Revisiting an old prompt from last year: write a poem you are afraid your parents would write about you.
Cantab Feature for Wednesday, May 8, 2013: Rachel McKibbens
Rachel McKibbens, WOWPS champion.
Poet, activist, playwright and essayist Rachel McKibbens is a New York Foundation for the Arts poetry fellow and author of the critically acclaimed volume of poetry, Pink Elephant (Cypher Books, 2009). Regarded as one of the most dynamic speakers in the country, McKibbens is a legend within the poetry slam community, noted for her accomplishments both on and off the stage: she is a nine-time National Poetry Slam team member, has appeared on eight NPS final stages, coached the New York louderARTS poetry slam team to three consecutive final stage appearances, was the 2009 Women of the World Poetry Slam champion and the 2011 National Underground Poetry Slam individual champion.
For four years Rachel taught poetry through the Healing Arts Program at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan and continues to teach poetry and creative writing and give lectures across the country as an advocate for mental illness, gender-equality and victims of violence and domestic abuse. She has been published widely and her second book of poetry, Into the Dark and Emptying Field, is slated to be released in the fall of 2013.
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 slam in the 8×8 series will follow. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $3.
Moonlighting Recap for Thursday, May 2
The second-ever Moonlighting, Boston Poetry Slam’s new monthly LGBTQ reading, was a success, thanks to a high caliber open-mic and the formidable presence of nationally renowned poet Tatyana Brown. Those in attendance were wowed by never-before-seen work as well as familiar hits as Brown wielded a rare range of emotion, blending poignancy, humor, and uncommonly distilled confession to the stage. Now heading into its third month, Moonlighting is proving to be a top-notch safe space for the LGBTQ community and their allies to enjoy and relate to one another through poetry, before sitting back and experiencing some of the art’s most talented performers!
Moonlighting takes place on the first Thursday of every month 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 with a suggested $3 donation. The next Moonlighting show will take place on Thursday, June 6, featuring Casey Rocheteau.
Moonlighting: A Queer Open Mic and Reading Series on Thursday, May 2, 2013
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!
Cantab Feature for Wednesday, April 24: Marty McConnell
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.
Boston Poetry Slam Online