Speak Up storyteller: James Bengiovanni

With just six weeks to go before our inaugural Speak Up storytelling event, we will begin introducing you to the seven storytellers scheduled to entertain you that evening, in the order that they will appear.

One storyteller each week until the big night on May 4 at Real Art Ways in Hartford, Connecticut.

Leading off that evening will be my best friend for the past 27 years and my DJ partner for the past 16 years. He was my best man in 2006 and delivered a toast that people still talk about today.

He’s sure to start us off with a bang. _____________________________

James Bengiovanni

James ‘Bengi’ Bengiovanni is a man of few talents.

As a child, he nearly learned how to swim. Later as an adult, he almost found an agent for his novel. Most recently, you can find Bengi not on Facebook or Twitter.

Somehow Bengi was named the 2013 Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy Teacher of the Year. By default, he has also been the reigning A-Mattzing Race Champion for the past five years.

The father of three, he started running with his eldest daughter three years ago and will be running his first full marathon in Hartford this year.

Even though he acknowledges that Speak Up is not competitive storytelling, he has guaranteed victory.