Remember January, Cantabbers? That whole month when you were waiting, begging the calendar to turn to July? You probably didn’t even know that Jason Bayani was going to be our kickoff feature for this month, but boy-o, was that worth waiting for: Jason swung by New England for a whirlwind four-venue tour with our Wednesday as centerpiece, and we’d welcome this west coaster back any time. If you missed him last night, you can still catch him at Slam Free or Die in Manchester tonight, or grab his book, Amulet, online at Write Bloody Publishing.
After Jason’s feature, our slam was a wild ride of rookies looking for their first wins of the season– or their first-ever slam cred! Much-missed bartender Melissa Newman-Evans was back in town from Denver to sacrifice for these knock-kneed first-timers, setting the bar high. The finals came down to two storyline-heavy readers, Norm and JR Mahung… A strong effort from Norm was just short of catching JR, though, who stepped off the page for his final poem and into the record books with the first slam win of the summer.
Next week: we’re back with another open slam to qualify the winner for the 2016 slam team. Oh, and our feature? None other than the nationally excellent Robert Lashley, in town from the Pacific Northwest. Mark your calendar for Wednesday!
Boston Poetry Slam Online