What a week! This past Wednesday there was not only a fabulous open mic (as usual), but an even MORE fabulous TEAM SELECTION SLAM! Anticipation from the audience and nerves from the slammers filled the room as people filed in. On the open mic we had some freestyling, some first-timers, and fabulous poetry all around. Do you know why Sara H can’t stand being around children? Thanks to the mic, I do now!
The 🕵️♀️Weekly Shenanigans🎭 had to be the ever-observant Michael F Gill, who used his time during the smoking section to do a “poetry impression” of all nine slammers. It was hilarious, incredibly accurate, and heartwarming. Just goes to show how prolific the poets are here :)
Onto the slam! Nine slammers competed in two rounds and left every bit of their hearts on that stage. Every single poet did so well—with each performance came more pride! Of course, this wouldn’t be a team selection slam without selecting a team, and after some very close scores, we are happy to announce the Boston Poetry Slam 2023 Slam Team!!!
Final Scores:
Aparna Paul 53.1
Logan Lopez 53.0
Arielle Gray 52.7
Kai Wallin 52.5
Skylar Sweet Cheeks 52.3
Nayeli Mzin 52.0
Raechel Segal 51.6
Amy Argentar 50.3
Charlie Vicens 49.1
CONGRATULATIONS to all the amazing poets, and especially to the top 5 finishers! We were excited to watch them win, but we are even more excited to watch them represent us this season. Join us to watch them shine at the Northbeast Regional Slam Tournament June 17-18, and at the May 5 Massachusetts Poetry Festival.
Special shoutout to the other crucial participants of the slam, host Zeke Russell, scorer Michael F. Gill, and sacrificial poets Jade Kleiner and Meghan Ford. Thank you!!
Our ✏️Line of the Wednesday✏️ this week is from our own co-producer, Myles Taylor, who dropped this fire line during the last poem of the open mic: “I have to limit my futures to where the corners are darkest”
Coming up next: Join us for a sure-to-be great feature, Kristian Macaron! Kristian (she/her) resides in Albuquerque, NM, but is often elsewhere. Her full-length poetry collection Recipe for Time Travel in Case We Lose Each Other is forthcoming from Game Over Books in February 2022. Her poetry chapbook entitled Storm was released from Swimming with Elephants Publications in 2015. Other prose and poetry publications can be found in The Normal School Magazine, Uncanny Magazine, Gargoyle Magazine, Asimov’s Science Fiction & others. She is a co-founding editor of the literary journal, Manzano Mountain Review. She works at the University of New Mexico. View her work at Kristianmacaron.com!
See you then!
– Amy ✈️
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All shows take place at the Cantab Lounge, 738 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge, with one flight of stairs to access the basement room (click for directions and accessibility information). The show is $4 / 21+ (ID/Proof of Vaccination required) and doors for the show open at 7:15. The open mic begins at 8:00 PM and the feature begins at approximately 10:00 PM.
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