Story Slam! | Ojai Story Fest

Second Annual Story Slam!

This Year's Finalists

AJ Millard is a native Texan turned Angelino dramedy and genre writer who brings heart and oddity into everything she writes. Her writing involves not only film but also video games and animation. She recently wrote on the dating sim video game Maelstrom Masquerade available to play for free now on itch.io. Her short film Pappy Hour is available on Omeleto, and her new sci-fi short, Fractal, just premiered at Laemmle Theaters in Glendale.

AJ Millard

Story Slam Rules

1968, what a year it was to arrive here! Nurtured by two mothers, India and America, a citizen of the Atlantic. Two imperfect mothers, blessing an imperfect son. From the corporate corridors after 36 years to run schools for children sentenced to slums. I was them, once. Suffer the children to come unto you; they will create the kingdom of heaven for themselves and you. They have, for me, in India and here, since 2004. Transforming themselves, making an unjust world, slightly less so. I write in three languages - plays, poetry, memoir, stories; I act, I try to make people laugh; laughter is like love, only with less pain, and we can do it together"

GK Jayaram

Daniel Wilson

Daniel Wilson was born 22 blue moons ago in Yosemite National Park and began collecting adventures at a very young age. He enrolled in his first storytelling class just two years ago as a gift to himself after eight years of caregiving for his parents. Since then he has told stories about cowboy boots, circus elephants, slow boats in China & being a street harm reductionist in San Francisco. He has served on civil grand juries, supports the Southern Sierra Miwuk nation & can be found monthly at "the Alley" in Mariposa sharing new stories with the local storytelling committee story swaps.

Jonathan Tipton Meyers

Jonathan Tipton Meyers is a native New Yorker and self-proclaimed "Pizza Rat." He’s performed on various-sized stages in NYC anmd LA and various-sized screens for ABC, NBC, FOX, Lifetime. His solo show "We Are Traffic: an UBER Adventure" was featured on KPCC and hailed by "The Scotsman," "The Guardian" and "The Times of London" at last year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Kona Morris

Kona Morris is a writer, storyteller, comedian, and educator. She has won The Moth StorySLAM in both New York City and Los Angeles, and she has been featured on national podcasts such as RISK!, AITApod, and It's Funny Now. Kona starred in Denver's Live Drunk History Comedy Troupe, and she was Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Fast Forward Press. Her stories, articles, and prose poems have appeared in a variety of publications, and she has performed at literary readings, writing conferences, storytelling events, and comedy shows around the world. Kona is currently working on a solo show about the five years she spent living in a remote native village north of the Arctic Circle in Alaska. She runs storytelling mics and workshops in L.A. and online. Visit KonaMorris.com for more info!

Jon Cotham

Jon’s been telling stories since he learned to talk, some of them true, some not.

Born in Hollywood, he grew up a “Valley Boy”, getting into all sorts of mischief across Los Angeles county.

He loves to travel, and in his younger days, that included hitch hiking the west coast from California to Washington State and down throughout Mexico.

As an avid surfer he’s always looking to surf new locations while traveling.

Currently he’s in love with exploring Europe.

These days he likes to tell true stories, based on family, friends, and the many adventures he’s had. He believes every day is an opportunity to have a new adventure and create a new story!