Dan Yashinsky

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Dan Yashinsky is a Canadian author and storyteller who was born in Detroit. He grew up in Santa Barbara and moved to Toronto at age 21. He studied literature at the College of Creative Studies at the University of California, and earned a master’s degree in sociology and education at the University of Toronto.

In 1978, he started Toronto’s 1001 Friday Nights of Storytelling, one of North America’s longest-running open mics. In 1979, he launched the Toronto Festival of Storytelling, which he directed for four years. He also helped found Storytelling Toronto, previously known as the Storytellers School of Toronto. He created and hosted the CBC radio show Talking Stick in 1999.

In 2006, he teamed up with Brian Katz to create Talking You In, a piece about experiences in neonatal intensive care. It was inspired by his son Jacob’s three-week stay in the NICU and has been performed at hospitals and festivals around the world. Yashinsky has performed and taught storytelling across Canada, the United States, Asia, and Europe, and has served as a storyteller in residence for UNICEF Canada, Queen’s University, Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, and others. His work draws on his Jewish, Turkish, Romanian, American, and French heritage, as well as his travels.

In 2018, his son Jacob Yashinsky-Zavitz died at age 26 following a car accident.