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Wordslingers Way

Wordslingers Way is an intimate venue for live spoken word entertainment, featuring a blend of poetry, storytelling, comedy, and other spoken word performances.

CONvergence 2024 Information Coming Soon!

Below is information from CONvergence 2023 for your reference.

Welcome to Wordslingers Way

Connie dressed as the shadow duel-wielding microphones

Do you love poetry, storytelling, stand-up comedy, and other spoken word performances? You will not want to miss visiting Wordslingers Way, CONvergence’s dedicated performance space for spoken word artists!

Wordslingers Way is located on the 4th floor of the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis Hotel.

Things to Know

  • Some Wordslingers Way events are adults-only. Please have your ID ready to be admitted to 18+ performances
  • We must clear the room of all audience members after each act has concluded. Seat saving is not allowed between shows
  • For the best chance at getting into our most popular shows, we recommend arriving early and being prepared to wait in line

For information on the CONvergence Poetry Slam, visit the Poetry Slam page.

To see Wordslingers Way’s most up-to-date performance listings, check CONvergence’s online schedule.

2023 Wordslingers Way Schedule

Thursday

A random-draw short-form improv show where you never know what might happen – because neither do we!
Breanna Cecile, Garrick A Dietze, Kelvin Hatle, Eric Thompson, Rian Vellichor

You ever hear stories? You ever hear stories…IN COSTUME? Some of the Twin Cities’ top telling talent dons their most dashing duds to spin yarns that would make Strunk turn White and get us kicked out of your local library.
Jeff Henry, phillip andrew bennett low, Michael A. O’Leary, Margo Prescott, Cole Sarar

Friday

  • 12:30 pm: The Wordslinger Reading Hour: Sci-Fi and Fantasy by Wordslingers Way

Stories from other places, other times, and other universes? Find your new favorite author, sharing their tales of worlds that can’t, should, or mustn’t exist, in this imaginative hour of storytelling!
Catherine Hansen, phillip andrew bennett low, Danith McPherson, Joan Verba

  • 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm: Fire in My Veins: Blazing Through Life with Invisible Illness by Allison Broeren

Living with a chronic illness is hard, horrifying, and honestly, sometimes hilarious. Storyteller Allison Broeren takes you on the romp of living life with a rare autoimmune disease.
Allison Broeren

Elizabeth Ess shares the highs (and lows) of her psychedelic, nauseating, dreamy, perfectly legal journey taking ketamine for depression. Not to be construed as medical advice!
Elizabeth Ess

Enter a lottery to perform two three-minute poems as part of the 2023 CONvergence Poetry Slam!

One part storytelling, one part panel, one part challenge show! Artists are tasked to perform while doing something else at the same time. Can they tell a story while standing on one leg? Drawing a picture? Solving an algebra equation?
Garrick Dietze, Catherine Hansen, Robb Hollyday, Cole Sarar, Jena Young

Vogon poetry. Bilbo’s Walking Song. Nevermore. The CONvergence Poetry Slam is here to celebrate words and nerds in an exciting competitive format! Show up, sign up, and if the lottery gods are kind, you may be drawn to read two three-minute poems.
Laura Evelyn Bidgood, Allison Broeren, Ben San Del, Colette Feehan, Catherine Hansen, Kelvin Hatle, Curt Lund, Dan Marlow

Saturday

Haunted houses, wailing spirits, and violent madness – what evil lurks in the hearts of men? These authors know, and are ready to share in this hour of spine-tingling horror tales!
Elizabeth Ess, Aimee Kuzenski, phillip andrew bennett low, Catherine Schaff-Stump, Rob Ward

Performer John Heimbuch will regale you with one of Charlie Bethel’s epic adaptations, either BEOWULF or GILGAMESH – you decide!
John Heimbuch

Sign up to perform up to seven minutes of original speculative fiction at the Not-So-Silent Planet open-mic!

Have you ever imagined a world whose laws of physics differ from our own? Welcome to the country’s ONLY recurring open-mic dedicated to speculative fiction! Sign up for 5-7 minutes, and tell us about a place of which we’ve never dreamt.
Ben San Del, phillip andrew bennett low

Join us in reliving what happens when the cameras stopped filming in everybody’s favorite show, “The Office.” A fan fiction flurry of stories by some of the Office’s biggest fans.
Laura Bidgood, Allison Broeren, Ben San Del, Curt Lund

Returning for the first time since The Before Times, the Comedy at CONvergence showcase features a lineup of veteran comics delivering a packed hour of laughs!
Ben San Del, Matthew Kessen, Miss Shannan Paul

Sunday

  • 12:30 pm: Melanin, Monsters, & Magic: T. Aaron Cisco Reads Excerpts by T. Aaron Cisco

Cisco reads excerpts from his latest afrofantasy novels, along with stories and anecdotes from a life spent as the chocolate mint on the off-white pillow.
T. Aaron Cisco

Baba Yaga is alive and well. Join storyteller Laura Packer for a woven tale of life, the forest, and questions, then hear what Baba Yaga has to say to you.
Laura Packer

Like what you see? Check out Wordslingers Way on the CONvergence online schedule and app to add your favorite performers to your personal schedule!

Perform at Wordslingers Way

Interested in performing at Wordslingers Way? Maybe you have a poetry or storytelling act, or another idea? We’d love to work with you! Please see our Wordslingers Way Performer Information page or the Musicians/Performers page for information on performing at CONvergence in general!

Questions & Comments

Have questions or comments about Wordslingers Way or spoken word performances at CONvergence? Contact Wordslingers Way!

Connie reclining