Cantab Recap For Wednesday, May 24th, 2023

Happy Cantab Wednesday! 

Last week contained more than the usual display of talent, as we also had a Spontaneous Speed Slam™️! On a rainy Wednesday evening, we had many-a-newcomer join us for the open mic, including first-timer Jack with a ~memorized~ piece, and new regular Amy See with some striking eco-poetry. The rest of the open had a somewhat-prevalent theme of death with some love poems mixed in here and there. It’s a Cantab tradition!

After the mic, we had our speed slam! 16 slammers came up to the mic with poems timed at 1 minute or less a per piece, which led to a couple of devastating time penalties. There were traveling pants, there were parasites, there was toast, and there was heartbreak, but in the end one poet came out victorious and won the coveted $50: our own beloved slam team member Aparna Paul, narrowly beating open mic regular TJ Jones. Congrats to Aparna and thank you to all the slammers!!!

Last week’s 👖Shenanigans🧥has got to be yet another Aparna-related occurrence. Her poem at the mic included what I am going to call a “Jumpsuit Jumpscare”, which featured an outrageous outfit change mid-poem.

The ✏️Line of the Wednesday✏️ is from regular Hallie Carton, with “I am not yet ready to taste a future uncertain of sour or sweetness”.

Join us this week for our regular open mic followed by … the last-chance slam! To slam, come prepared with 3 ORIGINAL poems, and each one must be less than 3 minutes in length. Use the poems and your performance skills to compete for a chance to be on the Last Chance Team at the 2023 Northbeast Regional! For more details on the regional and how to buy tickets, check out this handy linktree page! See you there!!

– Amy ✈️

Our upcoming features
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First timer? Looking for show info? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions

All shows take place at the Cantab Lounge, 738 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge, with one flight of stairs to access the basement room (click for directions and accessibility information). The show is $4 / 21+ (ID/Proof of Vaccination required) and doors for the show open at 7:15. The open mic begins at 8:00 PM and the feature begins at approximately 10:00 PM.

Cantab Recap For Wednesday, May 17th, 2023

It was a really lovely night this past week at the Cantab lounge, one of those rare Wednesdays where linear time was on our side, and everyone on the open mic and waitlist got a chance to read! Special shout out to ’90s Cantab veteran Brian Comiskey for showing up in our basement for the first time in many many years. At the end of open mic, we had perhaps our most competitive Haiku Slam to date! Jimmy Pavlick went dirty, blue, and surprising in each of the three rounds to eke out a win over open mic regular Caroline Belisle.

Our feature Jeffrey McDaniel was a breath of fresh air, the kind of “stand up poetry” where the poems and banter merged into each other perfectly, as if it was all one piece. It’s hard enough to craft a set around themes of mortality, isolation, and the elusiveness of connection, but to do it with so much natural humor and breezy wit? Thank you Jeffrey! Be sure to check out his new book, Thin Ice Olympics, as well as his extensive back catalog.

Coming up next: we just got word our planned feature Dena Igusti has to reschedule due to illness, so this week there will be a special theme slam! Check out our social media for any late-breaking news, but be prepared to slam and possibly win $50! See you soon!

– MFG 🚪

Our upcoming features
Our community survey
First timer? Looking for show info? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions

All shows take place at the Cantab Lounge, 738 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge, with one flight of stairs to access the basement room (click for directions and accessibility information). The show is $4 / 21+ (ID/Proof of Vaccination required) and doors for the show open at 7:15. The open mic begins at 8:00 PM and the feature begins at approximately 10:00 PM.

Cantab Recap For Wednesday, May 10th, 2023

What a Wednesday! On an absolutely gorgeous spring evening, Cantabbers lined up for yet another evening of poetry. This week’s packed open mic was as surprising and varied as usual: we had people returning after five years, we had poets undergoing metamorphosis, we had contrapuntals, we had people celebrating Cantab anniversaries—who could ask for anything more? 

🖤Shenanigans📖 occurred after our open mic in a spontaneous ~Blackout Slam ~ hosted by our own Michael F. Gill. The blackout slam consisted of poets taking a book (donated by Sam Cha), picking a page or two, and blacking out words and sentences with a Sharpie to create their very own found poem. The vast majority of slammers received their books with around 5 minutes to spare! They created some incredible work, with Sam Bucci managing to shout out Kai Wallin in her piece, and newcomer Danielle finding revelations around the erased sections of an army field manual.

After the open mic, we had our featured poet, Yehya Barakatalroudaini! Yehya used to be a regular open mic-er at the Cantab years ago, so we were especially hyped for their return. With incredibly intriguing poems, they covered topics from sugar, to immigration, to conflicting identities, as well as offering their unique perspective of being a nonbinary Iraqi poet. Make sure to keep an eye out for their debut chapbook “Learning To Love The Flag”, which they hope to publish in early 2024.

This week’s ✏️Line of the Wednesday✏️ comes from regular Ryan Phung, with “There is a dream I have in which everyone stays”. 

Coming up: Join us this Wednesday for the renowned Jeffrey McDaniel!! Jeffrey McDaniel is the author of seven books of poetry, most recently Thin Ice Olympics (Write Bloody, 2022) Other books include: Holiday in the Islands of Grief (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2020), Chapel of Inadvertent Joy (Pittsburgh, 2013), The Endarkenment (Pittsburgh, 2008), The Splinter Factory (Manic D Press, 2002), The Forgiveness Parade (Manic D, 1998), and Alibi School (Manic D, 1995). McDaniel’s poems have appeared in numerous places, including The New Yorker, American Poetry Review, The New York Times, and Best American Poetry 1994, 2010, and 2019. Recipient of an NEA fellowship, he teaches at Sarah Lawrence College. See you then!!

– Amy ✈️

Our upcoming features
Our community survey
First timer? Looking for show info? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions

All shows take place at the Cantab Lounge, 738 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge, with one flight of stairs to access the basement room (click for directions and accessibility information). The show is $4 / 21+ (ID/Proof of Vaccination required) and doors for the show open at 7:15. The open mic begins at 8:00 PM and the feature begins at approximately 10:00 PM.

Cantab Recap For Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023

Welcome back to another recap of Poetry Night at the Cantab! Sold out right at the buzzer, our open mic featured a lot of regulars, along with poems about angels, poems about devils, poems from people back after seven years, and poems from people reading their first poem ever. Shoutout to first-timer Ember for really bringing the fire, and for having a name that allows me to make that pun.

The 📚Shenanigans🎭 this week was when our own social media manager Kat Anderson began reading the audience Mac Barnett & Jon Klassen’s lovely children’s book “Square“, about circles and squares and sculptures, though she was unable to finish it. Did we all start laughing at times the authors did not intend for? Maybe. Do you want to hear how it ends? Probably! You can find information on the whole shape trilogy series here.

Our incredible feature was Kristian Macaron, who read of time traveling, mountains, Star Wars, and robot dogs. It was a lovely, almost meditative feature, leaving the audience in awe. Please check out her work at kristianmacaron.com or @kmacaron_author on Instagram! Missed the show or want to see it again? Kristian is currently sharing the livestream of her whole Cantab feature!

The ✏️Line of the Wednesday✏️ this week was from our slam team member Arielle Grey, with: “I wonder where God goes to die, and I wonder if I get to go there too.”

Coming up this Wednesday: A feature from returning Cantab veteran Yehya Barakatalroudaini! Yehya is a nonbinary Iraqi poet/scientist in training. Their material discusses the Iraq war, mental health, family, and queer Arab identity. Their work has been published in Oddball magazine and Black horse review. Yehya has participated in Vox pop and FEMs, reaching the final stages in both competitions. They’re hard at work on their debut chapbook “Learning to love the flag”, which they hope to publish in early 2024. See you then!

– Amy ✈️

Our upcoming features
Our community survey
First timer? Looking for show info? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions

All shows take place at the Cantab Lounge, 738 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge, with one flight of stairs to access the basement room (click for directions and accessibility information). The show is $4 / 21+ (ID/Proof of Vaccination required) and doors for the show open at 7:15. The open mic begins at 8:00 PM and the feature begins at approximately 10:00 PM.

Northbeast Regional Tickets On Sale + See Us At Massachusetts Poetry Festival!

Hey Cantabbers and poetry fans, tickets for the 2023 NorthBeast Regional Poetry Slam & Festival are now on sale right HERE! The festival will happen June 17th & 18th at The Foundry in Cambridge. All-access passes are $25, and a ticket to the Slam Finals only is $10. Check out the links for more details!!

Also, we will be slamming at the Massachusetts Poetry Festival this Friday, May 5th at 8:45 PM, at Die With Your Boots On in Salem, MA! Come check us out as well as the many, many other awesome poetry events happening this weekend!

– MFG 🚪

Cantab Recap For Wednesday, April 26th, 2023

What a week! This past Wednesday there was not only a fabulous open mic (as usual), but an even MORE fabulous TEAM SELECTION SLAM! Anticipation from the audience and nerves from the slammers filled the room as people filed in. On the open mic we had some freestyling, some first-timers, and fabulous poetry all around. Do you know why Sara H can’t stand being around children? Thanks to the mic, I do now!

The 🕵️‍♀️Weekly Shenanigans🎭 had to be the ever-observant Michael F Gill, who used his time during the smoking section to do a “poetry impression” of all nine slammers. It was hilarious, incredibly accurate, and heartwarming. Just goes to show how prolific the poets are here :)

Onto the slam! Nine slammers competed in two rounds and left every bit of their hearts on that stage. Every single poet did so well—with each performance came more pride! Of course, this wouldn’t be a team selection slam without selecting a team, and after some very close scores, we are happy to announce the Boston Poetry Slam 2023 Slam Team!!!

The Boston Poetry Slam 2023 Slam Team, along with coaches Myles Taylor and Zeke Russell. Photo by Eddy Martinez.

Final Scores:

Aparna Paul 53.1
Logan Lopez 53.0
Arielle Gray 52.7
Kai Wallin 52.5
Skylar Sweet Cheeks 52.3
Nayeli Mzin 52.0
Raechel Segal 51.6
Amy Argentar 50.3
Charlie Vicens 49.1

CONGRATULATIONS to all the amazing poets, and especially to the top 5 finishers! We were excited to watch them win, but we are even more excited to watch them represent us this season. Join us to watch them shine at the Northbeast Regional Slam Tournament June 17-18, and at the May 5 Massachusetts Poetry Festival.

Special shoutout to the other crucial participants of the slam, host Zeke Russell, scorer Michael F. Gill, and sacrificial poets Jade Kleiner and Meghan Ford. Thank you!!

Our ✏️Line of the Wednesday✏️ this week is from our own co-producer, Myles Taylor, who dropped this fire line during the last poem of the open mic: “I have to limit my futures to where the corners are darkest”

Coming up next: Join us for a sure-to-be great feature, Kristian Macaron! Kristian (she/her) resides in Albuquerque, NM, but is often elsewhere. Her full-length poetry collection Recipe for Time Travel in Case We Lose Each Other is forthcoming from Game Over Books in February 2022. Her poetry chapbook entitled Storm was released from Swimming with Elephants Publications in 2015. Other prose and poetry publications can be found in The Normal School Magazine, Uncanny Magazine, Gargoyle Magazine, Asimov’s Science Fiction & others. She is a co-founding editor of the literary journal, Manzano Mountain Review. She works at the University of New Mexico. View her work at Kristianmacaron.com!

See you then!

– Amy ✈️

Our upcoming features
Our community survey
First timer? Looking for show info? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions

All shows take place at the Cantab Lounge, 738 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge, with one flight of stairs to access the basement room (click for directions and accessibility information). The show is $4 / 21+ (ID/Proof of Vaccination required) and doors for the show open at 7:15. The open mic begins at 8:00 PM and the feature begins at approximately 10:00 PM.

Cantab Recap For Wednesday, April 19th, 2023

It was another heated Wednesday night at the Cantab, as the room, open mic, and waitlist were packed to the brim before the show even began! Once things got going, there was a great serendipitous moment when Eli Kane read a poem about naming their OCD “Frank”, and the next reader happened to be open mic favorite Frank, shading the resonance of their two poems in surprising ways. Other highlights included a pair of response poems by Gabby and Hallie Carton, the fun philosophical musings of Kat Gunther, and a couple of great first timers (shout out to Jonathan H) who were inspired to read their first poems ever in front of our eager audience.

📒Shenanigans😳this week involved the continuing saga of the two Niks! Last week one Nik had to leave early, so the other Nik spontaneously took their place on the open mic. This week, the opposite happened! Will there be a third Nik next Wednesday?!

At the end of the open mic, we had another extended haiku slam. When the seventeen syllabes of dust had cleared, Lynnette took the win in the final round over March Penn, and will advance to our Haiku semifinals later in the year. Our feature, Albany’s E.L. Evelyn, warmed our hearts with singing, shouting, and simmering poems off the dome and into our spring-loaded ears. Thank you E.L. for making us all feel like old friends after only 30 minutes!

Oh my! Coming up this week is our TEAM SELECTION FINALS. Nine qualified poets will compete for the chance to represent the Boston Poetry Slam this season at the Massachusetts Poetry Festival, NorthBeast Regional Slam, and beyond. Competing poets will be bringing their two most polished poems under 3 minutes, and the top five scoring poets will comprise the 2023 Boston Poetry Slam Team. Finals will be hosted by Zeke Russell and feature sacrificial poems from Jade Kleiner and Meaghan Ford.

The lucky competitors are:

-Arielle Gray
-Nayeli Mzin
-Kai Wallin
-Charlie Vicens
-Logan Lopez
-Skylar Sweetcheeks
-Raechel Segal
-Amy Argentar
-Aparna Paul

First place will also be invited to perform the first poem of the NorthBeast Regional during Opening Ceremonies. Wish them luck as they battle it out for the honor of representing the place they call home! Please note that for this special fundraising night, our entry fee will be $6 instead of our normal $4.

– MFG 🚪

Our upcoming features
Our community survey
First timer? Looking for show info? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions

All shows take place at the Cantab Lounge, 738 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge, with one flight of stairs to access the basement room (click for directions and accessibility information). The show is 21+ (ID/Proof of Vaccination required) and doors for the show open at 7:15. The open mic begins at 8:00 PM and the feature begins at approximately 10:00 PM.

Cantab Recap For Wednesday, April 12th, 2023

What an incredible Wednesday we had at the Cantab! The fresh spring weather encouraged our open mic poets to absolutely bloom all night long. It was an emotional roller coaster of a night, but one I would definitely wait in line for again and again! Highlights include not knowing when Eddy Martinez’s first poem ended and second poem began, but knowing one was about farts, and Danny Riordan starting their piece by miming throwing a tampon wrapper into the trash. Danny, by the way, is running the Boston Marathon today in the first ever non-binary division!

The 📒Shenanigans😳 of the week included first-timer and waitlister Nik going up to the mic just to say hi, getting handed an Emma Lazurus poem from TJ, and then fearlessly performing it in front of everyone with no preparation. What a way to make an entrance! 

This week’s ✏️Line of the Wednesday ✏️ is from our all-bangers-all-the-time poet, Ryan Phung: “it must be the human ego that thinks the universe sees us as an object of desire. i guess that makes me the alien.”

Patrick Roche was our feature, and after leading us all on a breathing exercise, performed a generous, beautiful, astounding set. He performed new pieces, famous pieces, and imparted wisdom throughout. He even performed an entire pieces as Stitch and yes I was in tears. 

Next week: join us for our fabulous feature, EL Evelyn (she/he/they). EL is a poet, activist and social worker from New Jersey who is currently living and loving in Albany NY. EL was the president of Phenomenal Voices, a performance art group at UAlbany in charge of two showcases per year, and is now the Community Engagement chair for the alumni performing arts group PV What’s Next. They were on the Capital Region slam poetry team, Capcity Slam, where they traveled around the country performing poetry in both features and competitions. They currently co-host Cafe Euphoria’s open mic and slam. Bring your best spring fever energy and come thru!

P.S. I’d like to use this space to pay some respect to Sam Bucci, a beloved regular, who lost her father last weekend. He was a great man, father, and grandfather and will be dearly missed. We love you Sam!

– Amy ✈️

Our upcoming features
Our community survey
First timer? Looking for show info? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions

All shows take place at the Cantab Lounge, 738 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge, with one flight of stairs to access the basement room (click for directions and accessibility information). The show is $4 / 21+ (ID/Proof of Vaccination required) and doors for the show open at 7:15. The open mic begins at 8:00 PM and the feature begins at approximately 10:00 PM.

Cantab Recap For Wednesday, April 5th, 2023

Happy Wednesday! This week was especially chock-full of amazing material from our open mic. One highlight was a hilarious and hard-hitting piece by Frank, who may not be good at flirting but is certainly good at impeccable similes and dropping bars. Other poets brought similarly powerful pieces, commenting on gun violence, gender, and self-consciousness. During our smoking section, host Aparna delivered yet another stellar and spontaneous “after” haiku, usually written during the mic.

This week did not have particularly shenanigan-y🎙️Shenanigans✍️ but I’ll take this space to shout out the increasing number of newcomers brave enough to share some of their first EVER poems in the space! Keep it up!

Our feature was the incredible and heartwarming Karen G, who passionately performed a beautiful set of pieces about grief, love, self-expression, and truth. Learn more about them on Instagram @kgarrab. 

Finally, this week’s ✏️Line of the Wednesday✏️ goes to Frank, with this second-half of a simile:  “like a romantic mute version of Stephen King’s IT”. Please utilize whenever you see fit. 

Coming up: 

Drumroll please… this week’s feature is Patrick Roche!! This esteemed and renowned poet is coming to a Cantab basement near you this Wednesday! He is an award-winning queer poet, performer, mental health advocate, and Carly Rae Jepsen superfan. Videos of Patrick’s work have amassed over 9.5 million views on YouTube. His solo stage show was featured on BroadwayWorld and was selected for Dixon Place’s HOT! Festival celebrating LGBTQIA+ theater and art. Patrick has shared stages with Darryl “DMC” McDaniels of RUN DMC, Pitch Perfect star Brittany Snow, and Abbott Elementary star Tyler James Williams.

Patrick is the author of A Socially Acceptable Breakdown (Button Poetry, 2021), which was named a Finalist for the Eric Hoffer Award for Excellence in Independent Publishing. His work has appeared in or been published by Button Poetry, UpWorthy, Buzzfeed, The Huffington Post, NBC LX, MSN, Freezeray Press, Voicemail Poems, and his mom’s fridge. Stop by this week to snag a seat to see this great poet!

Last but not least, we also want to wish a very happy birthday to our beloved March Penn, a very remarkable and consistent poet in our community. 

See ya!

– Amy ✈️

Our upcoming features
Our community survey
First timer? Looking for show info? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions

All shows take place at the Cantab Lounge, 738 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge, with one flight of stairs to access the basement room (click for directions and accessibility information). The show is $4 / 21+ (ID/Proof of Vaccination required) and doors for the show open at 7:15. The open mic begins at 8:00 PM and the feature begins at approximately 10:00 PM.

Cantab Recap For Wednesday, March 29th, 2023

We like to think every Wednesday at the Cantab is unique, where anything can happen on the open mic or in the slam, and the thrill of that unpredictability is one of the reasons our audience keeps returning, and listening closely to the poetry that is happening in real time. And so, during this week’s open mic, we were treated to a number of exceptional poems and readers who were in town for one-night-only, or who had just showed up to read their “first poem ever,” but ended up leaving the audience breathless. Special shout-out to waitlister Allie (@allieburke_ on instagram), who returned after a six-year gap to perform an enchanting poem shoeless and seemingly off-the-cuff.

Following the open mic, our last chance slam was filled with plenty of drama, including two rounds that were decided by one-tenth of a point! How beautiful and devastating was it to hear Aparna’s extended poem about her mother on her deathbed, and to see long-time regular Raechel Segal finally make it to the last round? Or to watch one of our favorite hosts Briana Crockett take home the big win with three new pieces? Words fall short, but huge thanks to everyone in the audience who stayed with us until the end. Raechel and Briana will be advancing to our big team selection slam later this month, which promises to be one of our biggest slam nights of the year.

This week’s ✏️Line of the Wednesday ✏️ is from first-time open mic-er Paige S: “My mind is an unfinished poem”

Featuring for us this coming Wednesday is veteran slammer and all-around fan of YOU, Karen Garrabrant! Karen Garrabrant aka Karen G co-founded C/literati, a womxn/queer/gender outlaw open mic, was a founding board member of Grrl’s Rock Camp ATL & slam manager of the Art Amok Slam, and operated as a poet & organizer in Atlanta for 20 plus years. She’s been a clock holder, score keeper, MC, bout manager, tournament director & PSI secretary, with a streak of attending every big event from 2004-2017, except for one. She writes about love, grief, loss, and experiences that the late Gabrielle Bouliane described as “all of this is true, none of this is real.” She’s famous for hugs & being a loud cheerleader because life is short. Punk is their gender, Q is their sexuality, they answer to she/they pronouns. Email them at kgarrab@gmail.com or follow them on instagram @kgarrab.

– MFG 🚪 (filling in for Amy)

Our upcoming features
Our community survey
First timer? Looking for show info? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions

All shows take place at the Cantab Lounge, 738 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge, with one flight of stairs to access the basement room (click for directions and accessibility information). The show is 21+ (ID/Proof of Vaccination required) and doors for the show open at 7:15. The open mic begins at 8:00 PM and the feature begins at approximately 10:00 PM. Due to a current inflation tax on transactions at the Cantab, the door charge will be $4 until further notice.