Our monthly LGBTA+ series, Moonlighting, is on hiatus for January. Click here for more information about this recurring show.
Moonlighting icon by Emily Carroll.
Cantab Feature for Wednesday, January 4, 2017: Nkosi Nkululeko
Nkosi Nkululeko, NYC 2016 Youth Poet Laureate. Photo by Gaungpyo Hong.
Nkosi Nkululeko, the 2016 New York City Youth Poet Laureate, is a Callaloo fellow, multi-nominated for Best of Net, and nominated for Independent Best American Poetry as well as the Pushcart Prize. He is a finalist for the 2016 Winter Tangerine Awards for poetry and his work can be found in [PANK] Magazine, VINYL, No Token, and other publications. He lives in Harlem, New York.
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 Last Chance Slam, the final open poetry slam to qualify for the 2017 Team Selection Slams, will follow. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $3.
Cantab Recap for Wednesday, December 28, 2016
It was a big night at the Cantab to close out the calendar year, folks, wherein a murderer’s row of slam winners lined the back bar, all awaiting a chance at the title held by Jess Rizkallah. First, though, one of our past Champions of Champions took the stage for a feature; Zanne Langlois drove down from the frozen north to bring us a year-end of set of nearly all-new work, plus an incredible chapbook of thirty prompts designed to kick-start your writing for 2017. What an excellent gift!
Once Zanne’s feature closed (and she ran out of books), we moved on to the long-awaited slam. Five slammers had braved the cold Cambridge night to come for the title of Jess Riz, reigning champ back in town from her program in NYC. After two rounds of slam, Meaghan Ford and Kylie Noelle rose to the top of the game; Kylie defeated Meaghan in the head-to-head final round to take the season championship, then let her $50 prize ride to challenge Jess… Taking the big win, the $100, and the title! Congratulates to Kylie, our newest Champion of Champions of the Cantab Lounge.
Next week: we get 2017 started off right with Nkosi Nkululeko, the 2016 NYC Youth Poet Laureate. We’ll also hold the Last Chance Slam, your very last shot to get into the 2017 Team Selection Slams, which kick off on January 11 and January 18. Gird your poems! We’ll see you next year!
Cantab Feature for Wednesday, December 28, 2016: Zanne Langlois and the Champion of Champions Poetry Slam with Jess Rizkallah
Zanne Langlois, Portland (Maine!) poet and former Boston Poetry Slam Champion of Champions.
Zanne Langlois lives in Portland, Maine, where she teaches high school English and organizes poetry slams and workshops for high school students in the greater Portland area. She holds a BA in English from Tufts University and a M.Ed. in Teacher Leadership from Harvard Graduate School of Education and has the student debt to prove it. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Rust + Moth, Three Drops from a Cauldron, The Cafe Review, The Fourth River, Off the Coast, Rattle Poets Respond, Yellow Chair Review, Third Point Press, Menacing Hedge, and English Journal, as well as in the anthologies Passion and Pride: Poets in Support of Equality and Word Portland’s Be Wilder. Her work has been nominated for both Best of the Net and Independent Best American Poetry, and her piece “The Chambers of a Gun” is available on the Button Poetry Channel.
Jess Rizkallah performing at the 2016 Women of the World Poetry Slam in Brooklyn, New York. Photo by Valerie Jane Kwok.
In addition to featuring in numerous venues in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, Zanne competed in Women of the World Poetry Slam in 2012 and at the Individual World Poetry Slam Championships in 2013 and 2015. She is also a former Boston Poetry Slam Champion of Champions, which remains her proudest poetry achievement.
Tonight, our last Wednesday of the year, also marks the final night in our current 8×8 poetry slam series! Following Zanne’s feature, eight slam winners will slam off for the season championship and the opportunity to challenge Jess Rizkallah, the current reigning Champion of Champions.
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 Champions of Champions Slam in the 8×8 slam series will begin at approximately 10:00. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $3.
Cantab Recap for Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Poets, we made it: the dark nights are finally officially getting shorter, marked by a bright and shiny feature from the generous-minded and thoroughly thoughtful Valerie Lawson. This long-time long-gone host of our open mic returned with a beautiful, gentle, and welcoming set for the mighty good listeners of last Wednesday. Valerie’s feature was followed by a rockin’ slam with a few cool surprises, including a final face-off between Spencer Burchill and Kylie Noelle, each looking for a chance to qualify for Team Selection Slams on January 11 and January 18. Kylie took the win and the $10 home, but Spencer (and you!) can get one more chance at qualifying on January 4 at the Last Chance Slam.
Next week, though, we’ll be celebrating more than one Champion of Champion of the Cantab Lounge! Our headliner will be one-time champ Zanne Langlois of Portland, Maine. After Zanne’s feature, the last eight slam winners will be invited back to challenge our current champion, Jess Rizkallah. What a way to slam the door on 2016! Come early to get your full $3 worth, and think about staying late with us to judge the Champion of Champions poetry slam.
Cantab Feature for Wednesday, December 21, 2016: Valerie Lawson
Once-upon-a-time Boston Poetry Slam co-host Valerie Lawson.
Valerie has worked as a bookseller and a security guard at a Rolls Royce show, coordinated a literacy program, co-hosted the Boston Poetry Slam, emceed the National Poetry Slam in Sweden, helped create a network of youth poetry slams in southern New England, was invited as a Legacy Poet to the first Women of the World Poetry Slam, and participated in cultural exchanges with Ireland. Her work has been published in Main Street Rag, BigCityLit, About Place Journal, The Catch, Ibbetson Street, and others. Nominated for a Pushcart Prize three times, Valerie won awards for Best Narrative Poem and Spoken Word at the Cambridge Poetry Awards and was a finalist for the 2015 Rita Dove Award. With her partner, Michael Brown, she co-edits Off the Coast literary journal and teaches poetry workshops in New England.
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, December 14, 2016
After months of patient waiting, we were extremely pleased to finally welcome Columbus poet and SlamMaster Scott Woods back to our mic this past Wednesday. Scott selected a moving set for us this visit, taking on persona, offering advice, and kicking sand over the line between ally and enemy. If you missed it, and you can’t get to Columbus for next Wednesdays Writers’ Block poetry slam (too bad for you), you can pick up his book, Urban Contemporary History Month, from Brick Cave Media.
The slam last week was the seventh in our last 8×8 of the year, and featured six poets raring to grab some extra points for the upcoming Team Selection Slams. Those already qualified had to make way for a first-time-this-season winner, though: after fighting his way up one side of the bracket, finalist Ron fell to eventual victor Austin Hendricks. Congratulations to Austin: welcome to the series!
Next Wednesday will be the longest night of the year, so we are pleased to bring you an extra-bright poet: one-time Boston Poetry Slam host Valerie Lawson will make a return to our stage. We’ll also enjoy the final open poetry slam in the 8×8.
Cantab Feature for Wednesday, December 14, 2016: Scott Woods
Rescheduled from September 7, 2016, as promised!
Columbus author Scott Woods. Photo courtesy Columbus Alive.
Scott Woods is the author of Urban Contemporary History Month and We Over Here Now (2016 and 2013 respectively, Brick Cave Books) and has published and edited work in a variety of publications. He has been featured multiple times in national press, including multiple appearances on National Public Radio. He was the President of Poetry Slam, Inc. and emcees the Writers’ Block Poetry Night, an open mic series in Columbus, Ohio. In April of 2006 he became the first poet to ever complete a 24-hour solo poetry reading, a feat he bested with seven more annual readings without repeating a single poem.
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.
Boston Poetry Slam Online