Cantab Recap for Wednesday, November 16, 2016

It’s been back-to-back Columbus celebrations at the Cantab, folks: this week, we welcomed rare traveler and Writers’ Block co-founder Vernell Bristow to the stage. This perennial national slammer and Columbus open mic mainstay brought her multi-facted, thoughtful work to the Cantab stage for the first time since she competed here at Nationals in 2013 and shone for a solid thirty minutes. This was an unusual chance to see Vernell outside of Ohio: keep her home slam in mind the next time you travel west on I-90.

After the feature, a really solid eight slammers took the stage, including some strong first-timers and some gung-ho regulars. The final came down to John Pinkham (oft-times slam finalist) and Allison Truj (rare bird at the slam). When the dust cleared, John was left standing holding the ten-dollar prize: congratulations to John, and we sure hope to see Truj back out to fight for a win in future weeks.

Next Wednesday: our feature will be the High School Reunion Slam. Missing your high school friends? Still rejecting the idea of senselessly formal, age-segregated education? Any which way, this slam is for you: the Freshmen vs. Sophomores vs. Juniors vs. Seniors will have you Facebooking your exes to tell them all about how anti-establishment yet formative our show is. Bring your favorite high school outfit and three minutes of angst to our open mic, then feel free to grab a whiteboard and judge our slammers’ art like the Heather you are.

Cantab Feature for Wednesday, November 16, 2016: Vernell Bristow

Vernell Bristow competes downstairs at the Cantab Lounge during the 2013 National Poetry Slam. Photo by Mark Skrzypczak.

Vernell Bristow competes downstairs at the Cantab Lounge during the 2013 National Poetry Slam. Photo by Mark Skrzypczak.

Vernell Bristow is a poet from Columbus, OH. She began writing poetry while in college at Denison University. Her first poem was given to her by the universe. Since then, she’s had to work for every poem she’s written. Vernell has many experiences in the world of poetry slam, representing her scene multiple times at all three Poetry Slam Inc., events (the National Poetry Slam, the Individual World Poetry Slam, and the Women of the World Poetry Slam).

When Vernell not working on her own poetry, she’s had the pleasure of editing the published works of other poets. Her latest artistic endeavors have led her to the theatrical stage as an actor. Vernell is the co-founder of Writers’ Block Poetry in Columbus, a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and the human mom of the cutest doggie ever.

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, November 9, 2016

Sure, the sun came up on Wednesday morning… Sure, it was a clear and beautiful day in Boston, and, if you want to be grateful, you can be grateful that the weather brought William Evans‘ flight safe and sound to the city of Boston, just in time to bring us solid, sane, important, and personal words from his life growing up and raising a family in Ohio. Each of Will’s pieces opened a small, intense window on an American life, and a voice we desperately needed to hear. Thanks to Will for his patience, kindness, honest, and willingness to book himself with us the day after Election Day. Watch for the manuscript he read from this week in book form next year… And, of course, for his next local show at the Haley House Slam tonight, November 11.

By the way: thanks, too, to our open mic, for their own sweetness and honesty on a tough night. The crowd in the Cantab this Wednesday came out to hold space for each other, and the poets did not disappoint: the mic was filled with sadness and anger, yes, but also moments of genuine laughter and hope. The four slammers who closed the night took their cue from the rest of the show and brought their best to the stage, culminating in a final round between John Pinkham and Meaghan Ford! Congratulations to Meaghan, who took the win and the Hamilton home.

Next week: we continue our run of brilliant Columbus poets with Vernell Bristow, co-founder of the famed Writers’ Block slam and a perennial National Poetry Slam powerhouse. We’ll also throw open the roster for the fourth slam in this final 8×8 series of 2016.

Tips from the Bar: Adulting Choices

Use this concept from John Pinkham as a ghost line, theme, or literalism:

The floor is lava! Everything in the adult world is lava!

Cantab Feature for Wednesday, November 9, 2016: William Evans

William Evans, Columbus poet and Black Nerd Problems Editor-in-Chief.

William Evans, Columbus poet and Black Nerd Problems Editor-in-Chief.

William Evans is a writer from Columbus, Ohio and the founder of the Writing Wrongs Poetry Slam (September 2008).

In addition to being the Editor-in-Chief of Blacknerdproblems.com, William has published two collections of poetry on Penmanship Books. His work can be found in joint literary journal, Radius, Union Station Magazine, Freezeray Poetry and other online publications.

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, November 5, 2016

Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday! This past week, crowd favorite Joshua Elbaum played to a packed house, selecting almost entirely new-to-the-stage work for a super-solid and well-received feature. Josh journeyed with us through the daily questions of love and out the other side, touching on fidelity and personal space, identity and naming, and the future, and time, and stuff. Josh’s new chapbook is called The Future Is a Compost Pile / And I Will Love You Forever and he might just have a copy left for you to buy if you ask him nicely.

The slam was a hot-to-win eight-poet match, with a small but hardy audience and some extremely exciting matchups. The final round came down to newcomer Danny Deleón and not-as-newcomer Kieran Collier; in a tight matchup, Kieran took the win, the ten bucks, and the chance at making the 2017 Boston Poetry Slam Team.

Next Wednesday: no matter what happens on Tuesday, we promise to bring you the most excellent Will Evans from Columbus, Ohio, co-founder of the Writing Wrongs poetry slam and co-curator of Black Nerd Problems. Come for the open, stay for the feature, and, sure, sign up to judge our third open poetry slam in this 8×8 series.

Tips from the Bar: We Can Do It

Write a poem about how your parent’s (or parents’) occupation defined them.

Moonlighting: A Queer Open Mic RELAUNCH PARTY Featuring April Penn on November 3, 2016

After a teneleven-month hiatus, we are exhilarated to announce that Moonlighting has returned! This reading is the RELAUNCH PARTY for our monthly LGBTA+ series, Moonlighting, now at a new location in Brighton. Click here for more information about the show.

Moonlighting relaunch feature April Penn.

Moonlighting relaunch feature April Penn.

The relaunch of Moonlighting will celebrate with feature April Penn. April’s poetry is published in The Offing, The Fem, Maps for Teeth, Provocateur, Hoax Zine, and Amethyst Arsenic. She has featured at the Boston Poetry Slam, Out of the Blue Gallery, Occupy Boston and UMass Amherst. Her second-latest chapbook chronicles life in a gluten-free dairy-free queer coop as well as the dissolution of self, reality, and relationships. Her newest chapbook is entitled Drunk Lesbian Dinosaurs Make Me Write Poetry.

This show in our monthly Thursday LGBTA+ series takes place at Article 24, 458 Western Ave. in the Brighton area of Boston. An open mic begins at approximately 8:00 p.m. and the headliners follow the open mic. The show is all-ages and a $3 donation is requested.

Cantab Feature for Wednesday, November 2, 2016: Joshua Elbaum

Joshua Elbaum performs at the 2016 BPS Team Selection Slams. Photo by Marshall Goff.

Joshua Elbaum performs at the 2016 BPS Team Selection Slams. Photo by Marshall Goff.

Joshua Elbaum has been trying unsuccessfully to escape poetry for the past three years.

Joshua helped to lead the Berklee College Slam Team to its first semi-finals stage at CUPSI. He has performed and taught workshops around the Boston area and has been published mostly by his friends. In 2015 he was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. A Young Adult fantasy villain, he is consistently underestimating and defeated by the power of love.

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, October 26, 2016

Did you feel it, folks? It was the first night that the Cantab Lounge had to turn on the heat in the basement this year, and once that stage got warm, the night never let up. A sweet selection of promising newcomers and promise-keeping regulars graced the open mic, and nearly everyone kept their seat for the much anticipated feature from 2016 Boston Poetry Slam Team member Zeke Russell. Zeke brought listeners on a journey from the cold hills of northern Maine through the defunct pubs of Lowell, stopping off for moments of tenderness along the way. If you missed the trip, check in with Zeke for a copy of his new chapbook, Some of Them Are Still People.

After the feature, we opened the new 8×8 slam series with the first slam of eight: a truly all-star, nationally-renowned roster took the stage for one of the most competitive opens we’ve seen all year. A fierce two rounds brought the show down to the night’s top competitors, Brandon Melendez and Meaghan Ford. These two poets went neck-and-neck in the final round, forcing a tiebreaker for the ten-dollar prize! Ultimately, Brandon emerged victorious, earning a trip to the 2017 Team Selection Slams and, of course, the cash.

Next week: yes, there’ll be another open slam, plus another long-awaited feature from the excellent Joshua Elbaum.