What’s up Cantabbers!? We had a wicked, wacky Wednesday for you all last week! Cameron not only performed a poem for us, but we were serenaded in song as well! We had great debuts from Phoebe and Apollo, a Cantabverssary poem from Shawn, and a poem from Jack Chassay that left us floored and left him… on the floor!
The ✏️Line of the Wednesday ✏️ is from Phoebe, with “I left God a voicemail while you stayed on the line until I fell asleep.”
We had the express lane (featuring a great poem dedicated to flatulence by the Bus Stop Prophet) and the smoking section (featuring Kat, coming up from the bar WITH bars), and then….
The Fresh Ink Slam! All new shit, all night! We had ten slammers take the stage, including first timers Frank and Kelly Erin bringing the HEAT! We had an incredible poem by the great Sam Bucci after a short hiatus, some great storytelling from Edie, and the usual evocative heavy-hitters from Youssef. There was also not one, not two, but THREE ties, and the slam went all the way into Thursday morning (like 12:01am on Thursday morning, but still). Thank you to our very patient judges, who in total judged TWENTY poems (that’s like listening to poems non-stop for almost an entire hour).
After a tight final round with Edie, Kaitie D., Kelly Erin, and March, the winner was announced. March Penn took home the 50 bucks and the title of Freshest Ink in All the Land! Thank you to all the slammers and everyone who stayed to watch this great event.
Speaking of March Penn, they are hosting the WORKSHOP before today’s show! The workshop is called “Your Notebook Is Your Museum.”
This workshop is inspired by former Cantab poet Carrie Rudzinski who kept notebooks full of interesting turns of phrases, and then later strung them together to craft amazing poems. Carrie is excellent at a writing technique known as parataxis, when a writer uses short phrases without connecting them with conjunctions or other coordinating words. Writers are encouraged to bring old notebooks, diaries, or drafts, but starting a fresh notebook or notes app on a cellphone is fine too. All funds raised on this workshop will be donated to Game Over Books to support this small, struggling press after loss of their distribution.
The workshop will start at 6:30 and have a capacity of 18 participants, so get there early! Note: Workshop attendees get first access to the open mic list. The workshop cost is $10-20 (sliding scale).
Also, your feature tonight is Durane West! Durane West is a spoken word artist and educator, and he was born and raised in Boston. He channels intense imagery, and intuitive emotional exploration to showcase transparency in his writing. Through versatile form usage and raw introspective diction, West offers his readers a sneak peek into his closeted mind. West has several years of experience working in the non-profit sector for organizations that aim to improve literacy skills for inner city youth throughout Boston. In 2022, West was nominated by the Boston Music Awards for Spoken Word Artist of the Year. The Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture published his poem “617” which he performed in a short film. West leads workshops for a multidisciplinary arts education program at the Institute of Contemporary Art.
See you soon!
– Amy ✈️
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