Nicole Dube wasn’t quite sure how Winnipeg audiences would react. The idea of creating a friendly event to share stories, in person, and on a stage, was on her mind. Dube checked in with the Royal Albert Arms restaurant and bar and got the OK. Next all she needed was a microphone, and an audience.
This November represents a full year of holding monthly Story Slam events, and the Winnipeg Story Slam is holding its first ever Grand Slam event to celebrate.
Similar in some ways to a poetry slam, people who want to share a story are given a five minute time limit, sometimes a theme to focus on, have to tell a true story, and are given points for their performance. The volunteer-run event charges $10 as an entrance fee, but also acts as an incentive. The storyteller with the highest points takes home a $100 prize.
Cheyenne Wright said she had sometimes attended poetry slam events, but said, as an Indigenous woman, she was excited to hear about the story slam. “It seemed like the tradition of storytelling was kind of dying out. Just being able to come somewhere and tell stories and listen to stories and think and learn about something is pretty cool.”
Madelaine Ricard said she had also attended a variety of events where people could express themselves in different ways, but wanted to try something new with her writing. “I wanted to start telling stories that are true about myself rather than, just hiding behind fiction and poetry.”
“There’s something about a room of strangers,” says Dube. “When you get to witness someone tell their story and their story touches you in some way it’s just this great reminder that we’re we’re all here, we’re all humans, we’re all trying to navigate life together in whatever shape or form that might look like.”
Brian Finch had attended storytelling events in Toronto, and decided to attend the Winnipeg Story Slam when he moved back to Winnipeg after two decades away. “People come up and they tell interesting stories. Sometimes you get windows into lives you would never see otherwise.” To his surprise he won the slam when he finally decided to share a story, and will be competing at the upcoming Grand Slam. “My story will be about “Autism at 60”…I found this out recently, so how does this happen?”
Dube said that some storytellers share off the top of their heads, some read from their phones, some read from paper, and some didn’t even expect that they were going to be courageous enough to tell a story and then they end up on the stage. “Whether they’re hemming or hawing or forgetting where they’re going, it doesn’t matter. The point is is that they’ve shared something true that they experienced and every now and then the art of oral storing storytelling comes out.”
The Winnipeg Story Slam is open to people of all experience levels and all backgrounds, and Dube is hoping to get more volunteers, and hosts, for future story slam events.
The Winnipeg Story Slam Grand Slam happens Wednesday, November 19th at the Royal Albert Arms (cash only bar) and will feature the ten best storytellers of the year. Tickets can be purchased on eventbright for $20, and the top winner will take home a bigger prize.
No matter who wins, Dube knows that the whole experience, for both the audience and storytellers provides an authenticity that is missing in much of today’s world. “You get to be reminded of what an in-person exchange is like versus being an anonymous observer in the digital world… It’s just a unique experience of real and raw human connection.”