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Happy Wednesday, everyone! It is I, Amy, back after taking February off from recap-writing (thank you Michael and Zeke for doing such a wonderful job!). After an incredible team selection finals show two weeks ago, it was great to have everyone back for a regularly-extraordinary night at the Cantab!
We began the evening last week with a fabulous workshop from Brenda Echeverry on blackout poetry, complete with a huge assortment of materials and craft supplies for attendees to create their own masterpieces. It created such a welcoming environment for creativity!
Then, our fabulous open mic. Jack Chasse came back to the mic with the iconic black gloves and *bars*, and Erica Garcia, pulled from the waitlist, did a wonderfully structured poem about waiting… for the bus! We had several solid debuts from a handful of first timers like Dawn and Nikolai, while regulars like Kai Wallin performed a poem in the form of a Yelp review for their ex. Let’s just say it was a lower-than-3-stars rating, but a 5-star poem!
The ✏️Line of the Wednesday✏️ goes to Erica Garcia, with “The bus is a lie meant to keep me in the cold and in the dark”
Another aspect of this past Wednesday was the addition of a last-minute guest host! Several of our regular staff were out last week, so newly-selected 2025 Slam Team member Jennifer Martinez stepped in to host a section of the mic! Jenn showed off very impressive hosting skills and heroically led us through the middle of the open.
Our feature was Ephraim Nehemiah, who effortlessly and seamlessly wove through banter, stand-up, and of course POEMS during their feature. Their poetry was expertly performed, and Ephraim told us their story through poems about home and homelessness, experiences with racism, their relationship with God as they grew up, and finding yourself. The “holiness to whoreishness” pipeline references were particularly memorable. They also led the audience through a couple activities relating to embracing yourself, from a few collective deep breaths, to affirmations, to eventually encouraging the ENTIRE audience to name out loud one thing they like about themselves. It was a centering, beautiful feature.
TONIGHT!!! Tonight’s feature is Kelsey Bigelow! Kelsey Bigelow is a poet and speaker based in Des Moines. She spends her time working as a mental health poet, sharing this therapeutic tool with audiences of all ages across the world. She is the author of four poetry projects, including her latest book “Far From Broken.” Her work is published with several small presses and journals. Kelsey is a 2024 Pushcart Prize nominee, a 2023 Button Poetry Video Contest Finalist, and a 2023 Central Avenue Poetry Prize finalist. As a performer, Kelsey has worked with organizations such as The Mayo Clinic, NAMI, Planned Parenthood, and more. Videos of her work can be found on Button Poetry, Write About Now, Ghost Poetry Show, and elsewhere. She’s the founder of the Des Moines Poetry Workshop, the chair for the Iowa Poetry Association Poetry Slam, a teaching artist in the Des Moines community, a director for the BlackBerry Peach National Poetry Slam, and a founding member of the 2025 io-what poetry slam team.
See you then!
– Amy ✈️
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