Amidst the cold, Cantabbers brought some spring fever energy to poetry night! The open mic had some wonderful first timers, with one poet debuting the first poem they ever wrote! We had an incredible love poem from the feature’s partner, a Weird Al-inspired poem from Skylar Sweet Cheeks, and, in a true redemption arc, the great Danny Riordan got through a poem that he was not able to complete last time (because he was laughing so much).
The night wouldn’t be complete without some 🐷Weekly Shenanigans🏝️ and for the second time in a row, host Jimmy’s banter brought something memorable to the stage. Between introducing poets, Jimmy read Google’s “people also ask” suggestions that come up when you search “Pig Island.” For those who don’t know, Pig Island is an island in the Bahamas home to a clan of feral pigs. Turns out, people have a lot of questions about these pigs. To top it off, Michael F. Gill found the answers to these questions and read them in succession as a found poem later in the night. Truly anything can happen on a Cantab Wednesday.
Our highly anticipated feature this week was the one and only Jarvis Subia! He opened his set by crowd-walking down the aisles of folding chairs, and performed work from multiple chapbooks, spanning topics from relationships to masculinity to beauty. His effervescent delivery had the audience feeling all the feels. Learn more about Jarvis on his website, www.flowerboywrites.com!
This week’s ✏️Line of the Wednesday✏️ is from our astounding feature, Jarvis Subia, from his piece “Stay with Me”:
“If we always try to outrun our horizons, we will never make it to daylight.”
This Wednesday: our feature is Catherine Weiss! Catherine is a poet and artist from Maine. Their poetry has been published in Tinderbox, Up the Staircase, Fugue, Taco Bell Quarterly, and Flypaper Lit. Catherine is the artist behind the collaborative poetry chapbook/card deck I WISH I WASN’T ROYALTY (Game Over Books, 2020). They are also the author of chapbook-length poem FERVOR (Ginger Bug Press, 2021), full-length poetry collections WOLF GIRLS VS. HORSE GIRLS (Game Over Books, 2021), and GRIEFCAKE (Game Over Books, 2023). More at catherineweiss.com. See you then!
– Amy ✈️
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All shows take place at the Cantab Lounge, 738 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge, with one flight of stairs to access the basement room (click for directions and accessibility information). The show is 21+ (ID/Proof of Vaccination required) and doors for the show open at 7:15. The open mic begins at 8:00 PM and the feature begins at approximately 10:00 PM. Due to a temporary inflation tax on transactions at the Cantab, the door charge will be $3.15 credit or $4 cash until further notice.
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