A Lit Summer Night: Story Slam is Literary Cleveland's fun, moving fundraiser party that brings together the creative community for a memorable night to help increase equitable access to writing and publishing opportunities in Cleveland.
Remarkable local writers will share true, personal stories about moments of insight, social change, and the people that bring light into our lives. The program, hosted by Amy Eddings with an opening poem by Siaara Freeman and music by Moises Borges, will highlight the transformative power of literature and storytelling and help raise funds to support Literary Cleveland's free Inkubator Conference, yearlong writing residency, community programs, and scholarships for writers.
Speakers including Literary Cleveland member and veteran Debra Gipson, award-winning poet and Literary Cleveland instructor Quartez Harris, and Pulitzer Prize winner Connie Schultz will share true, personal stories that explore the range and depth of the human experience.
Mingle with fellow supporters of the arts for a fun night at Ariel International Center. Tickets include parking, appetizers, drink tickets, and more.
When you attend this celebration you help provide literary arts programming for our community. Free community workshops, neighborhood writing programs, and events like the upcoming tenth annual Inkubator Conference are only possible with your support.
Join us and your donation will help launch a local writer on their own adventure.
Registration deadline: May 22, 2024
This year's story slam will focus on the theme "Full of Light" taken from work by Anthony Doerr and Aimee Nezhukumatahil.
by Anthony Doerr
“The brain is locked in total darkness, of course, children, says the voice. It floats in a clear liquid inside the skull, never in the light. And yet the world it constructs in the mind is full of light. It brims with color and movement. So how, children, does the brain, which lives without a spark of light, build for us a world full of light?”
by Aimee Nezhukumatahil
To everything, there is a season of parrots. Instead of feathers, we searched the sky for meteors on our last night. Salamanders use the stars to find their way home. Who knew they could see that far, fix the tiny beads of their eyes on distant arrangements of lights so as to return to wet and wild nests? Our heads tilt up and up and we are careful to never look at each other. You were born on a day of peaches splitting from so much rain and the slick smell of fresh tar and asphalt pushed over a cracked parking lot. You were strong enough—even as a baby—to clutch a fistful of thistle and the sun himself was proud to light up your teeth when they first swelled and pushed up from your gums. And this is how I will always remember you when we are covered up again: by the pale mica flecks on your shoulders. Some thrown there from your own smile. Some from my own teeth. There are not enough jam jars to can this summer sky at night. I want to spread those little meteors on a hunk of still-warm bread this winter. Any trace left on the knife will make a kitchen sink like that evening air
the cool night before
star showers: so sticky so
warm so full of light
%20(11%20%C3%97%205%20in).png)
Location: A Lit Summer Night takes place Thursday, June 6 at 6:30 p.m. ET at Ariel International Center (1163 E 40th St, Cleveland, OH 44114).
Parking: Parking is included for free with your ticket in the lot surrounding the building.
Food and drink: Light appetizers will be served and each attendee will receive two drink tickets.
Auction: Win local and literary items and baskets at our silent auction (available both online and in-person).
Dress: Creative Cocktail Attire—semi-formal dresses and jackets with personal style and creativity encouraged!
Individual Tickets: $125 individual tickets are available for general seating.
Table Tickets: Save by purchasing a half-table (4 tickets) for $450 or a full table (8 tickets) for $800. You can share tickets with friends or donate them to a special group. Either way you help support Literary Cleveland and local writers.
%20(11%20%C3%97%205%20in)%20(1).png)
Silver sponsors: Appletree Books, Mac's Backs Books and USPack
Bronze sponsors: Chautauqua Institution, Debbie George State Farm, Learned Owl Book Shop, Loganberry Books, Margaret W. Wong and Associates, and Rosenberg Advertising
%20(5).png)
A Lit Summer Night: Story Slam is Literary Cleveland's fun, moving fundraiser party that brings together the creative community for a memorable night to help increase equitable access to writing and publishing opportunities in Cleveland.
Remarkable local writers will share true, personal stories about moments of insight, social change, and the people that bring light into our lives. The program, hosted by Amy Eddings with an opening poem by Siaara Freeman and music by Moises Borges, will highlight the transformative power of literature and storytelling and help raise funds to support Literary Cleveland's free Inkubator Conference, yearlong writing residency, community programs, and scholarships for writers.
Speakers including Literary Cleveland member and veteran Debra Gipson, award-winning poet and Literary Cleveland instructor Quartez Harris, and Pulitzer Prize winner Connie Schultz will share true, personal stories that explore the range and depth of the human experience.
Mingle with fellow supporters of the arts for a fun night at Ariel International Center. Tickets include parking, appetizers, drink tickets, and more.
When you attend this celebration you help provide literary arts programming for our community. Free community workshops, neighborhood writing programs, and events like the upcoming tenth annual Inkubator Conference are only possible with your support.
Join us and your donation will help launch a local writer on their own adventure.
Registration deadline: May 22, 2024
This year's story slam will focus on the theme "Full of Light" taken from work by Anthony Doerr and Aimee Nezhukumatahil.
by Anthony Doerr
“The brain is locked in total darkness, of course, children, says the voice. It floats in a clear liquid inside the skull, never in the light. And yet the world it constructs in the mind is full of light. It brims with color and movement. So how, children, does the brain, which lives without a spark of light, build for us a world full of light?”
by Aimee Nezhukumatahil
To everything, there is a season of parrots. Instead of feathers, we searched the sky for meteors on our last night. Salamanders use the stars to find their way home. Who knew they could see that far, fix the tiny beads of their eyes on distant arrangements of lights so as to return to wet and wild nests? Our heads tilt up and up and we are careful to never look at each other. You were born on a day of peaches splitting from so much rain and the slick smell of fresh tar and asphalt pushed over a cracked parking lot. You were strong enough—even as a baby—to clutch a fistful of thistle and the sun himself was proud to light up your teeth when they first swelled and pushed up from your gums. And this is how I will always remember you when we are covered up again: by the pale mica flecks on your shoulders. Some thrown there from your own smile. Some from my own teeth. There are not enough jam jars to can this summer sky at night. I want to spread those little meteors on a hunk of still-warm bread this winter. Any trace left on the knife will make a kitchen sink like that evening air
the cool night before
star showers: so sticky so
warm so full of light
Location: A Lit Summer Night takes place Thursday, June 6 at 6:30 p.m. ET at Ariel International Center (1163 E 40th St, Cleveland, OH 44114).
Parking: Parking is included for free with your ticket in the lot surrounding the building.
Food and drink: Light appetizers will be served and each attendee will receive two drink tickets.
Auction: Win local and literary items and baskets at our silent auction (available both online and in-person).
Dress: Creative Cocktail Attire—semi-formal dresses and jackets with personal style and creativity encouraged!
Individual Tickets: $125 individual tickets are available for general seating.
Table Tickets: Save by purchasing a half-table (4 tickets) for $450 or a full table (8 tickets) for $800. You can share tickets with friends or donate them to a special group. Either way you help support Literary Cleveland and local writers.
Silver sponsors: Appletree Books, Mac's Backs Books and USPack
Bronze sponsors: Chautauqua Institution, Debbie George State Farm, Learned Owl Book Shop, Loganberry Books, Margaret W. Wong and Associates, and Rosenberg Advertising
