Select a specific aspect of your personality for an event, outing, or night in. Now dress that part of yourself: in costume, drag, or daily wear.
Cantab Slam for Wednesday, October 31, 2018: Ghost Story Slam
In honor of the season, the Boston Poetry Slam is exhilarated to present our first-ever all-alive but very-much-haunted Ghost Story Slam. This two-round slam is open to any poets, storytellers, or performers interested in bringing their own on-theme work to the stage.
All entrants shall be guaranteed two rounds of performance for a total of six minutes on the mic. The theme of “ghost story” is open to interpretation, but artists are encouraged to consider two different takes on their subject in order to best surprise, delight, and get spooky for the audience. Our roster of slammers is now full, and audience members may expect original work, costumes, and props from the following confirmed artists:
Steven Mugs Myers
Sarah Gabriel
Kelsey Chaplain
George Abraham
Meaghan Ford
Katya Zinn
Claudia Morales
Lip Manegio
Chloé Cunha
The show will be hosted by the corporeal form of Zeke Russell and bout managed by the ghost of Cassandra de Alba.
Want to judge the slam? Judges with strong ideas about ghostly lyricism as well as judges with strong ideas about which bar offerings offer the most haunting experience are welcome: no experience is necessary, or even desired. Email slammaster@bostonpoetryslam.com to get in free and have your very own whiteboard to hold.
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 the slam will follow at approximately 10:00. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $3.
Cantab Recap for Wednesday, October 24, 2018
What if your favorite powerhouse poetic artist released a chapbook for the first time? What if the chapbook were also a lovingly crafted mixtape of the best soul, funk, R&B, hip-hop, and slow jams of the last century? What if you knew enough to show up for Neiel Israel’s full-length feature at the Cantab Lounge… Who are we kidding: of course you did, and maybe you were one of the lucky few to snap up her sold-out chapbook run of The Dead Sing Better Than You. If not, well, keep your eyes peeled for this notorious writer to take one of our upcoming slams by storm…
Oh, you heard we have poetry slams around here? You betcha, and for next week, our totally on-theme celebration of poetic competition will be our first-ever Ghost Story Slam, a two-round show featuring costumes, spirits, witches & ghouls, brave and corporeal host Zeke Russell, and a spine-tingling roster of poets ready to speak on both sides of the veil. Sign-ups are full, but we’re still taking advance requests for judging (that’s the ghoulish part) and your ghostly story and/or costume will be enthusiastically welcomed to the night’s open mic.
Cantab Feature for Wednesday, October 24, 2018: Neiel Israel
Eight-time National slam poet and “talented big-mouth” Neiel Israel. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Neiel Israel: poet, artist, educator, humanitarian, eight-time National slam poet, and talented big-mouth. Graduated with honors from the University of Massachusetts, Boston; is a fan of love, karma, music, bike riding, the beach, sunbathing, and babies that leap out of their parent’s arms in her direction to make her more attentive as well as sharpen her reflexes. [Neiel has secretly been avoiding marriage because she thinks it would be awful, but knows someday she’ll be delightfully persuaded to marry for the fun of it.] She enjoys dinner parties but doesn’t like cooking, and has been known to make people laugh hysterically without trying.
Neiel has written a chapbook (that she is finally willing to share) with pantoums, sonnets, and other forms titled: “The Dead Sing Better than You,” poems written in loving memory of Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Prince and other greats. You may be one of the fortunate few to get your hands on a copy (the night of the feature) before she changes her mind, and possibly decides not to share the chapbook at all. Good luck!
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 show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $3.
Cantab Feature for Wednesday, October 17, 2018: Anthony Febo
FreeVerse! founder and Adobo-Fish-Sauce partner Anthony Febo. Photo by Christian Arthur.
Anthony Febo is a Puerto Rican artist from Lowell, Mass. Febo lives at the intersection of poetry, theatre, performance art, sculptures, and education. With the help of his community, he created the slam poetry scene in the city that birthed and raised him. To start, he co-founded FreeVerse! an organization that works with Lowell’s youth to better understand themselves through poetry and performance. Then he became the SlamMaster of the adult scene, and has since passed it on to his partner in thyme Ricky Orng. Together they form Adobo-Fish-Sauce, a cooking and poetry duo.
Febo has been a teaching artist and performer for the last ten years and now he is taking the next step in both: two tours in the fall and a full time position at a new school that he is assisting with developing in Somerville. His show, On Finding Joy, explores what it means to actively choose joy in the face of what is trying to break you. The show examines issues such as toxic masculinity, family and mental health, culture and identity, and the role representation plays into a person’s development. These topics are sewn together with cooking, aspects of theatre, dance/movement, and of course spoken word poetry.
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 show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $3.
Cantab Workshop for Wednesday, October 10, 2018 with Muggs Fogarty
Join Muggs Fogarty, the night’s scheduled feature, for an early-bird workshop at the Cantab Lounge before the show. The one-hour workshop has limited space and begins at 5:30, with latecomers admitted no later than 6:00. This is a generative workshop that utilizes some guided meditation and listening, and all are welcome.
Cover charge is $5-$20 sliding scale, which includes admission to the evening show. We ask financially stable poets to consider contributing the higher end of this scale (or more) in order to defer costs for others and support this teaching artist’s generous donation of time to our space.
Due to the constraints of the venue, this workshop has limited space; room can be guaranteed to poets who identify as POC or queer. The best way to secure a spot in the workshop is to directly email tonight’s curator, Cassandra de Alba.
The venue is 18+ and a photo ID is required. For more information on the night’s open mic, slam, and feature from Muggs, click here.
Cantab Feature for Wednesday, October 10, 2018: Muggs Fogarty
Providence Poetry Slam co-director Muggs Fogarty. Photo by Eshun Mirza.
Muggs Fogarty is a queer writer, performer, and vocalist local to Providence, Rhode Island. Muggs has represented Providence in national poetry slam competition eight times respectively and is a 2017 FEMS Slam champion, a National Poetry Slam semi-finalist, and a Brave New Voices finalist. Muggs has been a co-director of award-winning Providence Poetry Slam and ProvSlam Youth since 2014, and has coached several youth and collegiate level slam teams, particularly through UCONN, Brown University, and RISD. Muggs has also worked as an arts mentor with local organizations such as New Urban Arts, CityArts, and PASA, and has received awards from the Rhode Island State Council on The Arts. Muggs is the author of Unburn (Ghost Hum Arts 2016) and the forthcoming Sex Camel (Game Over Books 2018), and can also be found fronting the local darkpop band, Lookers, as well as their own solo loop pedal project, Sweetpea Pumpkin. Muggs is a resident at the non-profit community arts space, AS220, and also practices bodywork as an LMT in Providence.
Muggs will also present an early-bird workshop before their Cantab show. All are welcome and advance sign-ups are recommended, but not required; please see the separate event page for more information.
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 show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $3.
Cantab Recap for Wednesday, October 3, 2018
Friends of poetry! Our hearts are full with gratitude for the packed house that turned out for JR Mahung‘s send-off feature this past Wednesday. Every seat was full for a long stretch of feature by our 2018 Individual World Poetry Slam representative, who is San Diego-bound next week for Poetry Slam, Inc.’s last competition of 2018. JR took us to Chicago and Belize and back, leaning into the family kitchen for conversations of startling and beautiful intimacy. If you missed it (and if you can’t make the tournament in California from October 11-13), don’t panic; you can still enjoy a little bit of JR by pre-ordering his upcoming chapbook from the good good locals at pizza pi press.
Next week: need a new poem for October? Of course you do; one way to get that is by hitting us up EARLY (doors at 5:30 for a 6pm sharp start) for our October 10 workshop with Muggs Fogarty. This will be a generative poetry writing workshop that utilizes some guided meditation and listening, and it’s open to writers of all experience levels; check the event for more info or to sign up in advance. Not ready to write a poem in our bar next week? No problem, we’ve got plenty of room for listeners and readers; come by for our 8pm open mic and catch Muggs in a full headlining feature around 10pm.
Boston Poetry Slam Online