Cantab Feature for Wednesday, August 15, 2012: Ross Gay

Poet and professor Ross Gay.

Poet and professor Ross Gay.

Ross Gay was born in Youngstown, Ohio and grew up outside of Philadelphia. He received his B.A. from Lafayette College, his MFA in poetry from Sarah Lawrence College, and his Ph.D. in American Literature from Temple University, and is a basketball coach, an occasional demolition man, and a painter. He now teaches at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana and the low-residency MFA in poetry program at Drew University.

Ross’s most recent book is Bringing the Shovel Down (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2011). His poems have been published in American Poetry Review, Harvard Review, The Sun, and elsewhere. His honors include being a Cave Canem Workshop fellow and a Bread Loaf Writers Conference Tuition Scholar, and he received a grant from the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts.

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.

Radio Recap for Monday, August 13

Sometimes the show must go on… Even when a pipe bursts in the bar where you have your show. Robbie Q Telfer and Marlon Carey were gracious enough to bring their words to a little backyard house show last night instead of Radio, and it was a great success! If you missed it, don’t worry: you can check out Robbie’s work at the Word By Word Festival this week in Pittsfield, Mass., or check out Providence artist Inphynit’s End of the World Mixtape sampler online.

Next week: Chicago poet and editor Stevie Edwards and local-gone-national comedian Joe Wong! Stevie will lead a 7:00 poetry workshop to start the show, followed by a comedy/poetry open mic at 8:00 and the double-feature at 9:00. Heads-up: we are downstairs for the show this week, so you can head straight down the front stairs when you arrive (and feel free to sneak back up the rear stairs when you want a drink).

Cantab Recap for Wednesday, August 8

Did you make it to Cantab this week, folks? With the slam team out of the way at the National Poetry Slam, there was a little more room on the open (and at the bar) for a great open mic. Cassandra de Alba brought us a perceptive, sweet, and only mostly heartbreaking feature, as promised. Our slam was won by Kayla Wheeler, over a triumphantly tipsy Dawn Gabriel.

This week: we’re back with a feature from Indiana/NYC poet and professor Ross Gay. It’s a rare outing for him to come to Boston, so you won’t want to miss it! We’ll finish the night off with another open poetry slam in the 8×8 series.

Tips from the Bar: Everything Was Easy

In response to The Olympics playing thirty minute stories on every athlete’s heart-wrenching story about how they overcame multiple tragedies to get where they are… Write the story of how you became a writer, despite having no personal obstacles: how privileged you were, and how everything was just handed to you.

Radio Recap for Monday, August 6

Thanks to everyone who came out to Comedy Meets Poetry this Monday at New & Improved! Just as promised, Wes Hazard brought us a troupe of comedic masterminds who were buoyed up by the funny of four additional poets. Good times!

Next week: we’re back UPSTAIRS with a crizazy double feature: nationally acclaimed poet and WriteBloody author Robbie Q Telfer and smart-hop artist Inphynit. As always: 379 Somerville Ave,. 21+, $5. See you there!

Cantab Feature for Wednesday, August 8, 2012: Cassandra de Alba

Cassandra de Alba tells it like it is in seventeen syllables at the Dirty Haiku Slam. Photo by Marshall Goff.

Cassandra de Alba tells it like it is in seventeen syllables at the Dirty Haiku Slam. Photo by Marshall Goff.

Cassandra de Alba enjoys writing poetry that can make you laugh and feel horribly alone at the same time. She graduated from Hampshire College with a degree in history and poetry and a manuscript of poems partially based on the American sideshow. She has represented the NorthBEAST at three National Poetry Slams (with Slam Free or Die in 2008 and Hampshire County Slam Collective in 2010 and 2011) and performed up and down the East Coast with the No More Ribcage tour. She lives in Somerville with a cat named Roger Mindf**ker, who won’t stop hitting her.

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, August 1

You might think it wouldn’t have been possible to upstage the 2012 Boston Poetry Slam Team send-off feature last night: Kemi Alabi, Antonia Lassar, Mckendy Fils-Aimé, Antonia Lassar, and Melissa Newman-Evans in a quintuple feature extravaganza, highlighting two super-tight group pieces, all the crowd’s favorites, and some new work throw in to boot! Kemi laying down a brand-new heart-wrenching and sweet love poem! Antonia pulling in all the light on stage to illuminate a dramatic group piece! Melissa lambasting every Sad Boy in the house! Mckendy dropping a wild sestina late in the evening! Oz weeping openly about his emotional dolphin experiences! And the release of the team’s annual chapbook, Shame and Honey, a twenty-plus-poem collection of the team’s work designed by Melissa! What a fabulous feature of well-crafted work, all to pump us up for this already-successful team’s trip to Charlotte for the National Poetry Slam next week!

Oh, wait, but also this happened:

Melissa says yes. Photo by Marshall Goff.

Melissa says yes. Photo by Marshall Goff.

Congrats to Kevin Spak, who put his heart on the line in front of a sold-out house, and to Melissa Newman-Evans, whose gleeful acceptance is captured above. Awww. This happy engaged couple will be down at Nationals next week, so be sure to offer your good wishes! (Pro tip: they both drink dark beer or bourbon.)

Thanks to everyone who came out to see the show last night, and a special note of gratitude to those who bought books to help the team’s trip to Nationals. We bout on Tuesday and Thursday night, so keep an eye out right here and on the official website for results! Plus, don’t forget about next Wednesday: Cassandra de Alba will feature next week, followed by the first open slam of the new 8×8 series.

Tips from the Bar: I Don’t Like Your New Pets

Write about what happens when someone gives up something beautiful and gentle for something difficult and dangerous.

Adam’s example: an ex who traded in two kitty cats and a bunny rabbit for a scorpion and two tarantulas.

Cantab Feature for Wednesday, August 1: 2012 Boston Poetry Slam Team

The 2012 Boston Poetry Slam Team. Back to front, left to right: Oz, Antonia, Kemi, Mckendy, and Melissa. Photo by Marshall Goff.

The 2012 Boston Poetry Slam Team. Back to front, left to right: Oz, Antonia, Kemi, Mckendy, and Melissa. Photo by Marshall Goff.

Tonight’s feature will be the send-off for the five-person 2012 Boston Poetry Slam Team. Join Kemi Alabi, Antonia Lassar, Omoizele Okoawo, Mckendy Fils-Aimé, and Melissa Newman-Evans at their last night at the Cantab before the National Poetry Slam! These five poets will be polished and ready for NPS in North Carolina the next week– and ready to show off the work they are taking to Charlotte to compete.

We’re giving this group a special extended feature slot to really stretch out and show their stuff. Since it’s their last night in town, we’ll also be charging a $5 cover (instead of the usual $3) to help fund their trip and lodging at NPS. In return, you can expect a stellar feature of top-notch work performed fabulously– including those group pieces you might not get to see again after this season!

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. There is no open poetry slam tonight. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $5 tonight to help fundraise for the slam team’s trip to the National Poetry Slam.

Radio Recap for Monday, July 30

I’ll bet you didn’t even know there was a downstairs venue at the Radio bar, did you? Well, there is: in deference to a previously-booked night of bands upstairs, we meandered down the back stairs to the wood-like-paneling extravaganza that is the basement of our Monday night bar. With just a hint of sound bleed rumbling in from above, the whole event started to feel a little bit like a Wednesday night at the Cantab… And the open mic reflected it, as a host of new readers and the cast of Radio regulars teamed up to create a magically high-quality hour of poetry, storytelling, and (get this) a musical debut from we-know-him-as-poet Andy Locke.

Our features for the night were poet Ed Wilkinson and storyteller Daniel Gewertz— although perhaps we shouldn’t bother applying labels, since folks like Ed and Dan will just bust right out of ’em. Reprising his early-bird workshop about work poems, Ed brought us a poignant, smart, and often achingly funny story arc featuring poems from everyday life illustrated by extraordinary language. Then Dan followed up with a set of poetically written monologues written with a hint of McCarthy-like funny-along-the-way; we also were fortunate enough to hear the out-loud debut of excerpts from his forthcoming novel. All in all, it was a fabulous night for art and community, and one we look forward to building on.

Next week: we are back upstairs with Comedy Meets Poetry, curated by Wes Hazard: four poets (Andy Locke, Nora Meiners, Meaghan Ford, and Adam Stone) will pair off with four comics (Matt Kona, John Paul Rivera, Gary Petersen, and the Wes-man himself) in a battle for belly laughs! As always, it’s 21+ and $5 downstairs at 379 Somerville Ave. in Union Square.