Write about where you hope to live once you never have to move ever, ever again.
Cantab Feature for Wednesday, August 31, 2016: Oompa Williams
Boston poetry powerhouse Oomp Will.
Lakiyra (Oompa) Williams is a slam poet and hip-hop artist from Roxbury who is now a resident of Cambridge (don’t tell anybody). She is hood, queer, black, womynist, orphan, auntie, sister, friend, and teacher. She is a member of the 2016 Haley House National Poetry Slam Team and Flatline Poetry. Her work grapples with the intersections and implications of her many identities, and the hope is that people can feel her story and find their own. She has been featured at places like Bucknell University, Boston University, Boston College, Mass. College of Art, and Berklee College of Music, as well as a number of different venues in the NorthBeast region.
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 24, 2016
Two weeks in a row? We had mind-blowing craft-busting head-expanding features two weeks in a row at the Cantab? Yeah, sure, welcome back, summer travelers: Taylor Steele brought business as usual to the stage last Wednesday, which, of course, meant professional, exciting, perspective-changing and brave beautiful work. In addition to presenting her work around the country (and forthcoming on local pizza pi press), Taylor also co-manages the Union Square Slam: if you’re in NYC on a Tuesday, don’t hesitate to check it out.
Our slam this past week was an intimate affair, pitting four hard-working poets against one another over three rounds. The final pairing came down to Claudia Wilson and RebeccaLynn Gualtieri, whose work rose above the rest to tie in the finals! The audience was treated to one more pair of poems, with Claudia taking the big win.
This week: we’re back on Wednesday (of course! of course!) with a feature from newly minted National Poetry Slam Finalist Oomp(a) Will(iams), plus the third open slam in our 8×8 poetry slam series. Come get your spot on the open mic before the fall crowds swoop in!
Cantab Feature for Wednesday, August 24, 2016: Taylor Steele
Brooklyn/Bronx poet Taylor Steele. Photo by Ashley August.
Taylor Steele is a Brooklyn-based/Bronx-born spoken word artist, playwright, and essayist. She has been published by several online publications (Apogee Journal, HEArt Journal, Wicked Banshee Press, Blackberry Magazine, Rogue Agent, and many forthcoming), and is a content writer for The Body is Not an Apology. Taylor’s work has been featured on Button Poetry, The Huffington Post, and her chapbook Dirty.Mouth.Kiss will be published in Fall 2016 by Pizza Pi Press. She placed fifth in the 2015 Women of the World Poetry Slam and sixth in 2016. She believes in the power of art to change, shape, and heal.
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 17, 2016
A sweet and super night at the Cantab last night, folks: give it up in your hearts right now for Valerie Loveland, who brought her latest books to a jam-packed poetry feature on our basement stage last night. The open mic played host to a number of newcomers, all promising to stay as long as the departing regulars we lost to the beginning of the new semester this week. It was a great night to listen closely and well.
Tom Slavin hosted a packed slam to close the evening, featuring a number of exciting upsets and one blistering tie: Spencer Burchill survived a semi-final poem-off only to fall to Ron in the final round. Ron gets a slam win under his belt and an invite to return to our champs slam in the future! His opponents in that slam are TBD, of course: if you want to get in on it, you’ll need to sign up for next week’s slam when you arrive to see two-time WOWPS finalist Taylor Steele feature for us. Time to get writing!
Cantab Feature for August 17, 2016: Valerie Loveland
Female Animal author Valerie Loveland.
Valerie Loveland is the author of Mandible Maxilla, Female Animal, and Reanimated Somehow. Her poetry has been featured in Dzanc Book’s Best of the Web and the Massachusetts Poetry Festival. She enjoys celebrity cat fandom, silent movies, and audio poetry. She is currently a Math/Computer Science student and an optician in Boston.
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 10, 2016
WELL DANG. We’ve been (figuratively) holding our breath since March for the promised re-booking of Timothy DuWhite, and he finally made it out to the Cantab for our post-Nationals celebration last night… It was worth the wait! An engaging and risk-taking performer, Tim broke out clever, well-crafted, and thought-provoking work to start and didn’t let up for the rest of the show; from glimpses of his maybe-epic mouse poem to sweet real-love moments on stage, the poet took great care of the audience while pushing the writers listening to try and be more. Thanks for getting us on the calendar, Tim!
After the feature, six poets slammed off, looking to wrest the title from our reigning Champion of Champions, Mckendy Fils-Aimé. Three rounds of intense work followed, with Jess Riz taking the 8×8 victory over Adam Stone (who gets an honorable mention for bringing an all-new set to the slam). Basking in her season championship for only a few moments, Jess elected to challenge the one-year reign of Mckendy… And won the title in the new-poem round! Congrats to Jess, high-fives to Mckendy, and a reminder to all of y’all that the next eight open slams can qualify any of you for the 2017 Boston Poetry Slam Team, the 2017 World Qualifier, and, yes, the October 19 Champion of Champions Slam.
Next week: we are elated to return to the stage with that aforementioned open slam, as well as beloved local and one-spot-mainstay Valerie Loveland in the feature slot.
Tips from the Bar: August in Boston
Writing prompt for Wednesday, August 10, 2016.
All your friends are leaving, and local universities are back in session. Write a poem about moving on, or not moving on, or failing to move on.
Boston Poetry Slam Online