Welcome 2015 Festival Readers!
Here are some suggestions and details that you will need:
Location: The Rivoli, 344 Queen St. West, Toronto, ON (main floor, back room)
Show Time: Sunday, October 25th.
Doors officially open at 6:30 p.m. Readings begin at 7 until approximately - 9:30.
** Please arrive at 6 p.m. **
We ask you to arrive early so that you will have time to:
- receive a schedule for the evening
- meet the person who will introduce you to the audience
- become acquainted with the microphone and stage
- receive a print out of your story to read from.
The festival will be divided into two sets with a short intermission in between.
In support of all readers - we ask that
you
try
to stay until the end of the show!
The stories from the festival will be published in the collection titled:
The Totally Unknown Writers Festival 2015: Stories.
The publication will be sold, at cost, at the Festival. Each reader will receive one free copy of the book and will have the opportunity to order additional copies at less than cost (you will receive an email about this).
Reading tips
Preparation
Practice! Get yourself alone and read the stories out loud at a little slower pace than your normal conversation speed. Read each story this way three or four times, at least, you will be amazed at how much easier it is to read smoothly when you have read aloud several times.
At the festival, we will have a print off of your story for you, in an easy to read font, double spaced, on numbered pages.
Reading at the Festival
Don't chew gum (yeah I know, pretty obvious, but not to everyone!)
Turn off your phone.
Avoid drinking carbonated beverages beforehand (a beer is okay - maybe even beneficial!).
A good reading pace is just slightly slower than your usual speaking rate.
Leave a 2 second silence after introducing your story, eg:
“The Mumps, by Victoria Martinez”… slight pause ... then read the story.
Don’t worry about any small stutters, or repeating of one or two words. This a community festival, a little imperfection keeps it real.
Remember to breathe, and…
Don’t worry. Everyone gets through this okay. Even REALLY nervous people go on to live perfectly normal lives after reading at the Totally Unknown Writers Festival.
In support of all readers - we ask that you stay until the end of the show!
