Storytellers invited to enter new contest

Storytellers invited to enter new contest

The Park Rapids Lakes Area Arts Council is sponsoring a new event - the Great American Story - for oral storytellers.

First place storyteller will receive an award of $1,000. Second place will receive $500, and each of two more finalists will receive $250. All four finalists will receive one night’s lodging in Park Rapids and a celebratory meal.

For this inaugural year, stories are being invited from up to 50 Minnesota storytellers. Judges will narrow the selections to four finalists who will perform the best-told stories at an event Saturday, Sept. 24 at Armory Square in Park Rapids.

Entries must be posted on the website or, if mailed, postmarked no later than June 30. For entry information and rules for the Great American Story, please go to http://www.thegreatamericanstory.org. Entries no more than 10 minutes in length may be posted online or recorded on a CD or flash drive and mailed. Entry fee is $10.

At the public performance this fall, the audience will vote to select the top two storytellers among four finalists. The two semi-finalists will be given a prompt and tell a 10-minute extemporaneous story. The audience will then select the winner.

The Park Rapids Lakes Area Arts Council serves as an umbrella organization for 16 arts and cultural organizations in the greater Park Rapids area. Representatives from these arts groups, along with individual arts project champions, meet monthly to coordinate arts calendars, share information and incubate interest in new arts projects. PRLAAC also maintains a website - http://www.prlaac.org - and sponsors successful projects including Art Leap, Noon Hour Concerts and the Youth Music & Art Showcase.

This activity is made possible, in part, by a grant from the Region 2 Arts Council funded by an appropriation from the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the State’s general fund.