Cantab Feature for Wednesday, March 29, 2017: Team Selection FINALS

The Cantab’s Team Selection Slams are the venue’s biggest, wildest poetry slams of the year. The venue’s late-winter selection is one of the earliest in the country, which gives them extra time to prepare for this year’s National Poetry Slam in Denver, Colorado this August.

The top poets from semi-finals qualified to advance to the show. Due to ties, eleven poets have qualified to slam in the following order in the first round:
1. Zeke Russell
2. John Pinkham
3. Kieran Collier
4. Austin Hendricks
5. Em Taylor
6. Adam Stone
7. Kylie Noelle
8. Mckendy Fils-Aimé
9. Allison Truj
10. Neiel Israel
11. Brandon Melendez
sacrificial poets: Ron Prudent, Zenaida Peterson

RebeccaLynn, poet, bartender, regular, and uncompromising learner.

RebeccaLynn, poet, bartender, regular, and uncompromising learner.

Our long slam tonight means a special show schedule! After a very short open mic, the first round of the slam will begin, after which we will hold a short intermission.

After the intermission, around 9:30 p.m., spotlight poet RebeccaLynn will take the stage for a short (unscored!) spotlight set. RebeccaLynn is a student, poet, and angry bartender. Her art primarily focuses on her own navigation through life as a queer black woman. While applying philosophical concepts her art, her goal is to question what we know through her poems, and wants others to do the same. Get your drinks before the spotlight, since our bartender will be on stage! After the spotlight, our second and third rounds will take the stage (and, yes, the bar will begin pouring once again).

After three previous slams in the last two months, already requiring four pieces to slam plus a brand new poem, you can expect hot competition, tense strategic moves, and the most finely-polished performance work of the slam season. The top five poets at the end of the evening (no ties accepted!) will comprise the 2017 Boston Poetry Slam Team.

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. A SHORTENED open mic begins at 8:00 and the first round of the slam begins thereafter; a short break will follow with the final two rounds of the slam taking place around 9:30. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $5; proceeds will go toward funding the team’s trip to the National Poetry Slam this August.