Cantab Feature for Wednesday, May 7, 2014: World Qualifier Speed Slam

Our nine-round speed slam series has only just drawn to a close… Which means it’s time to ramp up for the biggest speed slam of them all, the opening rounds of the World Qualifier! This two-night, six-poem series will select the Boston Poetry Slam’s sole representative to the 2014 Individual World Poetry Slam, taking place in Phoenix this October.

Night one of the World Qualifier is our annual grand speed slam: poets who have qualified in the last three 8×8 slam series will compete in a lightning-fast two-round slam using only 2- and 1-minute poems. That means lots of new work performed by your favorite slam winners from the past year! Top scorers move on to Finals at the end of the month.

The following qualified poets have confirmed that they will compete on Wednesday, May 7 (what a list!):

  • Bobby Crawford
  • Marshall Gillson
  • Meaghan Ford
  • Melissa Newman-Evans
  • Mckendy Fils-Aimé
  • Sophia Holtz
  • Ed Wilkinson
  • Kieran Collier
  • Janae Johnson
  • Nora Meiners
  • Allison Truj
  • Zanne Langlois
  • Sierra Lister
  • Chris Lee
  • Sean Patrick Mulroy
  • Omoizele Okoawo
  • Chloé Cunha
  • Zeke Russell
  • Princess Chan
  • Ellyn Touchette
  • Nathan Comstock
  • Emily Carroll
  • Dave McKenna
  • Sacrifice poems will be performed by Tom Slavin and Catherine Martin.

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. An slightly shortened open mic begins at 8:00 and the slam begins at approximately 10:00. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $5; proceeds will go toward funding the World Qualifier winner’s trip to IWPS in Phoenix, Arizona this October.

Cantab Recap for Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Around here at the BPS, a five-Wednesday month feels as good as a month with an extra paycheck! We spent our poetry payday with a raw, remarkable, and highly memorable feature from Corrina Bain; Corrina welcomed us to a rawly new 30/30 and a dark landscape of childhood memories, all laced with surprisingly homey sarcasm, taking names and changing lives the whole way. Want more? Corrina’s booked at tonight’s Moonlighting show in Jamaica Plain, including a special 6:30 workshop to help kick-start your writing to the next level, as well as an all-different set for those of you who are aching for another taste of this intense performer.

The slam last night was also of remarkable character: eight hopefuls lined up for the Last Chance Slam, the final opportunity for poets to get in on next week’s World Qualifier Speed Slam. Between collegiate all-stars and old school slam champions, wave after wave of slam was represented… And the final two came down to Jena, a clever and unshy poet visiting from Austin, and Dave McKenna, onetime Radio regular. Jena’s poem in the second round won the crowd and judges’ hearts, but Dave’s one-minute performance in the final round sealed the deal and earned him ten bucks and the last spot. Awesome work from everyone!

Tonight: Moonlighting, our LGBTQ reading, starts with a 6:30 workshop and continues with an open mic and feature from the awesome Corrina Bain.

Next week: an outrageous number of poets have qualified for what will actually be a super-efficient show… Our famous World Qualifier Speed Slam invites the last three series of winners back to do only 2- and 1-minute poems, hoping to make the cut for Finals at the end of the month! You can see the list of 20+ monster poets behind the link; we think that’s worth a $5 cover charge, which will help send the ultimate World Qualifier winner to the Individual World Poetry Slam in October.

Tips from the Bar: The E.B. White Prompt

Tell a joke. Now over-explain it.

Moonlighting: A Queer Open Mic and Reading Series Featuring Corrina Bain on Thursday, May 1, 2014

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

The featured reader for May 1 is Corrina Bain.

Corrina Bain, Moonlighting feature for May 1, 2014.

Corrina Bain, Moonlighting feature for May 1, 2014.

Corrina Bain is a gender-nonconforming writer, performance artist, educator, and wearer of suspenders. He has an extensive background in poetry slam, and has performed at venues as varied as the Coronet at the Largo Theater in Los Angeles and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York. Published in anthologies and journals including RATTLE and the Everyman’s Library book Villanelles, he has also been nominated for the Pushcart Prize three times. He lives in Brooklyn and is a social worker in emergency psychiatry. More at corrinabain.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 Feature for Wednesday, April 30, 2014: Corrina Bain

Corrina Bain, onetime Worcester poet, returns to the Boston Poetry Slam from NYC.

Corrina Bain, onetime Worcester poet, returns to the Boston Poetry Slam from NYC.

Corrina Bain is a gender-nonconforming artist, activist and educator whose poetry on page and in performance addresses and illuminates issues of transgression, particularly related to sexuality, gender, family and religion/mythology. Fueled and informed by past work in a detox center, an abortion clinic, a rape crisis hotline, and as a volunteer educator responding to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Mozambique, Corrina’s poetry embraces and expresses the grit and fury and endurance of humanity.

Corrina’s work has earned a spot on four National Poetry Slam rosters and an opportunity to compete at the Individual World Poetry Slam competition in 2004, as well as featured performances throughout the country both solo and with luminaries including Dorothy Allison, Patricia Smith, Buddy Wakefield, Jim Carroll, Tobias Wolff, Nick Flynn, and Paul Muldoon. Journals including Danse Macabre, decomP, Killauthor, PANK, Muzzle, and The November 3rd Club have published Corrina’s work and a spoken word concept album, “Distilled,” created in collaboration with musician Tom Inhaler, focused on the experience of addiction. Recently, Corrina was a featured performer with Boston-based queer performance art troupe The Femme Show.

Note that tonight’s open poetry slam is a speed slam 3-, 2-, and 1-minute rounds. This is the last chance for a winner to 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. The Last Chance Slam in the speed series will follow. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $3.

Cantab Recap for Wednesday, April 23, 2014

National Poetry Month marches on, folks, and with it come brand new poets to the stage, poems from our regulars, and fabulous new books from our headliners. This past Wednesday’s feature, Hieu Minh Nguyen, brought us a short and intense lifetime of work in a book barely six weeks off the presses. Bypassing banter to pack more poetry into his set, Hieu held us spellbound for the duration of a truly memorable feature. Missed it? You can buy Hieu’s book direct from Write Bloody Publishing or connect with him at his personal website.

Hieu’s feature was followed by a similarly intense five-person Champion of Champions match! Past slam champs Zeke Russell, Ed Wilkinson, Ellyn Touchette, Nathan Comstock, and Emily Carroll were on hand to take a shot at reigning champ Sean Patrick Mulroy. The three-round speed slam saw a few upsets and a few time penalties: the final one-minute round came down to Ellyn Touchette eliminating Ed Wilkinson for the season title. Ellyn went on to challenge the champ in the brand-new-work round and, by a score of 3-2 took the win! Congratulations to Ellyn Touchette, our newly minted Champion of Champions. She’ll be invited back to defend her title in August.

Next week: we’ll have a fabulous double-header with Corrina Bain as our Wednesday feature and then again with an all-different set on Thursday at Moonlighting. Our Wednesday show will also include the Last Chance Speed Slam, the very last opportunity for poets to get in on the World Qualifier Speed Slam in May.

Tips from the Bar: Flying in Your Underwear Over a Graveyard with Your Stepmom

Write a (completely inaccurate) symbol guide to your dreams.

Cantab Feature for Wednesday, April 23, 2014: Hieu Minh Nguyen and the Champion of Champions Slam

Twin Cities poet Hieu Minh Nguyen. Photo credit: Michelle Tacheny.

Twin Cities poet Hieu Minh Nguyen. Photo credit: Michelle Tacheny.

Hieu Minh Nguyen was born and raised in Saint Paul, Minnesota, by a single, Vietnamese-American mother. He is the author of This Way to the Sugar (Write Bloody Press, 2014) He co-coached the 2011 University of Minnesota poetry slam team, which placed fourth at the College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational.

Hieu was also a member of the fifth-ranked Minneapolis adult National Poetry Slam team in 2011. In 2012, he was a featured performer at The Equilibrium’s 10-year anniversary show, performing alongside slam legends Patricia Smith and Anis Mojgani. He is currently a member of the Good News Poetry Tour, which travels across the country performing at various colleges and universities. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in publications such as The Journal, PANK, Muzzle, decomP, Anti-, and Indiana Review. He works at a haberdashery.

Tonight also marks the final night in our current 8×8 poetry slam series! Eight slam winners will slam off for the season championship and the opportunity to challenge reigning Champion of Champions Sean Patrick Mulroy.

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

Encyclopedia Show: Somerville for Monday, April 21, 2014 — S2V7: FAST FOOD

Encyclopedia Show: Somerville — FAST FOOD on April 21, 2014! Art by Melissa Newman-Evans.

Encyclopedia Show: Somerville — FAST FOOD on April 21, 2014! Art by Melissa Newman-Evans.

Monday, April 21, 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 SEASON FINALE 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 FAST FOOD! 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
  • and Intern Steve Subrizi probably has something to say about vegetables.

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, April 16, 2014

Yup, we’ve been waiting for Geoff Kagan Trenchard to come back to the Cantab for almost three years, and it was totally worth the wait. This Juris Doctor Candidate took a tiny break from his life as a student to school us on proper storytelling, fine-tuned word choice, and impeccable stage presence.

To close the night, our final speed slam in the 8×8 series only had four takers… Which meant a good chance of winning the ten bucks at the end of the night, right? Well, whatever you might have thought your chances are, you would have gotten beat by either Meaghan Ford or Emily Carroll on their way to the finals! Slamming all on page, Emily took the high cumulative score in the first two rounds and a victory in the final one-minute round, which puts her in in the sweet spot in next week’s Champion of Champions match.

That’s right: next week, we invite the past eight slam winners back to the show for an all-champs speed slam and a chance to take down reigning champ Sean Patrick Mulroy. But first, we’ll knock their confidence down a few notches by bringing an awesome published slammer to the stage. Get ready to welcome Hieu Minh Nguyen, Write Bloody author and thoughtful man of craft, on his visit to balmy Boston from chilly Minnesota.