Craig Nelson represented a variety of New England teams at the National Poetry Slam from 1998-2001, including the Boston Poetry Slam team in 2001. He co-hosted the Boston Poetry Slam at the Cantab Lounge from 2001-2002. From 2002-2011, Craig disappeared from the spoken word scene in order to find his fortune. He did.
He currently runs Northampton Poetry, the largest open mic reading in Western Mass. Craig is a fan of Shakespeare, Dante, and classic foreign cinema. His work covers such topics as Love Calvinism, Philly’s gayborhood, the big-money world of spoken word poetry, tattooed baristas, climate change, climate change as it pertains to tattooed baristas, and his goal of riding a barrel over Niagara Falls. His poem “The Tide,” which borrows from Henry V’s St. Crispin’s Day speech, has rallied various open mike readings to several small yet meaningful victories over the pervasive technology of whatever year this is.
This show in our weekly Wednesday series takes place at the Cantab Lounge, 738 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge. Doors for the show open at 7:15. The open mic begins at 8:00 and the feature performs at approximately 10:00. An open slam in the 8×8 series will follow. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $3.
Boston Poetry Slam Online