A giant squid goes apartment hunting.
Write a persona poem: consider taking on the voice of the squid, or the realtor, or the downstairs neighbor, or perhaps the prospective apartment itself.
Cantab Feature for Wednesday, December 30, 2015: Sam Rush and the Champion of Champions Slam
New Hampshire poet Sam Rush. Photo by Simon Sarris.
Sam Rush was raised in South Florida, but now makes poems and songs in and around New Hampshire. Sam got to writing poems after developing progressive hearing loss as a teenager and noticing how many words each word could be. Sam represented the venue Slam Free or Die in the 2014 and 2015 National Poetry Slams and the 2014 and 2015 Women of the World Poetry Slams (WOWPS), performing on Finals stage at WOWPS 2015. They have had work featured in Snacks, Drunk in a Midnight Choir, Alight: The Best Loved Poems of WOWPS 2014, and on Button Poetry, and are the author of chapbooks I meant to say glory and Halleluia or bedbug language for it. Sam currently directs programs at Friends Forever, a non-profit focused on empowering youth from cultures in conflict.
Tonight also marks the final night in our current 8×8 poetry slam series! Eight slam winners will slam off for the season championship and the opportunity to challenge the reigning Champion of Champions, Mckendy Fils-Aimé.
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 Champions of Champions Slam in the 8×8 speed slam series will follow. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $3.
Cantab for Wednesday, December 23, 2015: NO SHOW TONIGHT
No poetry show tonight! Enjoy a night off and come see us with your new work at our next show on December 30, 2015.
Please see our upcoming shows page for the schedule:
http://bostonpoetryslam.com/see-a-show/weekly-show/upcoming-features-and-slams
Cantab Recap for Wednesday, December 17, 2015
Last night: Lauren Yates! Heavens to Mergatroyd, poetry fans, some of y’all did not see Lauren Yates coming. Did you know this very smart poet lives only six hours south of us in Philly? Did you know that she is powering through poems there at The Fuze slam and kicking ass/taking names all over the country? Well, heck, if you didn’t know, now you know: Lauren took us through an incredibly well-crafted, thoughtful, well-turned and exquisitely presented feature last night. What a lovely last treat before our brief winter break.
Our slam, by the way, was a barrage of fiery fire flames: with Team Selection Slams coming up in January, there are only a few slim chances to qualify to try out for the team! Last night’s glorious winner was Manvir, who surprised the slam and the room by jumping into the fray. (Manvir defeated Sean Patrick Mulroy for the win, by the way… Which means we can make Sean host for the upcoming championship slam. Everyone wins!)
Remember, folks: there’s NO SHOW NEXT WEEK ON WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2015. But it’s cool, it’s cool: we are back with a doubly-amazing show to finish out the year on December 30. You should join us to see a feature from Manchester’s own Sam Rush and what promises to be a remarkable Champion of Champions slam, where reigning champ Mckendy Fils-Aimé will have to defend his title against the eight scrappiest (we mean feistiest [actually we mean motherloving talented!!]) slammers the season has to offer. Don’t miss it!
Cantab Feature for Wednesday, December 16, 2015: Lauren Yates
Philadelphia poet Lauren Yates.
Lauren Yates is a Philadelphia-based poet whose work is known for its deeply personal subject matter and conversational tone. Lauren stands out as one of the more nuanced writers in the Philadelphia poetry scene. Her poetry demonstrates a quiet confidence that challenges the showmanship typically associated with spoken word.
In Fall 2009, Lauren joined The Excelano Project, the University of Pennsylvania’s premier performance poetry collective. While in the group, she performed in six shows, competed at the 2011 College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational, created the group’s tenth anniversary chapbook Van Gogh’s Ear for Music, and coached the 2012 slam team to third place at the Wade-Lewis Poetry Slam Invitational. Since graduating from Penn, Lauren has focused on submitting to journals and competing in local poetry slams. Her work has appeared in APIARY, FRiGG, The Bakery, The Legendary, and more. She is also a poetry editor of Kinfolks magazine and a 2015 National Poetry Slam semi-finalist. You can learn more about her at laurentyates.com.
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 9, 2015
Yes, yes, José Olivarez was in the house this week! You might not remember this Harvard grad from before he was a published Breakbeat poet and the program director for Urban Word NYC, but José was sweet enough to call his feature last night at the Cantab a kind of homecoming –and to work the crowd with his pithy craft just as we’d expect from somebody who knows the ins and outs of the venue. He even brought us a personalized chapbook just for this show: if you bought it, remember that you get a discount on Home Court, his full-length work, available on his website.
Okay, but now for some really real talk: have you ever stayed for the open slam at the Cantab? It starts around 11pm and a lot of the audience clears out after chatting with the feature… But it’s one of the most unpredictably exciting parts of the evening, and last night was no exception. As we count down the last few open slams to Team Selection Slams, the competition gets fiercer and fiercer. Telling you that Jess Riz crashed through three rounds this week to defeat opponent Colin Killick in the finals doesn’t do the night justice; next week, you might want to stick around.
Next week, by the way, after our famed open mic and our wild slam, will be Philadelphia feature Lauren Yates, NPS 2015 semi-finalist and all-around badass. See you there!
Encyclopedia Show: Somerville for Thursday, December 10, 2015 — S3V3: THE CIRCUS
Encyclopedia Show: Somerville — THE CIRCUS on December 10, 2015! Art by Melissa Newman-Evans.
Thursday, December 10, 2015
The Davis Square Theatre
255 Elm St. in Somerville
7pm doors, 8pm-10pm show
all ages, $10/$7 sliding scale
click for Facebook event
The Boston Poetry Slam and Catherine Martin present the next installment in a slightly educational monthly series!
Our theme for this month’s show will be THE CIRCUS! A wide array of local artists will present new work, having been advised we are neither insured nor have a safety net.
The Encyclopedia Show Somerville is a franchise event, wherein invited artists from a variety of performance disciplines present all-new, original works on sub-topics of a single theme. A recurring cast of hosts and characters welcomes the artists with open arms and minds, while the resident Fact Checker is charged with maintaining the integrity of the Encyclopedic Truth of the show. Presenting all-original guest performances from local artists, plus work from our recurring cast members:
- Rob Crean and Chloé Cunha provide clever banter and funny accents appropriate for CO-HOSTING
- The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library offers MUSICAL SUPPORT
- Wes Hazard dispenses QUESTIONABLE EXPERTISE with panache and aplomb
- and Intern Mathieu Cunha has volunteered to perform a highly dangerous trapeze act.
Live Fact Checking is reluctantly provided by Jack van Sly from the Institute of Human Knowledge and Hygiene. The personal assistant to Mr. van Sly is Jade Sylvan.
This show in our monthly Encylopedia Show: Somerville series takes place at the Davis Square Theatre, 255 Elm St. in Somerville. Doors and the theatre bar open for a pre-show welcome party at 7:00. The show begins promptly at 8:00 and finishes at 10:00, including a short intermission. This is an all ages show! Admission is $10, or $7 for students, teachers, or guests in Prohibition-era dress.
Cantab Feature for Wednesday, December 9, 2015: José Olivarez
José Olivarez, Bronx-Illinois poet and Harvard grad.
José Olivarez is the co-author of the book of poems Home Court. He is a graduate of Harvard University, the Program Director at Urban Word NYC, and an editor at Painted Bride Quarterly. A winner of a 2015 Bronx Recognizes Its Own award from the Bronx Council on the Arts, his work has been published or is forthcoming in The BreakBeat Poets, The Acentos Review, Specter Magazine, Union Station Magazine, and Luna Luna Magazine, among other places. His work has also been featured on Yahoo’s Ball Don’t Lie basketball blog, Chicago Public Radio, and on Mass Poetry’s PoeTry on the T program. He is from Calumet City, Ill., and he lives in the Bronx. You can purchase Home Court from his tumblr page and follow him on social media at @jayohessee.
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