Cantab Recap for Wednesday, May 1

Fifteen poets packed into the slam this past Wednesday in the hope of becoming the next Boston Poetry Slam representative at the Individual World Poetry Slam this October! With only eight slots available in the May 29 World Qualifier Finals, poets were pulling out all the stops… But they only had two rounds and a total of three minutes –that’s a two-minute round and a one-minute round– to do it.

We kicked off with stellar sacrifices from Nora Meiners and Tom Slavin, then we were off for another thirty (!) speedy poems! When the dust cleared, some very decisive, independent judges had made it clear who they wanted to see advance. Final rankings after two rounds were:

  • 1. Jade Sylvan* 52.7

  • 2. Sean Patrick Mulroy 52.6
  • 3. Omoizele Okoawo 52.1
  • 4. Bobby Crawford 52

  • 5. Kieran Collier* 50.6

  • 6. Michael Monroe 50.2
  • 7. Sophia Holtz 49.6
  • 8. Zanne Langlois 49.3
  • 9. Meaghan Ford 48.9
  • 10. Ed Wilkinson 48.7

  • Nathan Comstock
  • Eddy Martinez
  • Zeke Russell
  • Brenna Kleiman
  • Dave McKenna

*Jade Sylvan and Kieran Collier have dropped from Finals, bringing the ninth- and tenth-ranked poets back into the competition.

Thanks so much to everyone who competed, and also to our judges: Chris and Michelle, Andrea and Aradice, Greg, David, and Charlotte! Remember, we’ll be back with those top eight poets on May 29 for the World Qualifier Finals, where we’ll go four rounds to select just one poet to represent us in October.

But wait: what happened to the rest of May? Don’t worry, folks… There is lots of poetry happening between now and then, starting up with Rachel McKibbens this coming Wednesday. We’ll also kick off the first slam in the latest 8×8 championship series. See you there!

Tips from the Bar: Word Choice Malfunction

Consider one or more pick-up lines that might reveal too much about the speaker.

Moonlighting: A Queer Open Mic and Reading Series on Thursday, May 2, 2013

Tatyana Brown, Moonlighting feature for May 2.

Tatyana Brown, Moonlighting feature for May 2.

THE SECOND INSTALLMENT IN OUR LGBTQ MONTHLY SERIES, MOONLIGHTING! Click here for more information about Moonlighting. The night’s featured poet will be Tatyana Brown.

Tatyana Brown is the founding Captain of The Lit Slam, a San Francisco-based, live-audience curated literary show and poetry journal. She ranked fourth at the 2011 Individual World Poetry Slam and has toured North America ever since, facilitating workshops and performing at venues for storytelling and poetry. She visits universities (including the Indiana University, Duke University and Yale University) to speak on the subject of poetry slam as a contemporary American literary tradition specifically, and the vibrant nature of American oral tradition more generally. She also teaches workshops on using various communication tools (including shock-value comedy) to interrupt and dismantle systemic oppression. Her work has appeared on NPR’s storytelling show, Snap Judgment. She holds the distinct honor of winning the longest consecutive string of XXX Haiku Deathmatch Championships at Oakland’s Tourettes Without Regrets (and she did so with progressive, feminist comedy).

This show in our monthly Thursday LGBTQ series takes place at Fazenda Coffee Roasters, 3710 Washington St. in the Jamaica Plain area of Boston. An open mic begins at approximately 7:00 p.m. and the headliner follows the open mic. The show is all-ages and a $3 donation is requested.

Cantab feature for Wednesday, May 1, 2013: World Qualifier Speed Slam

It’s the end of our speed slam series, folks, and you know what that means… It’s time for the annual World Qualifier series, a two-night, six-poem series to select the Boston Poetry Slam’s sole representative to the 2013 Individual World Poetry Slam! This year’s IWPS will take place in Spokane, Washington from October 3-5, and our World Qualifier slam winner will be entered into the event.

Night one of the World Qualifier will our annual grand speed slam: a huge field of poets will compete in a lightning-fast two-round slam using only 2- and 1-minute poems. That means lots of new work performed by your favorite slam winners from the past year! Top scorers move on to Finals at the end of the month.

Want to see who’s qualified? Click here for the full list of speed slam invitees. You can also check out the full rules and format for the World Qualifier Series.

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. An slightly shortened open mic begins at 8:00 and the slam begins at approximately 10:00. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $5; proceeds will go toward funding the World Qualifier winner’s trip to IWPS in Spokane, Washington this October.

Cantab Recap for Wednesday, April 24

National Poetry Month has just ended at the Boston Poetry Slam, folks, and we went out on a high note. First, Marty McConnell led a workshop to kick off a big night, and the venue responded in kind with a super-solid and interesting open mic. Marty replied with a feature (kicking off with a brand-new-to-everyone poem, by the way) that had folks tripping over themselves to get a copy of her newest book, wine for a shotgun. Awesome!

But wait, there was more: six folks showed up for the Champion of Champions slam, all with a new poem in their back pockets designed to challenge the reigning champ, Zanne Langlois. To honor the close of our spring speed slam series, we started the slam with a one-minute round that saw the end of the night for previous winners Nathan Comstock and Dave McKenna. Zeke Russell and Keiran Collier were respectively eliminated in the two-minute round, leaving the final battle between CUPSI wunderkind Bobby Crawford and Cantab old-schooler Tom Slavin! Tom took the round, the win, and the challenge to compete against Zanne in the one-off new poem round… And swept the night in a major victory. Congrats to Tom on his new title, and a round of applause for Zanne who held it for almost a full year.

Next week: you like slam? We hope you like slam. We’ve got slam in our name, so we’ve just gotta: on Wednesday, May 1, join us as we begin to narrow the field to determine who will represent us at the Individual World Poetry Slam this October. It’s the massive 20-poet World Qualifier Speed Slam, with all 2- and 1-minute poems, top poets invited to return at the end of the month, and a $5 cover to help raise money to send the eventual winner to the big competition. Sweet!

Tips from the Bar: The April Ranger II Prompt

You only know one sentence in a foreign language, and it is dangerous to you. What is it?

Cantab Feature for Wednesday, April 24: Marty McConnell

Marty McConnell, NUPIC champion and author of wine for a shotgun.

Marty McConnell, NUPIC champion and author of wine for a shotgun.

Marty McConnell transplanted herself from Chicago to New York City in 1999, after completing the first of three national tours with the Morrigan, an all-female performance poetry troupe she co-founded. She received her MFA in creative writing/poetry from Sarah Lawrence College, and for nearly a decade, co-curated the flagship reading series of the New York City-based louderARTS Project. She appeared on both the second and fifth seasons of HBO’s Def Poetry Jam. She returned to Chicago in 2009 to co-found Vox Ferus, an organization dedicated to empowering and energizing individuals and communities through the written and spoken word.

A member of seven National Poetry Slam teams representing New York City and Chicago, McConnell is the 2012 National Underground Poetry Individual Competition (NUPIC) Champion. In 2011, she completed her first European tour and debuted her one-woman show, “vicebox.” She is a two-time recipient of the Community Arts Assistance Program grant from the City of Chicago’s Office of Tourism and Culture, and received a 2013 grant from the Illinois Arts Council.

Marty’s latest book is wine for a shotgun, available at EM Press. You can visit her at martyoutloud.com.

In addition to her feature, Marty will also present an early-bird generative poetry workshop called “Stranger Than Fiction.”

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. A speed version of the Champion of Champions poetry slam for the current 8×8 series will follow. (There is no open poetry slam tonight.) The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $3.

Workshop for Wednesday, April 24: “Stranger Than Fiction” with Marty McConnell

Marty McConnell, workshop leader for April 24. Photo by Lux Camena.

Marty McConnell, workshop leader for April 24. Photo by Lux Camena.

Join Marty McConnell, the night’s scheduled feature, for an early-bird workshop at the Cantab Lounge before the show. Marty will be offering a generative poetry workshop called “Stranger Than Fiction.” From the workshop leader:

“In this workshop, we will discuss how poetry allows us– and sometimes requires us –to be stranger than fiction by examining and discussing two poems that push boundaries with purpose, then doing a bit of writing of our own.”

Doors open at 5:30 for workshop participants only: the workshop runs from 6:00 to 7:00. Cover charge is $5, which includes admission to the evening show. The venue is 18+ and a photo ID is required.

Cantab Recap for Wednesday, April 17

We can confirm it: last week’s workshop leader and feature, Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz, is the classiest class act who ever acted classy, hands down. After a difficult week in Boston, we were ready to laugh, grieve, and take poetry as seriously as possible this past Wednesday; our open mic community showed a lot of sensitivity and support as we struggled to write and listen about the events rocking our city. After the break, we were so fortunate to have Cristin, the founder of NYC-Urbana and author of Hot Teen Slut, in town for a chance to listen our cares away. We took a break from slamming last week to just have a chance to be together, and were thankful once again for the strength of our local and national poetry community.

Next week: deft and talented writer Marty McConnell offers an early-bird writing workshop (doors at 5:30 for a 6:00 start), the last of our National Poetry Month special events. She’ll then also perform as our featured poet for the evening. The night will close with a speed version of our famed Champion of Champions slam, wherein Zanne Langlois will defend her title against the last eight slam winners. Whoa!

Tips from the Bar: Maybe a Manatee

Write the poem you’ve been avoiding: the one filled with grief, loss, tragedy, and drama. Now take out the drama and replace it with a cute animal of your choice.