Cantab Recap For Wednesday, January 8th, 2025

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Happy Wednesday, Cantabbers! It was great to be back in the basement of the Cantab Lounge after a couple weeks, and the room was abuzz with slam jitters, newcomer nerves, and open mic endorphins! We had a wonderful open mic featuring first-timer Prince Shapiro, performing a poem in Khosa and English, captivating the audience and leaving them in awe of his impeccable skills. New regular René brought the house down as usual, and Portia also displayed the beauty of her writing, and the ocean. Shoutout to our two express lane performers, Naomi and Jack, for closing out the open mic by bringing their authentic voices. Interestingly, the words “red” and “rubble” made several coincidental appearances tonight in several poems. What could it mean?!

The slam was as heartwarming as it was heated! Shawn kicked off the slam with a meta slam poem about “con man syndrome” (the opposite of imposter syndrome) and instructed the audience to NOT give him 10s (he got one 10). Jarvis’ poem about his name did beautifully, as did new slammer LJ Gabriel, who performed a name piece as well. Edie preached about the sin of indifference and inaction, and Myles did their classic punk rock planned parenthood poem (and followed it with the even MORE classic Boy With Wings). Katya showed her range with a classic and a debut, Hunter walked us (drove us?) down their years on the road, and Kelsey blew us all away, with thunderous applause after each performance, ranging from a beautiful and artistic poem about her grandmother’s battle with Alzheimer’s, grief at the airport, and how her mother’s (and by extension, her) roots were affected by assimilation in America.

People (well, at least me!) were literally jumping up and down with excitement by the final round, as finalists (and, by making it that far, team selection qualifiers!) Kelsey and Myles battled it out in the final round. Myles chose to debut some beautiful new shit on the importance of art, the instrument you use, and what truly makes it valuable. Kelsey’s airport grief poem was a journey through the sky, letting us all feel the breathlessness and deoxygenation that comes with grief. The winner was then crowned to be….

MYLES TAYLOR! $50 and a big round of applause was given to our very deserving fearless leader. The room was ablaze with support for them, as well as for Kelsey Kessler, our wonderful runner up.

The ✏️Line of the Wednesday✏️ is from Marja, with “ ‘Detroit is not dying,’ she said. ‘She’s just catching her breath.”

TONIGHT! Bri Gonzalez (they/them) is a Chicanx, queer writer from San Antonio, TX. They are the author of A WELLNESS CHECK (Game Over Books, 2024), a hybrid collection that investigates diagnosis by putting prescription pads and glitter pens in the hands of Gotham’s dark knight. A graduate of the University of Colorado Boulder MFA program, Bri is wondering how exactly writing even works. Bri currently teaches at Front Range Community College in Longmont, CO and is diligently researching vampires.

– Amy ✈️

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