You’ve may have heard of a poetry slam, where participants weave provided words into a spoken diatribe under a time restriction, and the audience votes for its favourite.
Vernon is about to get its first story slam.
The fun story-telling competition will be held at Dorian’s Greek Taverna the second Tuesday of each month, starting next week.
“Story-telling is a vital part of our humanity. Stories both define and help create our identity, morality, values, and culture. Story-telling is fun, engaging, enlightening, and entertaining,” said organizer Marv Machura, a local musician and poet.
An adult-oriented event, anyone over the age of 18 can participate in the slam and the order of stories-tellers is determined by a draw.
For those unsure about how it all works, Machura has disclosed some of the rules:
• All stories must be original and no longer than five minutes. Participants will hear a bell after five minutes, and if a participant goes beyond the five-minute mark, he/she will receive a penalty to his/her score: 10 points for each 30 seconds over five minutes.
• Stories may be on any theme or subject, but should contain a minimum of coarse language and should not be deliberately pornographic or sexually exploitive.
• Stories can be either in first-person or third-person narratives of true or fictional events and characters and can be read from a prepared script or spoken extemporaneously.
• All members of the audience, including participants, are encouraged to participate in the judging of the stories.
“Participants make a donation to the pot, typically $5/person, and the audience members judge or score each story told,” said Machura. “The top two scores split the pot and advance to the slam off at the end of the season.”
The Vernon Story Slam starts this Tuesday and continues March 11, April 8, May 13, and June 10 from 7 to 9 p.m.. Dorian’s is located at 3224 30th Ave. More information is available by calling Machura at 250-307-1505 or visit www.marvmachura.com.
