Cantab Recap for Wednesday, March 19, 2014

What a week it’s been so far at the Boston Poetry Slam. After a rollicking, hilarious show at the Encyclopedia Show on Monday (don’t forget to check out our season finale on April 21, by the way), we had just a day to recover before preparing for a visit from our very favorite president ever, Scott Woods! Scott trekked all the way from Columbus, Ohio, to explain why is still a librarian, what kind of student would steal your Nina Simone CD but not your vodka, and how the problem, actually, is not the watermelon.

You can get Scott’s book, We Over Here Now, online at Brick Cave Books… Or grab one in person tonight (Thursday, March 20) at his Slam Free or Die show in Manchester. You also can thank BPS official photographer Rich Beaubien for a few of these cool shots he took of Scott last night:

Speaking of Manchester: how many nights a week does SFoD workshopper and BPS 2013 team member Ed Wilkinson do poetry, anyway? Last night, Ed took the speed slam after a crazy tie in the one-minute round over Lowell’s own King of the North, the villanelle-loving Nathan Comstock. (If you missed out on the show, by the way, you can make it up to Ed by joining him for his Cantab feature on April 9.)

So ends our last open slam of March… Which means that next week must be THE BOSTON POETRY SLAM TEAM SELECTION FINALS! Excuse our volume: that’s just a little bit like the sound of nine poets checking the mic at once in preparation for our three-round zero-elimination slam next week. At the end of the night, the top five poets remaining will represent the Boston Poetry Slam at the 2014 National Poetry Slam! Remember, it’s a $5 cover to help us get all the way to Oakland this year, so pack a sawbuck and a slam-newbie friend and come out to help us select the team next Wednesday.

Tips from the Bar: Something Simple for a Change

Write a poem that is an argument against something you believe in.

Cantab Feature for Wednesday, March 19, 2014: Scott Woods

Scott Woods, Columbus MC and former president of Poetry Slam, Inc.

Scott Woods, Columbus MC and former president of Poetry Slam, Inc.

Scott Woods is the author of We Over Here Now (2013, Brick Cave Books) and has published and edited work in a variety of publications. He has been featured multiple times in national press, including appearances on National Public Radio. He was the President of Poetry Slam Inc. and currently MCs the Writers’ Block Poetry Night, an open mic series in Columbus, Ohio. In April of 2006 he became the first poet to ever complete a 24-hour solo poetry reading, a feat he bested with six more annual 24-hour readings without repeating a single poem. You can visit him at scottwoodswrites.net.

Note that tonight’s open poetry slam is a speed slam 3-, 2-, and 1-minute rounds. Slam winners qualify for the 2014 World Qualifier.

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 speed slam in the 8×8 series will follow. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $3.

Encyclopedia Show: Somerville for Monday, March 17, 2014 — S2V6: EXPLORERS

Encyclopedia Show: Somerville — EXPLORERS on March 17, 2014! Art by Melissa Newman-Evans.

Encyclopedia Show: Somerville — EXPLORERS on March 17, 2014! Art by Melissa Newman-Evans.

Monday, March 17, 2014
The Davis Square Theatre
255 Elm St. in Somerville
7pm doors, 8pm-10pm show
all ages, $10/$7 sliding scale
click for Facebook event

The Boston Poetry Slam and Simone Beaubien present the next installment in a slightly educational monthly series!

The Encyclopedia Show Somerville is an event franchised from the original series founded in Chicago in 2008, wherein invited artists from a variety of performance disciplines present all-new, original works on sub-topics of a single theme. A recurring cast of hosts and characters welcomes the artists with open arms and minds, while the resident Fact Checker is charged with maintaining the integrity of the Encyclopedic Truth of the show.

Our theme for this month’s show will be EXPLORERS! Presenting all-original guest performances from local artists, plus work from our recurring cast members:

  • Aimee Rose Ranger and Kevin Spak provide deft and earnest CO-HOSTING
  • The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library offers MUSICAL SUPPORT
  • Wes Hazard dispenses QUESTIONABLE EXPERTISE with panache and aplomb
  • Teacher Meg comes forth with EDUCATIONAL CONSULTATION that might not explode anything
  • and Intern Steve Subrizi will of course not find himself unutterably, despairingly lost in the wilderness.

Live Fact Checking is reluctantly provided by Jack van Sly from the Institute of Human Knowledge and Hygiene. The personal assistant to Mr. van Sly is Jade Sylvan.

This show in our monthly Encylopedia Show: Somerville series takes place at the Davis Square Theatre, 255 Elm St. in Somerville. Doors and the theatre bar open for a pre-show welcome party at 7:00. The show begins promptly at 8:00 and finishes at 10:00, including a short intermission. This is an all ages show! Admission is $10, or $7 for students, teachers, or guests in Prohibition-era dress.

Cantab Recap for Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Cambridge started off this past Wednesday with an unseasonably warm morning, which became an unreasonable snowstorm later that night (it’s New England spring, aren’t we just supposed to be drowning in mud right now?)… But in between, the excellent and hard-working Zeke Russell put his own stamp on the March day. Despite missing our collegiate friends at CUPSI, the house was packed to hear the introspective tales of Zeke’s life journey so far, taking on the challenges of icy Central Maine, the self-reflection of life in the Mill City, and the secret societies of Chicago and beyond. Zeke has three great books that you can only get from him directly: and the best place to do that is next Thursday, March 20, at the New Sh!t Show, a celebration of all-new poetry! Zeke will be hosting the event at Fazenda in JP (same location and times as our monthly Moonlighting show).

And, as if having Zeke do a full set for us wasn’t enough to satisfy, the night was capped off by an all-star packed speed slam. This one marks the halfway point in the current 8×8 series and it leaves just five slams left to get in on the World Qualifier… Interested parties for future slams may have to slam off against a rising Andrew Campana, who made the finals in his first appearance in the competition but ultimately lost the crown to Mill City veteran Princess Chan. Yowza!

There’s a ton of good work happening next week, folks, so spend your weekend getting pumped: we’ll be starting out on Monday in Davis Square at the Encyclopedia Show: Explorers, with poems by Tom Slavin, Nora Meiners, Katharine S-H, Claudia Wilson, and visiting DC poet Judson Lewis. Then we’ll get learned on Wednesday at the Cantab by We Over Here Now author Scott Woods from Columbus. See you there!

Tips from the Bar: the Zeke Russell Prompt

Write a discount love poem.

Meaning: a love poem that fails to live up to the (perhaps very low) expectations of a love poem.

Cantab Feature for Wednesday, March 12, 2014: Zeke Russell

Zeke Russell, Mill City SlamMaster Emeritus.

Zeke Russell, Mill City SlamMaster Emeritus. Photo by Tom Dodson.

Ezekiel “Zeke” Russell grew up in an artists’ community in Central Maine, surrounded by poets and lumberjacks. Since then, he’s been a line cook, historian, and teacher, but he now lives in Boston and works in homeless advocacy. He is a host of SlamCenter and a producer of the Boston arm of the New Sh!t Show. He is also the outgoing SlamMaster for Lowell’s Mill City Slam, and a previous host of the venue’s Untitled Open Mic. Zeke has written three chapbooks and toured New England performing his poetry. He was a member of the 2011 Mill City National Poetry Slam team, as well as the venue’s Grand Slam Champion that year. He lives with his partner Emily and PJ the wonder pug, and he usually needs a haircut.

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 speed slam in the 8×8 series will follow. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $3.

Moonlighting: A Queer Open Mic and Reading Series Featuring John Mortara on Thursday, March 6, 2014

This reading is part of our monthly LGBTQ series, Moonlighting. Click here for more information about this recurring show.

The featured reader for March 6 is John Mortara.

John Mortara, Northampton poet and Moonlighting feature.

John Mortara, Northampton poet and Moonlighting feature.

john mortara is a long list of bad ideas. john mortara is exactly why it didn’t work out. john mortara is the weird feeling you have about this. john mortara would NEVER use karate in anger. john mortara has his cake but refuses to eat it. john mortara is poet laureate of FEELING VERY UNCOMFORTABLE.

John Mortara is a poet, writer, weirdo-unicorn-thing based in Northampton, Mass. His work has been published in everyday genius, pank, kill author, vinyl, and elsewhere. his recent ebook, small creatures / wide field is currently available through The Newer York Press and his new full-length poetry collection is forthcoming from YesYes books. John operates an audio poetry project called voicemail poems. You can read some of his work at johnmortara.com.

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 Recap for Wednesday, March 5, 2014

What a sweet Wednesday at the Cantab, folks: we kicked off with a wicked good open mic with a ton of first-timers! Hope we get to see these folks again… But we have a feeling they’ll be back after the dynamite feature from Jeanann Verlee; Jeanann took us on a no-introductions, no-apologies tour of boundary-setting, bitterness and beauty, all backed by three lovely books. If you missed your chance to grab a copy of Racing Hummingbirds tonight, you can visit her at the Urbana Slam in NYC, or get your copy straight from Write Bloody Publishing here.

We also got to witness a pretty sweet reunion in the venue as well: official BPS photographers Rich Beaubien and Marshall Goff were both on hand to capture some photos of this top-notch performer. We’ll post a little gallery below, but you can also visit Marshall’s photography Facebook page or Rich’s official site (due for relaunch soon!) to see more of these artists’ work.

Next week, by the way, our feature will be Zeke Russell, who celebrated his long-overdue booking by defeating Kieran Collier in the final round of the slam last night! Zeke’s one of our favorite poets and a devoted organizer to boot; we hope you’ll join us for a full feature from this talented and hard-working artist.

Tips from the Bar: Steve?

Use William Shakespeare’s most famous stage directions to prompt your poem:

Exit, pursued by bear.