Cantab Recap for Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Cantabbers! Buckets and stacks and lumberjack-sized hugs of gratitude are due to all of you who payed our outrageous $5 cover charge last night to enjoy a wonderful and thoughtful open mic, a sweet and toweringly-ready-for-the-big-time spotlight from Sara Mae, and, stretching his many short poems to comfortably fill an hour of work: the unparalleled and much-loved World Qualifier winner and official Cantab rep, Zeke Russell.

Zeke and Sara are both bound for Spokane, Washington next week, home of the 2017 Individual World Poetry Slam. You can watch our Facebook page for a live link to scores next Thursday… But you can also keep an eye on these local heroes, who don’t leave for a couple of weeks, and pick up their IWPS-bound chapbooks. Contact Zeke through his page right here, or catch Sara Mae tonight at Slam Free or Die!

Next week: did you think we would rest just because some little slam is going on out in eastern Washington? We shall not! In fact, you’d best prepared your tenderest heart and slyest sense of humor, because our feature next week will be Robbie Dunning. Robbie’s been tearing up the Northampton slam scene and making a big splash on SlamFind this year, so you’ll want to settle in early to watch this rising star. Also, by the way, we are back to our open slam series: this week’s 8×8 will be the seventh in our Champion of Champions run.

Tips from the Bar: The Zeke Russell Prompt

Write about a person who is more family to you than anyone in your family.

Cantab Feature for Wednesday, October 4, 2017: World Qualifier Champion Zeke Russell and Sara Mae Spotlight

Zeke Russell performs at a prelim bout at NPS 2016. Photo by Christopher Clauss.

Zeke Russell performs at a prelim bout at NPS 2016. Photo by Christopher Clauss.

Zeke Russell grew up in Central Maine surrounded by artists and lumberjacks. Since then he’s been a cook, a teacher, a security guard and a social worker. In 2008, while living in Lowell, Mass., he rediscovered poetry through the performance zine OutLet. This led him to the Mill City Slam, and thence to the Boston Poetry Slam at the Cantab Lounge. He moved to Boston in 2011, and his work has since appeared in Drunk In a Midnight Choir, Wyvern Lit, Maps For Teeth and Printer’s Devil Review, and on the stages of the 2011, 2016, and 2017 National Poetry Slams. He now frequently serves as host for the open poetry slam at the end of the Boston Poetry Slam show.

This spring, Zeke was the top scorer in the Boston Poetry Team Selection Slams, cementing his spot at the top of the 2017 BPS team. He then went on to take top honors in the two-night, six-poem World Qualifier series to earn himself a chance to represent the Boston Poetry Slam at the 2017 Individual World Poetry Slam in Spokane, Washington. Tonight will be a final fundraising push to send Zeke to the tournament in the Pacific Northwest; it’s a $5 cover charge to see his special extended set with no poetry slam tonight.

But wait… That’s not all! We’ll also present a spotlight feature from a fellow IWPS-bound NorthBEAST poet.

Sara Mae, Slam Free or Die's 2017 Individual World Poetry Slam representative. Photo by CJ West.

Sara Mae, Slam Free or Die’s 2017 Individual World Poetry Slam representative. Photo by CJ West.

Sara Mae is a Baltimore-born, Boston-based slam poet. By day she is a coffee-slinger and student, and by night a performer who will stand behind any microphone able to project her profound angst. She is the 2017 Individual World Poetry Slam representative for Slam Free or Die of Manchester, N.H., and a head organizer for the Feminine Empowerment Slam Movement (FEMS) organization. She believes in the magic of blue bicycles and orange lipstick. She hopes you think her bangs are not too long.

Sara Mae’s chapbook, I Want to Steal Your Nightlight So It’s Easier to Sleep Alone, will be available for purchase at the show. Proceeds will help the poet travel to Spokane, Wash. for IWPS the next week.

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 an extended set at approximately 10:00. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $5.

Cantab Recap for Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Welcome to autumn in New England, poets! You know the drill: it’s wistful and heartbreaking, chill and heated by turns, and full of flaming bright surprises; oh, hang on, that sounds an awful lot like this past week’s excellent feature by Sam Rush. And, dontcha know it, just like autumn, Sam will be gracefully exiting for parts not here much too soon, so if you missed your chance to catch this fleeting touring poet, maybe check out their Facebook page and see Sam one more time before their move from New England really sets in.

This week’s slam was actually sparser than our last few, with only four poets lined up to throw three poems out there in the hope of reeling back that big $10. Hey, slammers, dontcha know there are only ten more slams left to qualify for the 2018 Boston Poetry Slam team? I’m betting that Suzanne O’Toole and Kieran Collier know it, given their high-energy face-off at the show this week; Kieran took the victory and the cash, leaving Suzanne as likely the most dangerous also-ran remaining in our pool of regular slammers.

Next week: not a slam in sight, but TWO local Individual World Poetry Slam reps will hit our stage! That’s right, for a $5 cover, you’ll get an extended one-hour set from Zeke Russell, our representative to Spokane’s world stage this October… And you’ll also get a glimpse of local favorite and Slam Free or Die’s representative to IWPS, Sara Mae! Zeke will hit the stage around 10:00, with Sara Mae spotlighting it up around 9:30ish on the hottest part of our open mic. Come early, stay late, and please do buy some product from our glorious locals taking their poetry to the big show.

Tips from the Bar: The Hieu Minh Nguyen Prompt

Inspired by a Facebook post from the poet Hieu Minh Nguyen:

Think about a strange, surprising, or wonderful thing your body has done on its own. Focus on your surprise, and write without (or through) shame.

Cantab Feature for Wednesday, September 27, 2017: Sam Rush

South Florida native and 2016 NPS Finalist Sam Rush.

South Florida native and 2016 NPS Finalist Sam Rush.

Sam Rush is originally from South Florida and began writing poems after developing progressive hearing loss and realizing how many words each word could be. Sam is a three-time competitor in the National Poetry Slam and was a 2016 finalist as a member of The House Slam team. Their work has been featured work featured in The Offing, Public Pool, Drunk in a Midnight Choir and on Button Poetry and SlamFind.

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, September 20, 2017

Thanks to everyone for a fabulous Wednesday, Cantabbers! We hope you enjoyed our new and improved plumbing as much as we enjoyed the new and established readers of this week’s open mic. It was an extra treat to get to hear a full set of work from longtime regular reader Jackie Perry, local poet and thinker and number-cruncher who might possibly also be a penguin. Our open slam was an exciting affair, welcoming folks new to the venue to the mic, as well as established slammers. Frequent open mic poet Kayti Lahsaiezadeh jumped into the slam for the first time and took it all the way to the finals, where she was narrowly defeated by current World Qualifier champ Zeke Russell. Zeke took home the $10 and will advance to challenge RebeccaLynn for the venue: and heads up, folks, due to our never-to-be-spoken-of-again plumbing problem from two weeks ago, that champs match has been pushed up to October 25.

Next week: are you starting to feel the effects of shorter daylight? Brighten up: Sam Rush is back in town to celebrate a bit of autumn with you! Sam will visit us this coming Wednesday, September 27, as part of their month-long New England tour. Come early if you want a seat for this incredibly talented and clever feature.

Tips from the Bar: Something’s Missing

Write a want ad for a vacancy in your body.

Cantab Feature for Wednesday, September 20, 2017: Jackie Perry

Local poet and numbers cruncher Jackie Perry. Photo by Esther Li.

Local poet and numbers cruncher Jackie Perry. Photo by Esther Li.

Jackie Perry was born in Boston and grew up on the south shore of Massachusetts. She graduated with a Master’s degree in Public Health in 2016.

By day, she crunches numbers in spreadsheets for a bunch of doctors and nurses. By night, she attempts to write poetry and then perform it on the open mic at the Boston Poetry Slam. She is a big fan of coffee, penguins, and flying trapeze.

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 Out of the Blue Recap for Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Anybody know a good plumber? Have we got a job for them: last night, just after setup was complete at the Cantab, the sound of rushing water and a rapidly filling bar area forced our staff to jump the bar and clear the room. What to do? How about: give your grandest thanks to Michael F. Gill, longtime doorman and networker extraordinare, who led us down the street for an almost on-time at the generous (and fortunately available) Out of the Blue Gallery. Already home to the longest-running poetry open mic in Cambridge, Stone Soup on Mondays, the gallery took us in, seated us, and amplified us, all in time to run our usual open mic and welcome feature and TESTIFY author Simone John.

Invoking our new space was a great group of utterly unflapped open mic poets, all capped by a glorious feature by our headliner; Simone took us down the intense and necessary path her documentary work blazes for readers and listeners. If you missed the gift of her work last night, you can treat yourself to a purchase of TESTIFY straight from Octopus Books, or catch her at one of her many fall readings: her October 13 gig at the Haley House Slam comes to mind.

You might have noticed that we had no open slam last night: don’t worry, we’ll be back in the poetry competition business next week at the Cantab, with room for you to hop into the fifth competition of our 8×8 series. Our welcome-back-to-the-basement feature will be local favorite Jackie Perry.