Imagine a landscape that is familiar or important to you. Create a poem that is a map of that visual space.
Cantab Feature for Wednesday, October 9: Carrie Rudzinski
This night is an installment in the Boston Poetry Slam’s “Sober October,” a month-long series of shows and readers selected to celebrate the sober and recovering artists in our scene.
Carrie Rudzinski brings a new poem to sacrifice for the 2012 team slams. Photo by Marshall Goff.
Named “Best Female Poet” at the 2008 College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational, Carrie Rudzinski has since performed her work for audiences across the United States, New Zealand, Australia, and India. She represented the Boston Poetry Slam at the 2010 Individual World Poetry Slam, twice at the National Poetry Slam (2010/2011), and ranked 14th at the 2011 Women Of The World Poetry Slam. At the 2011 National Poetry Slam, she took 2nd place at the coveted Underground Individual Competition, where poets are judged by an audience of their peers.
Most recently, Carrie represented Denver’s Mercury Cafe at the 2013 Women of The World Poetry Slam. Her work has been published in such collections as Words Dance, Muzzle, OnMag, and Alight. Her newest book, The Shotgun Speaks, was released in 2013.
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 slam in the 8×8 series will follow. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $3.
Update for Sunday, October 6
It’s a historic day in New England poetry slam, folks… Tonight, we raise our well-worn coffee mugs in a farewell toast to Worcester’s historic slam, The Poets’ Asylum. This long-standing event has been a staple of Wormtown’s Sunday night community and entertainment since 1989, and a beloved space for artists of all ages to cut loose, get real, and receive house-rules penalties for animal acts in a poem. Although the Asylum is closing up shop until further notice, they promise a return “someday in some form.” In the meantime, the spirit, the slam, and most of the community’s of-age poets can be found in full force at Worcester’s Monday night reading, The Dirty Gerund. We at the Boston Poetry Slam send our fondest regards to the Asylum and look forward to throwing our support behind their next project.
Of course, as long as you are toasting, you should also consider offering a tip of your hat (or a mug of your finest cheap beer) to our returning Individual World Poetry Slam representative, Bobby Crawford. Bobby finished 15th of 70 competitors, making him our highest-ranking IWPS rep to date! Come on out this Wednesday and congratulate him in person… Or high-five him on your way to your venue vantage point for this year’s 7th ranked IWPS poet, a previous Cantab IWPS rep, fellow Emerson College grad, and partial inspiration for our month-long Sober October celebration: October 9 feature Carrie Rudzinski.
Cantab Recap for Wednesday, October 2
Consider us flattered: Ed Mabrey spent his last night as the 2012 Individual World Poetry Slam Champion with us here at the Cantab! Ed took us on a sometimes-musical journey full of grand plans, advice of all kinds, and sweet, sweet awkwardness, then got a refreshing three hours of sleep before boarding his plane to the competition in Spokane. Our own sparse-yet-intense six-person slam yielded finalists Zeke Russell and Sophia Holtz… You might think Sophia has just been sitting quietly in the back of the bar listening to the rest of the field slam this summer, but she dispatched Z cleanly (and honorably) for the ten-dollar prize. What a fun show!
Meanwhile, across the country in Spokane, Washington the Individual World Poetry Slam was just heating up. After one night of preliminary competition, our very own Bobby Crawford is sitting respectably near the top third of the field, with two more rounds to go tonight! For raw scores and the bout draw for the whole tournament, you can check out Poetry Slam, Inc.’s score page… Or you can follow along with SlamCenter, the world’s one and only highlights and analysis slam news show; interviews and recaps go up tonight!
Next week at the Cantab: our celebration of Sober October continues with Carrie “Sober” Rudzinksi herself. You can expect a sold-our show, a jam-packed slam, and no doubt at least one or two classic Cantab guests coming out of the woodwork for this one. See you there!
Moonlighting: A Queer Open Mic and Reading Series on Thursday, October 3, 2013 Featuring Tommy Pico
This reading is part of our monthly LGBTQ series, Moonlighting. Click here for more information about this recurring show.
Tommy “Teebs” Pico, Editor in Chief of birdsong mag.
Tommy “Teebs” Pico is the driving force behind birdsong, an antiracist/queer-positive collective, small press, and zine that publishes art and writing. His work has appeared in [PANK], BOMB, and THEthe Poetry Blog. Originally from the Viejas Indian reservation of the Kumeyaay nation, he now lives and loves in Brooklyn. Visit him at heyteebs.tumblr.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, October 2: Ed Mabrey
This night is an installment in the Boston Poetry Slam’s “Sober October,” a month-long series of shows and readers selected to celebrate the sober and recovering artists in our scene.
Ed Mabrey, two-time IWPS champion.
Ed Mabrey is a two-time Individual World Poetry Slam Champion (2007/2012 and was the first person of color to win the title), 2012 Poetry Slam Artist of the Year (National Poetry Awards), 4-time National Poetry Slam Finalist, an Emmy nominated actor, National Best Selling poetry anthology contributor (Spoke Word Revolution Redux/Sourcebooks), motivational speaker, poet, and amateur comedian. He has served as Host/Master of Ceremony for over 200 events in the past 4 years and over 600 events in the past 8 years. Ed tours internationally and has conducted performances and workshops at over 70 colleges and universities, and most recently showcased his poem “Firework” on the 2013 National Poetry Slam Finals stage.
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 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 25
It’s a special treat when we can get a busy working mom to come all the way from New York City to feature for us on a Wednesday night… So it’s a double-special red-letter day when we get TWO of them at once! Nuyorican all-stars Falu and Mahogany L. Browne, pillars of the Nuyorican poetry scene, brought us an incredible extended double-feature, packed full of great personal and persona work; if you don’t think you learned something, check in with the person you sat next to… Or pick up work from either of them (Mo’s Swap or Falu’s Ten Things I Want to Say to a Black Man, for instance) over at the Penmanship Books website.
After the ladies rocked the stage, eight slammers took a stab at following their show: two first-timers, two folks from north of the border, and a smattering of regulars made up the motley pool. At the end of the the night, Manchester regular Mckendy Fils-Aimé pulled out a 0.1 win over local Emersonian Kieran Collier for the ten dollar prize.
Next week: Sober October kicks off with a bang! Ed Mabrey may have to head to the 2013 Individual World Poetry Slam on October 3, but we get him on the last day as the 2012 IWPS champ! This perennial national finalist and recent Katy-Perry-tribute-performer (see: NPS 2013 Finals at Berklee back in August) will grace our stage before he takes off for Spokane the next morning. Naturally, we’ll honor his visit with an 8×8 slam to qualify for the 2014 NPS team.
Cantab Feature for Wednesday, September 25: Mahogany L. Browne and Falu
NYC poet Jennifer Falu, BPS co-feature.
Mahogany L. Browne, NYC poet and curator.
Mahogany L. Browne and Jennifer Falu are packing a suitcase for Cambridge together! These incredibly strong women and poets do not play: Mo curates the Nuyorican (that’s the winningest slam venue in history, you know), co-produces off Broadway, runs and publishes on Penmanship Books and PoetCD.com, and is a Cave Canem Fellow; Falu placed third at the Women of the World Poetry Slam in March, hit Finals stage with the Nuyo team back in 2009, and opens up for R&B sensations in her spare time.
Both these powerhouses work as youth mentors and workshop leaders all over NYC. Not to be missed.
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 slam in the 8×8 series will follow. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $3.
Boston Poetry Slam Online