Last night was a cozy, sweet evening at the Cantab– a nice switch-up from our usual packed-to-the-gills house, where nearly everyone had a seat and fans of the feature trickled in slowly with the rain. The centerpiece of the night was the excellently smart Melissa Lozada-Oliva, a genuine performer and thinker who hasn’t let the title of National Poetry Slam Champion stop her from bringing her constantly evolving voice to light in her new poems.
By the time we got to slamtime, the house was full and so was the first slam in the 8×8 series! Eight poets faced off for a chance to qualify for the 2016 Boston Poetry Slam team (and maybe to take on new champ Mckendy Fils-Aimé in December). The final round came down to a ramping-up Chloé Cunha and an absolutely ruthless Nora Meiners: the audience knows they lucked out getting to hear three poems from each of these powerhouses, but an extra round of applause went to Nora for capturing the win and the ten-dollar prize.
Next week: our feature will be another National Poetry Slam Champion, DC slam sensation and Harvard doctoral candidate Clint Smith! There’ll also be another open slam in this final series of the year, so get prepped this week in time to jump in.
BUT WAIT, THE RECAP’S NOT OVER: you might have seen that we had an official photographer in the house last night to catch a visual recap of the show. Check out some stills of the show’s performances:
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- Jess Riz, pizza pi press curator, reads during the open mic. Photo by Rich Beaubien.
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- Josh Elbaum takes the stage to sacrifice for the open slam. Photo by Rich Beaubien.
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- JR Mahung finishes out his hosting work with a cover poem. Photo by Rich Beaubien.
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- Stephen Earl McCoy performs in his first poetry slam. Photo by Rich Beaubien.
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- Al Gundy rises to the challenge of last week’s writing prompt. Photo by Rich Beaubien.
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- April Penn performs on the open mic. Photo by Rich Beaubien.
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- Chloé Cunha delivers a masterful mid-slam side-eye. Photo by Rich Beaubien.
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- Zeke Russell pauses to let the poem sink in. Photo by Rich Beaubien.
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- Melissa Lozada-Oliva, the night’s featured poet, brings new work to the stage. Photo by Rich Beaubien.
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- Melissa Lozada-Oliva takes a moment between poems during her feature set. Photo by Rich Beaubien.
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- Melissa Lozada-Oliva brings it all home in her feature set. Photo by Rich Beaubien.
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- Melissa Lozada-Oliva makes a point during her feature set. Photo by Rich Beaubien.
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- Anthony C. brings the short-and-sweetly-shocking to the slam. Photo by Rich Beaubien.
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- Cassandra de Alba considers the invisibility of heritage. Photo by Rich Beaubien.
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- Chloé Cunha, open slam finalist. Photo by Rich Beaubien.
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- Dexter King performs in the first round of the 8×8 slam. Photo by Rich Beaubien.
Thanks to BPS official photographer Rich Beaubien for these lovely photos! (Readers, please be friendly and don’t forget to apply proper credit when sharing.)
Boston Poetry Slam Online