Consider the poetry books you know best, or have at least read cover to cover. Interrogate one in the name of your own poem by asking it a question it is not designed to answer.
Moonlighting: A Queer Open Mic and Reading Series on October 2, 2014 Featuring Janae Johnson
This reading is part of our monthly LGBTQ series, Moonlighting. Click here for more information about this recurring show.
The featured reader for October 2 is Janae Johnson.
Janae Johnson, WOWPS 2014 Finalist, champion Boston slammer, and Moonlighting feature. Photo by Jonathan Weiskopf.
Janae Johnson is a Stevie Wonder-loving, Jamba Juice-sipping, slampoet, educator, and activist in the Boston area. With a jock’s mentality and a poet’s heart, Janae brings all sports and no games to poetry slam. Inspired by uncomfortable silences and midnight bus rides, Janae uses her poetry to shed light on issues of racial inequality, homophobia, and the nuances of love. Truly believing that language is power, she wishes to inspire others to find and embrace the strength in their voices. Janae ranked 5th at the Women of the World PoetrySlam (2014), was the grand slam champion of the 2014 Boston Poetry Slam Team and the 2013 Lizard Lounge Poetry Slam Team. She is the founder/coach/advisor for the nationally ranked Simmons College (Speaks) Poetry Slam team.
This show in our monthly Thursday LGBTQ series takes place at Fazenda Coffee Roasters, 3710 Washington St. in the Jamaica Plain area of Boston. An open mic begins at approximately 7:00 p.m. and the headliner follows the open mic. The show is all-ages and a $3 donation is requested.
Cantab Feature for Wednesday, October 1, 2014: Sean Patrick Mulroy
Sean Patrick Mulroy, 2014 Boston Poetry Slam IWPS representative.
Sean Patrick Mulroy is having the best 2014 ever. Listen: first, after ten years of visiting, slamming at, and working for the Boston Poetry Slam, he finally took possession of the Champions of Champions title just this January. Next, just in time for National Poetry Month, he cemented his spot on his third Boston Poetry Slam Team, this time in the top three and with a self-imposed goal of using only formal and humorous work. AND THEN THE CAPPER: he won the six-rounds of speed and long-form work required to become our one and only Individual World Poetry Slam representative, earning himself a trip to Phoenix, Arizona this October to slam solo for the first time under the banner of his home venue.
Between all that, Sean has been hosting the open mic and slam both in the Cantab and across the river at Moonlighting, not to mention co-coaching the 2014 Boston Poetry Slam Team. After all that, we might as well give him one night to be an artist: Sean will have an extended feature time (which means no poetry slam!) just before we send him off to IWPS. We’ll be charging a $5 cover that night to help make the last few dollars for his travel and lodging to the tournament. Come out for what’s sure to be an extra-special night.
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. Due to extended feature time, there is no poetry slam tonight. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $5.
Cantab Recap for Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Running a slam in Boston has always meant a lot of transition for the Cantab; poets come to the city for two, or four, or five years, make their mark on the community, and then depart for the next phase of their lives. It can be easy to focus most on the voices we miss, and the new voices we hope to make their mark… But there are plenty of folks whose constant presence help bolter our reading and make the greater community what it is. One of those NorthBEAST favorites featured for us last night: Slam Free or Die native and two-time Boston Poetry Slam Team member Mckendy Fils-Aimé. True to form, Mckendy showed off his performance chops and his famed penchant for short and formal work, reading from a so-limited-it’s-already-gone chapbook he produced just for this show. Best of all, you can catch Mckendy at our show on the open mic in coming weeks, as well as weekly at the Manchester slam, where he hosts, books, and runs a Saturday workshop at UNH. Lucky us!
Trying their luck in the slam after Mckendy’s feature were six poets, all hot for the ten-dollar prize and a shot at the upcoming Champion of Champions slam at the end of October. A hotly contested finals came down to Lesley poet Maps for Teeth editor Jess Riz versus another of New Hampshire’s vital organizer poets, Emily Eastman! Emily took the win and the super-lucrative cash prize, and earns a welcome back later in the fall.
Next week: World Qualifier Champion and Individual World Poetry Slam rep for the BPS Sean Patrick Mulroy will be our feature. Sean’s got extra time to stretch out an extended feature, so there’s no slam; cover charge will be $5 to help send Sean to Phoenix for the October 8 IWPS comp, plus you might want to pack a few extra bucks to pick up his newest chapbook. See you there!
Cantab Feature for Wednesday, September 24, 2014: Mckendy Fils-Aimé
NorthBEAST rockpoetrystar Mckendy Fils-Aimé. Photo by Christopher Clauss at Slam Free or Die.
Mckendy Fils-Aimé hails from Manchester, New Hampshire, where he is an instrumental organizer and co-host for his home slam, the long-running and wildly popular Slam Free or Die. A seven-time veteran of the National Poetry Slam and perennial semi-finalist, as well as the winner of the Boston Poetry Slam’s 2012 World Qualifier, he has been published in Freezeray, Word Riot, and Drunk in a Midnight Choir. The only thing Mckendy likes as much as poetry is his sneaker collection. He is currently working on his fourth chapbook.
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 poetry slam in the 8×8 series will follow. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $3.
Cantab Recap for Wednesday, September 17, 2014
It was a heady night at the Cantab last night, folks, as Star Trek and Star Wars fans waged a war to be remembered for all eternity… Or at least until the galactically strong drinks wear off. Producer and idea-man Nathan Comstock tempted sixteen poets down the stairs into our wretched hive of booze and poetry, where each hoped that perhaps tonight would be a good night to slam. Slam co-host Adam Stone had produced two outrageously deadly drinks– the untenable Death Star and the similarly unfinishable Kobayashi Maru, both terrible yet popular ideas that decidedly reveal more about their creator than about those willing to engage– and a highly focused bar crowd settled in to lend their forebodingly un-pointy ears to the competitors.
Highlights of the night included Sean Patrick Mulroy’s “(It’s a) Traptych;” Sue Savoy’s local trouble with tribbles; Jade Sylvan’s on-board Enterprise slash fiction; and Kieran Collier’s desperate plea for legitimacy for The Phantom Menace– which was subsequently dissected by his own teammate, Ellyn Padme m*****f****** Amidala Touchette. However, infighting aside, Star Wars managed to take the win 5-2, bullseyeing the Trekkies like womp rats in Beggar’s Canyon. Look out, Disney, here we come!
Special thanks go to our hard-working celebrity judges for the night, of course, as well as whoever drank enough at the bar to give the Star Trek their consolation win for the night: the Kobayashi Maru outsold the Death Star 14-4.
Next Wednesday, we’ll be back, of course, with less strife, but all the intellectual character development; our feature will be Manchester’s Mckendy Fils-Aimé, all-star New England favorite, followed by an open poetry slam. See you there, poetry nerds!
Cantab Feature for Wednesday, September 17, 2014: Star Trek vs. Star Wars Slam
Star Trek vs. Star Wars! Official logo! By Gary Hoare!
Han Solo or Captain Kirk? The Millennium Falcon or the Enterprise? Experts have debated the merits of Star Trek vs. Star Wars for decades, but now the Boston Poetry Slam will boldly take this argument where it has never gone before— to the arena of poetry slam.
Join host and producer Nathan Comstock for a slam that will bring freedom to the galaxy, wherein each slammer will take on a character (or entity, we suppose) from their chosen universe, then duel to the death! Trekkies Wes Hazard, Jonah Comstock, Jade Sylvan, Valerie Loveland, Alexandria Lowther, Riva Foss, and Colin Killick will engage in a battle of wits, I.Q., and potentially complex in-jokes against Warmongers Mckendy Fils-Aimé, Harlym125, Ed Wilkinson, Michael Monroe, Kieran Collier, Ellyn Touchette, and Sean Patrick Mulroy. Special guests from parallel universes will serve as sacrifice in the most true-to-nerd competition ever attempted at the Boston Poetry Slam.
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 invite-only slam begins at approximately 10:00. An open poetry slam in the 8×8 series will follow. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $3.
Cantab Recap for Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Ah, mid-September, the time when poets’ thoughts turn lightly to those of touring… Fortunately, we got one-time BPS team member Jade Sylvan to hang with us tonight for a full feature before embarking on yet another whirlwind of poetry performance! Jade treated us to both new and older work, reading excerpts from her latest published work, Kissing Oscar Wilde, among others. We wish Jade luck on tour, and remember: don’t be a stranger!
The slam to finish up the evening was, for the first time in months, short one player, with just seven folks facing off for the ten-dollar prize. Fortunately, no one’s enthusiasm was damped by the smaller field; in fact, a few first-timers came out of the woodwork to give the regulars a run for their money! The finals came down to Judea, an open mic regular moonlighting on the late slam list, and Nathan Comstock, who brought us an all-alien-themed slam set (perhaps foreshadowing next week’s event). Nathan took the win, cementing his spot in next year’s team selection slams with months to spare.
Next week: Nathan Comstock will be the man of the hour, bringing his production and hosting experience to bear with the Cantab’s first ever Star Trek vs. Star Wars slam! It’s going to get very geeky in here, folks, as all-stars and newcomers fight for the honor of their favorite sci-fi universe, taking on characters and concepts in head-to-head match-ups. And if you didn’t make the cut to slam, don’t worry… There’s plenty of room in the open mic to make your case, too. See you there, nerds!
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