Hippocampus Magazine and Books is pleased to welcome our friends from Lancaster Story Slam to this year’s event, as they produce a special HippoCamp Edition of their monthly, live storytelling event.
On Friday, Aug. 24, we’ll welcome up to a dozen storytellers to the stage to share their story.
The theme is: Courage.
We’ll let our Story Slam friends explain more below … take it away, gang!
What is a Story Slam?
A Story Slam is an open mic event where real people (hopefully you!) take the stage and tell a personal, true story. Think of it as an oral version of your creative nonfiction, told onstage without notes to an engaged audience!
You might tell a story inspired by a chapter of your memoir, or maybe share a story about the joy, sadness and frustration of writing and publishing your creative nonfiction. The story you tell may have nothing to do with your current project, maybe it’s that classic story your friends beg you to tell when you are gathered at a bar or party.
When we do readings, we writers often hide behind the podium and keep our eyes down on the pages, but Story Slam stretches you to tell your story casually in a way that captivates the audience.
While a Story Slam is a competition, we don’t take the competitive part too seriously. Our goal is to provide a fun night of stories, and we are always thrilled to see new participants hop on stage.
Official Rules for the HippoCamp Story Slam are as follows:
– Storytellers register* upon arrival. Names are drawn out of a hat to decide order of presentation.
– Stories should fit into the theme of the night! Our theme is COURAGE!
– Stories should be true as you remember it!
– Stories should be under five minutes in length!
– No Notes, No Props, No Music!
Three judges are selected from the audience. Each storyteller is given a score on a scale of 1-10 for two different criteria: content and presentation. At the end of the night, the winner will be announced and prizes awarded.
The best advice we’ve heard is this: Know the first sentence of your story and know the last sentence of your story. If you know where you are starting and have your destination in sight, you’ll do just fine!
Questions? Chat with us at the registration table or email us at jimbreslinwc@gmail.com.
*When registering, storytellers are asked to sign a release stating they agree to have video of them telling their story posted on Youtube and possibly a podcast. Storytellers retain all rights to their stories.
Sample Story Slam Stories:
Audrey Lopez – PB and J (story of assimilation)
Chris McDougall – Hanging with Jake Gyllenhal (tells story of being a writer)
Karen Randall – Lettuce Story (simple story which reveals so much)
Terry Heyman – Fiction Romance – (fun, Cinderella inspired story)
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