CANTON — Twelve storytellers will vie for The Howl Grand Slam champion at 7 p.m. Saturday at St. Lawrence University’s Gulick Theatre in Canton.
Slam competitors Josh Cook, Rhiannon Adsit, Dan Sullivan, Sam Darring, Dan Badger, Allen Ditch, Michael McGuire, Ron Tavernier, Tom Brodrick, Heather Maxey, Johanna Martin and Amy Coddington-Burnett will spin their take on the theme A for Effort, “stories of best laid plans, going awry or going exactly as planned; stories of trying your hardest, of school grade efforts, putting your best foot forward, and maybe misstepping along the way.”
Coddington-Burnett won in Tupper Lake and also won the grand slam last year. Will she relive her glory from last year?
“The Grand Slam is truly regional because the audience is regional. People drive hours to come, so that’s one of the things that’s really exciting because you have this huge representation on the stage of storytellers from every nook and cranny, 12 different communities throughout the whole region,” Nathalie Thill, Adirondack Center for Writing executive director, said.
“But the audience itself, you never know where the person sitting next to you came from. There is a very large audience that is dedicated, and they drive a really long time, so it’s special to have this moment where you just realize that a huge swath of the entire Adirondack region is in one building.”
This year marks The Howl’s 10th season. It is a collaboration between ACW and North Country Public Radio.
“It keeps growing, too. We just had the last two: We had one in Saratoga Springs, and I think there were, like, 120 people there. The one in Saranac Lake was really big,” Thill said.
“I don’t even know at The Waterhole. We keep filling these really large spaces. It’s very exciting, very successful, and what is really fun is the slam part of it, the contest. It’s really less about the storytellers and more about the audience because there is a winner, the audience all develop strong opinions on whether or not they agree with the choice.”
Last year’s Slam was attended by 525 people in Saranac Lake.
“I guarantee you that every single one of them drove home and argued or talked about who their favorite story was. ‘Why didn’t that one win?’ or, ‘I actually did like that one because of this.’ We are developing critical audiences that are evaluating stories, and that part wouldn’t happen if the Slam wasn’t there, so it really is part of the fun,” she said. “The audiences have a really, really special night when they go to the Grand Slam, so I really encourage people to go. It’s really one of a kind night. It happens once a year.”
SEMINARS
These dog days of winter can be illuminated with an array of online classes.
“We have a really robust set of programs — the combination of presentations and talks, online writing workshops and in-person events,” Thill said.
“We have a lot of things coming up. We have a two-part online class that’s really for beginners, and it’s talking about fiction, nonfiction and memoir. We’ve had this workshop leader in the past, and she’s been very popular, so we’re having her back.”
For five weeks, Caroline Rothstein leads “The Language of the Body: Writing As a Pathway for Healing.”
In another class, participants will take a deep dive with New York City high school teacher Devin Kelly in “A Line As Long As the Heart Is Wide: Reading and Writing with the Poetry of Larry Levis.”
“That class only has a few spaces left, too. It’s very popular,” Thill said. “It’s really great because it’s both an exploration of this poets work as well as a writing workshop.”
Author Shira Dentz leads a submission seminar called “How and Where to Publish Your Writing” from 1-3 p.m. on March 22.
“In addition to that, the workshop leader, Shira, will read a part of your work and comment on it,” Thill said. “It’s a 300-word max submission, and they will get a 300-word feedback on your writing as well as recommendations for publications for your work. So it’s a really great opportunity to get some feedback and also some ideas on places where you can get it published.”
Discerning minds will gather for “Fact or Fiction 2026” at 7 p.m. on March 6 at The Waterhole in Saranac Lake. Tickets are $10.
“That is the most fun night that you will have all year,” Thill said. “Fact or Fiction is where I pre-select storytellers, and they all tell stories, but some of them tell true stories and some of them lie. They make up stories, but the audience has to decide which one.
“So the audience can yell out questions to try to trip up the storytellers. It’s a way to fold in fiction into oral storytelling. It is really fun because it’s the audience that wins. Whoever guesses the most correctly wins glory. It’s a twist on storytelling because some people have written a fictional story. It’s all about credibility and having the audience believe you or not believe you.
“Honestly, it’s the most fun I personally have all year round. Everybody does. It’s extremely popular. I think last year, we had 160 people there. It’s fun for me personally. First of all, it’s my idea, so I enjoy that, but also, I get to personally select the storytellers, so I get to choose storytellers that interest me, so that I want to give a platform to. and it’s also interesting to me to have my fingerprints on this program so much.”
POEM VILLAGE
Submissions are now open for Poem Village, where featured poems will appear publicly in Saranac Lake, Malone and St. Lawrence county.
“All the same poems are going to be in those three places,” Thill said. “Then we’re also accepting submissions to our Wild Word Teen Writing Anthology. Teens from all over the region are welcome to submit. There are submission guidelines on our website (acw.org). If they’re selected, we publish an anthology.
“It’s a gorgeous anthology, it’s a really big event, and it’s a big deal. It’s a really big honor to be selected for the Wild Words Anthology. This will be our fourth year. We really do get submissions from the entire region. Any teenager who has ties to the area or who lives here, (ages) 14 to 19, can submit. We will let them know if they were selected. We usually select anywhere between 60 and 70 pieces, and we create a hardbound anthology, and we have a big book launch both here in Saranac Lake and at The Hyde in Glens Falls.”
The 10th anniversary season of The Howl season returns, and there will be an open mic at Olive Ridley’s in Plattsburgh on March 11.
“The interesting thing about The Howl is we’ve been doing it long enough, and we add new towns and change it up every year. It’s not the same place,” she said.
“There are some places that we go to every year. There’s a certain character to each one. There’s a character for that town’s Howl that is sort of revealing. The Keeseville Howl is really, really lovely and fun.”
June brings the highly anticipated return of the biennial Kickass Writers Festival.
“We will be releasing this year’s faculty in a couple of weeks. Save the date for June 5 and 6,” Thill said.
If You Go WHAT, WHEN & WHERE: The Howl Grand Slam is heading back in Canton! Join us and NCPR this Saturday, January 24, at 7 PM at St. Lawrence University’s Gulick Theatre. ADMISSION: Get your tickets now for $20. Advance ticket sales end Friday, Jan. 23, at 5 p.m. and will be $25 at the door. WEBSITE: www.adirondackcenterforwriting.org
“There are some places that we go to every year. There’s a certain character to each one. There’s a character for that town’s Howl that is sort of revealing.” Nathalie Thill ACW Executive Director