Big Sur Sound and Story nestles world-class storytelling beneath the stars.

From the very beginning, there has always been story. Then early humans domesticated fire and suddenly we could hang out at night and storytelling became much more sacred and rich. “A deep part of us responds,” says Henry Miller Memorial Library Executive Director Magnus Toren, “because real magic happens when we are listening as a group.”

Big Sur Sound and Story, a weekly series of narratives curated by some of the world’s best purveyors of fiction and documentary audio, is designed to usher participants back into a similarly intimate, expansive and shared experience.

Every Sunday, beginning June 15 with a program selected and presented by NPR’s Peabody Award-winning The Kitchen Sisters, visitors are invited to lie beneath a canopy of redwoods and stars to soak in the stories. The series runs through August and features the minds and voices behind such groundbreaking audio shows as The Truth, The Moth, Wiretap, Radiotopia and Unfictional.

The public also is invited to submit programs for a juried competition and consideration as a BSSS program.

The experience is designed to be “totally immersive.” Lighting will be limited to candles. Bringing blankets is encouraged. The only rule, according to Toren, is participants must not distract from the experience. The key, he says, is that everyone remains in the narrative.

Toren’s love for long-form narratives catalyzed the idea for Big Sur Sound and Story. “As a Swede it’s the only radio I respect,” he says. “Commercial radio in the U.S. is disorienting. You can barely hear yourself think.”

The podcast revolution deepened his appreciation for the medium. “Today you can find a great deal of wonderful, passionately produced storytelling which is extraordinarily compelling,” he says. “It’s more powerful than film sometimes.”

When the idea for Sound and Story finally congealed, Toren began reaching out for contributors. The response, he says, was “visceral and positive.”

“When I approached Third Coast Audio Festival,” he says, “their first question was, ‘Can we come?’”

The series will begin this Sunday with a listening experience produced by independent producers Davia Nelson and Nikki Silva – aka The Kitchen Sisters.

The pair has produced the duPont-Columbia Award-winning NPR series Hidden Kitchens and the two Peabody winners in Lost & Found Sound and The Sonic Memorial Project. Most recently they produced The Hidden World of Girls, a series on NPR that explored “the lives of girls and the women they become.” Their current project is The Making Of… , a production with KQED and AIR.

While the exact nature of The Kitchen Sisters’ June 15 program is something of a secret, both will be on hand to interact with the audience before and after.

“It’s a lot like DJing. We feel it as we go. We’re spinning stories from the flipside of history,” Nelson says.

As for Big Sur Sound and Story, Nelson thinks the idea is great.

“I’ve been blown out by the way the Henry Miller Library always seems to have a finger ahead of the pulse,” she says. “To bring a night of story into the dark and under the stars… it’s brilliant.”

Later in June, Sound and Story curators include Unfictional, a Los Angeles-based program that features “the sophisticated and the profane” (June 22); and the Third Coast International Audio Festival (June 29). July will be highlighted by The Moth, a live, stand-up display of storytelling The Wall Street Journal has called, “New York’s hottest and hippest literary ticket” (July 7); Dinner Party Download, a widely syndicated, fast and funny hour of culture, food and conversation (July 20); and Radiotopia, a collective of the best story-driven shows on the planet presented by the inimitable Roman Mars (July 27).

The program continues in August with presentations by Snap Judgment, a weekly NPR storytelling show (Aug. 3); The Truth, which creates darkly funny “movies for the ears” (Aug. 10); Wiretap, a collection of Jonathan Goldstein’s funny, thought-provoking and award-winning stories (Aug. 17); and ABC Radio National’s 360 Documentaries (Aug. 24).

The privilege of presenting stories for Sound and Story isn’t limited to professionals. The library team is looking for fiction and documentary submissions for a competition to be juried by NPR Morning Edition’s legendary Bob Edwards, Dinner Party Download’s Brendan Francis Newman, The Kitchen Sisters and KUSP’s own Robert Pollie.

The best will be considered for listening nights and also feted at the Big Sur Sound and Story’s grand finale on Sept. 7. Submissions should be no more than 45 minutes long and not feature music.

“I believe we are seeing a storytelling revolution,” Toren says. “There’s a backlash against overproduced, empty narratives in many different media, not just radio. People are looking for something we can connect with on a deeper level.”

With this premise in mind, Sound and Story connects its participants with something deeper through the shared experience of listening to a story – and, like our ancestors around that Paleolithic fire – connect us as humans.

THE HENRY MILLER LIBRARY presents “Big Sur Sound and Story” Sunday evenings from June 15 to Sept. 7 at 48603 Highway 1, Big Sur. Doors open at 8pm. $10 suggested donation.http://bigsursoundandstory.wordpress.com