Another fab Wednesday for the Cantab crew! We had an open mic, a haiku slam, and an incredible feature. During the mic, Jack Chasse opened with tales of his year to come, Eli followed with tales of his sister-in-law’s baseball bat, and then Hunter with a thinkpiece (thinkpoem?) on the hit series Riverdale. We had a full house for the night, and an even fuller waitlist, including previous feature Zee Stewart from Slam Free & Die!
The ✏️Line of the Wednesday✏️ comes from Kaitie D. with “Do I really know desire when I’m alone?”
We then had the first haiku slam of the year hosted by the great Michael F. Gill. We had newer faces, such as Iman, being the house down with a juggling poem, and familiar faces like Kris Cho and defending haiku champion Aparna. Shout out to former finalist Lou B for doing a beautifully sung haiku in Round 1! In the end, regular (and 2023 slam team member) Kai Wallin won the $17 and bragging rights.
Our feature was Mica Rich, who read a curated (and completely memorized!) set of poems guaranteed to tug on your heartstrings (or even maybe rip them out). Mica drew from their personal experience for several of their poems, and their raw vulnerability was comforting, emotional, and inspiring. A poet with a real gift for talking to you directly, they stepped back from the mic to deliver a truly powerful poem that my words won’t do justice. I encourage you to watch the saved livestream on our Instagram @bostonpoetryslam.
Fundraiser alert!
This Valentine’s day, we will have books for you to fall in love with! On our February 14th show, we are hosting a “blind date with a book.” Attendees may pay on a sliding scale to buy a brand-new poetry book and take it home to keep! In preparation, we ask our lovely community for poetry book donations. We invite you to bring a poetry book you’d like to contribute (along with a sticky note describing the themes in the book) to any of our upcoming Wednesday night shows. Funds will go towards the continued development of the Boston Poetry Slam.
This week: join us at the Cantab Lounge for our regular Open Mic AND Open Slam! Slam rules: 3 rounds! You must have 3 ORIGINAL poems under 3 minutes. This is your SECOND TO LAST CHANCE to qualify for the 2024 team selection slam, so bring out your best work and come down to Central Square!
See you then!
– Amy ✈️
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