SCHEDULE CHANGE: Cantab Feature for Wednesday, April 15, 2015: Emily Rose Kahn-Sheahan (CANCELED: Danez Smith)

Due to circumstances beyond our control, Danez Smith has had to cancel the New England leg of his 2015 tour. We will work to re-book the artist at his earliest convenience. In the meantime, the Boston Poetry Slam is pleased to present an excellent last-minute fill-in of the utmost quality:

Emily Rose onstage upstairs at the Cantab at the National Poetry Slam.

Emily Rose onstage upstairs at the Cantab at the National Poetry Slam.

Emily Rose Kahn-Sheahan lives in Chicago where she has hosted and curated shows for ten years, including operating as the SlamMaster for Mental Graffiti and the home curator for Real Talk Live. She has represented Chicago at the National Poetry Slam, provided performance coaching for slam and beyond, held down a position as a board member for Chicago Slam Works, and was Chair of Poetry for the Bucktown Arts Festival; she currently contracts with Poetry Slam, Inc. to make every spreadsheet run smoothly. Her work has recently appeared in Columbia Poetry Review, TriQuarterly, Muzzle Magazine, After Hours, and TimeOut Chicago. Her chapbook, Cigarette Love Songs and Nicotine Kisses, was published by Cross+Roads Press. Her upcoming chapbook will be released on Thoughtcrime Press.

Although currently on a non-working retreat in the New England area, Emily Rose has graciously agreed to fill our last-minute open feature slot. We are pleased to welcome her back to our stage.

Note that tonight’s open poetry slam is a speed slam with 3-, 2-, and 1-minute rounds. Slam winners qualify for the 2015 World Qualifier.

This show in our weekly Wednesday series takes place at the Cantab Lounge, 738 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge. Doors for the show open at 7:15. The open mic begins at 8:00 and the feature performs at approximately 10:00. An open speed slam in the 8×8 series will follow. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $3.


Biography of the CANCELED feature:

Ruth Lilly fellow Danez Smith.

Ruth Lilly fellow Danez Smith.

Danez Smith is the winner of a 2014 Ruth Lilly/Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation. He is the author of [insert] boy (YesYes Books, 2014), one of the Boston Globe’s Best Poetry Books of 2014 and a Lambda Literary Award Finalist, and two chapbooks— black movie (Button Poetry, 2015), winner of the 2014 Button Poetry Prize, and hands on ya knees (Penmanship Books, 2013). He holds fellowships from Cave Canem, VONA, and the McKnight Foundation. He was featured in The Academy of American Poets’ Emerging Poets Series by Patricia Smith. He is a founding member of the multi-genre, multicultural collective Dark Noise.

Danez placed second at the 2014 Individual World Poetry Slam and is a two-time Rustbelt Regional Champion. In 2014, he was the Festival Director for the Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam. His writing has appeared in Poetry, Ploughshares, Beloit Poetry Journal, Narrative, and elsewhere. He lives in Minneapolis, Minn.

Note that tonight’s open poetry slam is a speed slam with 3-, 2-, and 1-minute rounds. Slam winners qualify for the 2015 World Qualifier.

This show in our weekly Wednesday series takes place at the Cantab Lounge, 738 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge. Doors for the show open at 7:15. The open mic begins at 8:00 and the feature performs at approximately 10:00. An open speed slam in the 8×8 series will follow. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $3.