The Haven heats up for June’s story slam

By Mathew White

EDMONTON — While most of the city was focused on the Stanley Cup final, a small crowd made it out to the Haven Social Club Wednesday night for the June edition of the Edmonton Story Slam.

It was a full card Wednesday as 10 writers faced off in what turned out to be a particularly odd evening for the story slam.  Children’s stories seemed to be the main focus, but every once in a while there would be a twist, and a story of a sly fugitive running through the streets of Paris or a tale of what it’s like to watch porno with family members would sipe into the mix.

It was a close race right until the end of the night, but with a children’s love story, two-year story slam veteran, Jason Norman, was able to steal his first-ever top prize.

“It feels good (to win) because there was a few times I thought it was close but you never know because the order has so much to do with it,” said Norman.  “I’m happy that I get to win but I’m most happy because I get to compete at the end in the Slam Off so that will be a lot of fun.”

Norman said he would love to write professionally but that day has not yet come.

When it does, however, he said it’s fiction and short stories that really holds his heart, but at this point, he’s willing to write pretty much anything.

“I like writing a lot of things that are short,” said Norman.  “I get a lot of volume out and it makes me feel better.”

Like most writers, Norman looks to the world for inspiration, but said he really enjoys writing stories based on past events in history.

“A friend of mine, there’s a project he has on line and basically we take instances from history… and we make a story about them,” said Norman.  “This story was inspired by Copernicus.”

Listen to Norman’s story, The Centre of the Universe, here:
JuneStorySlam by westedmontonlocal

Last month’s winner, Alyssa Hudson, took second place for the evening with an ironic story of a struggling artist and Susan MacGregor came in a close third with a clever little story about a single women who finds a man in her fortune cookie.

Edmonton Story Slam

The Edmonton Story Slam Society is an organization that gives local writers a chance to share their work with a live audience.  The rules of the competition are as follows:

• Each writer has five minutes
• For every ten seconds over the limit, 0.5 points is deducted
• Story must be original and unpublished
• Five judges each give a score out of 10 and an average is taken from the middle three scores
• Contestants must be present when their name is called or they’re disqualified
• Contestants are gonged after seven minutes
• Audience members are asked to donate towards the first-place prize

The next story slam is scheduled for July 20.