in our lives and why we need story to restore a balanced relationship to the planet.

Seven Stages: Story and the Human Experience is also a workbook. Each chapter includes brief discussion guides and prompt questions for individuals or groups to explore. The book includes an appendix of story samples and thoughts on the use of the material in education, social services, and community arts.

Lambert proposes this first edition as an invitation to an ongoing dialogue with the broad community of storytellers, story writers, and story practitioners of all kinds.

Preview the Table of Contents (PDF)

Seven Stages: Story and the Human Experience by Joe Lambert is licensed under a Creative Commons License. 

All proceeds benefit StoryCenter's Initiatives and Scholarship Program.

For questions about your order, please email: orders@storycenter.org.