On Tuesday 11th October, the fifth Story Slam, the first event of the 2016 Bridport Open Book Festival, was the proverbial champagne bottle smashed on the side of the splendid new Bridport Arts Centre Café.
The Slam is the literary baby of local writer Frances Colville and she was delighted when around 50 audience members and participants turned up for the event. Writers from all overDorsetgathered to read their prose fiction which covered a multitude of genres. Each piece lasted no longer than five minutes; in fact, one performer delivered his final word just as the timekeeper’s alarm beeped time out.
As well as a convivial atmosphere and the great literary talent on offer that evening, there was also a more serious element of fundraising for Bridport writer and performance poet, Tom Rogers. He will soon embark on a challenging trek toMalawion a WaterAid project in memory of his son, Sam. Tom had the unenviable task of lacing the Slammers together as MC and he also gave a talk about his forthcoming adventure.
Simon West, of Magic Oxygen Publishing, presented all the participants with a certificate showing the GPS coordinates of a tree already planted in their name in Magic Oxygen’sWordForestinBore,Kenya. Simon said, ‘Writers use paper all the time and we actively encourage people to plant trees to redress the balance. Each tree will lock down around 240kg of CO2 in its lifetime and that will help to keep the planet cool too.’
15 performers took to the stage and delivered their wordy wares in front of a live audience and three esteemed judges: Kate Wilson, Bridport Prize Administrator, Nick Macey, manager of the local Waterstones and Tracey West, a Lyme Regis based sustainable living author and performance poet.
Making choices was particularly hard given the high standard of all the entries but eventually a decision was made. As is common in these competitive situations, the worthy winners – who had little more than a bus ticket between them in terms of their performance – were announced in reverse order.
Nick presented Rob Casey with third prize. Rob managed to engage the entire audience with a visually animated, football coach tale, which had them retorting with a lively collective response. Tracey presented Ged Duncan with second prize for a story which pulled the listeners from a fantastical fantasy about ethereal ammonites, through to a scene which could have been a snapshot from The Good Life on an allotment. Again the audience were left highly entertained with his use of multiple voices and varied expressions. Finally, Kate was delighted to present Wendy Breckon with the first prize for a brilliantly paced, confidently delivered autobiographical tale of a hockey injury on a school field. The audience were incredibly attentive and enjoyed the piece, and her performance, immensely.
Frances thanked the judges and the MC for their hard work, and the Arts Centre, Waterstones and Magic Oxygen Publishing for donating prizes and certificates, and concluded by saying she was looking forward to future literary events and advising everyone to keep an eye on the DorsetWritersNetwork.co.uk for news.
By Tracey West
