Cantab Feature for Wednesday, April 3: Cambridge Poet Populist Reading

Seal for the Poet Populist of Cambridge.

Seal for the Poet Populist of Cambridge.

Some cities have an appointed Poet Laureate. But the People’s Republic of Cambridge, naturally, has a Poet Populist: that’s a poet nominated and elected by the people of the city. We are honored to host the final public reading for the Cambridge Arts Council’s Poet Populist nominees!

We’ll hear short sets from the two qualified nominees for the post: Tom Yuill and Lo Gallucio! Our very own nominee (too bad she doesn’t have a year of residency in Cambridge yet), Jade Sylvan, will host the show. Jade will also conduct an early-bird writing workshop before doors open (6pm sharp, $5 cover): You’ll Laugh! You’ll Cry! The Art of Funny-Sad.

To accommodate the program, our schedule tonight will be a little different from usual: the multi-poet feature will start at 9:30 p.m. and, thanks to the Cambridge Arts Council, our usual $3 cover will be just a suggested donation.

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 9:30. An open speed slam in the 8×8 series will follow. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $3.

Workshop for Wednesday, April 3: “The Art of Funny-Sad” with Jade Sylvan

Jade Sylvan, workshop leader for April 3, 2013.

Jade Sylvan, workshop leader for April 3, 2013.

Join Jade Sylvan, the night’s special guest host, for an early-bird workshop at the Cantab Lounge before the show. Jade will be offering a workshop called “You’ll Laugh! You’ll Cry! The Art of Funny-Sad.” From the workshop leader:

“William Blake wrote, ‘Excessive sorrow laughs. Excessive joy weeps.’ In this workshop, we’ll look at the fine line between funny and sad and explore how and when to cross it, blur it, balance on it, and snap it in two.”

Doors open at 5:30 for workshop participants only: the workshop runs from 6:00 to 7:00. Cover charge is $5, which includes admission to the evening show. The venue is 18+ and a photo ID is required.

Cantab Recap for Wednesday, March 27

Listen: we were not surprised at all at how good Cam Awkward-Rich‘s feature was. Nope, not even a little… But we were straight-up blown away by the quality of his work. He and last week’s feature Sam Sax are headed back to the west coast after this week, but they’ll leave us with lots of great memories… Not to mention dozens of copies of The Gay Pride Poetry Book. The slam last night was a really hot one, with poets bringing a combination of super-polished and totally raw work, all looking to connect with the audience. The final match-up came down to CUPSI-bound Emerson student Alison Truj vs. venue regular and up-and-comer Dave McKenna: Dave’s stretched the one-minute poem to the absolute edges of the time limit and profited ten dollars and the big win. What a stellar night!

But wait, there’s more! We’re back next Wednesday, as usual, with not one, but TWO events. We’ll start the night promptly at 6:00 (doors at 5:30) with an early-bird writing workshop with 2013 Boston Poetry Slam Team member Jade Sylvan: The Art of Funny-Sad. Folks arriving at our usual doortime will get our usual open mic, plus a double-feature from Cambridge Arts Council Poet Populist Candidates Lo Gallucio and Tom Yuill. We’ll close the night with an open speed slam. Happy National Poetry Month, everyone!

Tips from the Bar: the Adam Stone prompt

We didn’t write down Adam’s actual prompt for this week, so here’s one that he reminded us of instead: write a poem about your ex-boyfriend (alternatively, make it about one you never had). If possible, use a quotidian yet highly complex metaphor.

Cantab Feature for Wednesday, March 27: Cam Awkward-Rich

Bay Area performance poet Cameron Awkward-Rich.

Bay Area performance poet Cameron Awkward-Rich.

Cameron Awkward-Rich is a weirdo and a graduate student who sometimes also sends poems off into the abyss for the hell of it, a habit he developed early but honed at Wesleyan University where he co-created a queer art magazine and his senior project –a collection of poetry –won the Dorchester Prize for best thesis submitted to the English Department. In 2012, Cam was a member of both the Bay Area Unified and Stanford University slam teams. He is currently pursuing a PhD from the program in Modern Thought & Literature at Stanford.

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.

Cantab Recap for Wednesday, March 20

It might be blizzarding too hard to get out of Logan this week, but we booked sweet sweet California to come to us. Last Wednesday, Sam Sax heated up the room with some just-right sexy work, showing off his writing chops to a rambunctious crowd that included a great bunch of first-time readers. The speed slam filled up fast and zipped by at a blistering pace, leaving six poets in its wake. The final round came down to newcomer Sam Rush and old-timer Tom Slavin: Tom walked away with the ten-dollar prize, but not before joining in to give Sam the biggest round of applause of the competition. Awesome!

Next week: we’re keeping it West Coast with Cam Awkward-Rich, the second half of the Gay Pride Poetry Tour– he shares a book with Sam, so if you bought it and loved it, you’ll want to come out to see him perform, too. We’ll finish off the night with the sixth slam of this 8×8. Come early if you want a spot!

SlamCenter Episode 2: BPS Finals

Looking for the latest SlamCenter update? You know, the slam recap podcast, the latest one that’s all about the 2013 Boston Poetry Slam Team Finals? It’s all right here, from chants of ED! to exclusive interviews. Check it out!

Tips from the Bar: the Please Read

Create a poem based on accidental emphasis– one where the narrator (or someone else) presents an idea garnered from improper inflection.

Cantab Feature for Wednesday, March 20: Sam Sax

Sam Sax, Bay Area slam champ.

Sam Sax, Bay Area slam champ.

Sam Sax is a Bay Area based writer, educator, and performer. He’s the first-ever Bay Area Unified Grand Slam Champion and Oakland’s first two-time queer Grand Slam Champion. Sam curates ‘the new sh!t show’, a reading series in San Francisco aimed at producing new poetry, and is the poetry curator for The Modern Times Bookstore. He has toured internationally, performing at universities, slams, basements, alleyways, and amphitheaters. Sam is currently leading writing and literacy workshops for queer at risk youth. You can
find some of his other work in Rattle, Muzzle Magazine, The Evergreen Review, The Orange Quarterly, The Nervous Breakdown, DeComp, and elsewhere.

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.

Congratulations to the 2013 Boston Poetry Slam Team!

Ed Wilkinson, Omoizele Okoawo, Jade Sylvan, Nora Meiners, and Sean Patrick Mulroy held down the top five scores at the end of the nine-poet, three-round Finals. Excellent! Many thanks to our judges and fabulous audience. (Full recap forthcoming.)