Write a collaborative piece with someone where each of you learns something about the other.
Cantab Feature for Wednesday, March 1, 2017: Team Selection Semi-Finals
The Cantab’s Team Selection Slams are the venue’s biggest, wildest poetry slams of the year. This March, we continue our selection process with the second round of three, the Team Selection Semi-Finals.
With two poems behind them and five to go, competing poets are likely to be reaching deep into their pockets on this particular night, or even trying out untested work in hope of saving some major ammunition for the upcoming three-poem Finals… Making Semi-Finals just possibly the most interesting night of the selection series.
The following poets have qualified to compete in Semi-Finals for the 2017 team:
- Claudia Wilson
- Ron Prudent
- Austin Hendricks
- Zeke Russell
Justin Jiménez(declined)- Kylie Noelle
- Brandon Melendez
- Allison Truj
- Adam Stone
- Kieran Collier
- Mckendy Fils-Aimé
- Neiel Israel
- Emily Taylor
- John Pinkham
Sacrificial poets: Meaghan Ford and RebeccaLynn.
Team Selection Slams go for a total of seven poems (over three rounds) at the Cantab, with the top five poets comprising the venue’s National Poetry Slam Team. The 2017 Boston Poetry Slam Team will travel to the National Poetry Slam out west in Denver, Colorado.
The top twelve poets from the first and second Preliminary heats (six from each, plus ties!) advance to the Semi-Finals show.
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 slam begins at approximately 9:15. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $5; proceeds will go toward funding the team’s travel to the National Poetry Slam this August.
Cantab Recap for Wednesday, February 22, 2017
It seems like the nights are getting shorter, Cantabbers. Is it so? For instance, last night, when Hieu Minh Nguyen took the stage, it seemed like just a few blinks, six-to-eight life-and-oeuvre-changing poems later, and he was gone. With work as dense, nuanced, and emotionally charged as Hieu’s, we know it’s not enough (it’s never enough), so don’t forget that you can take his work home with you: his recent work, This Way to the Sugar (Write Bloody) is still available from the publisher, or you can get connected to his author website to for information on Here, due out on Coffee House Press in 2018.
In keeping with the lightning-fast nature of the night, the evening closed with a speed slam: four intrepid slammers took the stage in search of the most elusive literary beast, $10 for poetry! The final round came down to Orlando traveler Troy Cunio vs. local poet-making-good Sara Mae. Sara took the top score in the one-minute round, keeping the ten bucks in the local economy, but sending Troy off with a huge round of applause.
Next week: oh, did you like that speed slam? There’s so much more where that came from! Not to be pushy, but, really, slam fans just MUST come to the Team Selection Semi-Finals next week. Our open mic will be quick as a blink, so come early (or consider waiting until another week) if you want to get in on it… Or, for the maximum influence on our night, you could luck out and get to judge the slam! It’s gonna be a wicked good show, folks, so pack a snack (because you can always bring your dinner to the Cantab, just not your drinks) and get ready for two poems each from Claudia Wilson, Ron, Austin Hendricks, Zeke Russell, Kylie Noelle, Brandon Melendez, Allison Truj, Adam Stone, Kieran Collier, Mckendy Fils-Aimé, Neiel Israel, Emily Taylor, and John Pinkham. And, yes, that’ll be a $5 night, because hot dang!
Cantab Feature for Wednesday, February 22, 2017: Hieu Minh Nguyen
Minneapolis poet Hieu Minh Nguyen.
Hieu Minh Nguyen is the author of This Way to the Sugar (Write Bloody Press, 2014) which was a finalist for both a Minnesota Book Awards and a Lambda Literary Awards. A queer Vietnamese American poet, Hieu is a Kundiman fellow and a poetry editor for Muzzle Magazine. A decorated slam poet, Hieu has performed and competed at national and international poetry slam festivals since the age of 16. His work has also appeared in the Southern Indiana Review, BuzzFeed READER, PBS NewsHour, Guernica, Ninth Letter, Devil’s Lake, Bat City Review, the Paris-American, and elsewhere. His second collection of poetry, Not Here, is forthcoming from Coffee House Press. Hieu is a nationally touring poet, performer, and teaching artist. He lives in Minneapolis.
Note that tonight’s open poetry slam will be a speed slam with 3-, 2-, and 1-minute rounds. Slam winners qualify for the 2017 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 poetry slam in the 8×8 series will follow. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $3.
Cantab Recap for Wednesday, February 15, 2017
You must know, Cantabbers, what a sweet sight it is to see the room packed from wall to wall for a poetry show… Especially if you arrived early enough to secure yourself a seat and a coveted open mic spot, of course. This Wednesday, we welcomed the incomparable Safia Elhillo to our loving and grungy little stage, and she brought the house down with the beautiful long-drawn-out-breath-of-work she’s become notable for. Oh, and did you not learn enough about how country makes and is made by lines and accent, or how love makes and is made by a body, or how Abdelhalim Hafez lived and sang and died? No problem: Safia’s upcoming book, The January Children, is available right the heck now from the University of Nebraska Press.
Our third speed slam in the 8×8 series was a wicked affair, with an odd number of poets getting into the mix for two rounds of three- and two-minute poems. At the end of each, Kieran Collier and Em Taylor rose to the top of the scores, facing off in the one-minute round: Kieran took the big win and the ten bucks, cementing his spot in the upcoming World Qualifier Speed Slam this May.
Next week: we keep rolling with our incredible 2017 schedule, welcoming Minneapolis heartbreaker/powerhouse Hieu Minh Nguyen back to our mic. Trust us, it’s gonna be good: get here early for your cozy seat, and hang out until half-past-eleven to catch the fourth speed slam in the series.
Cantab Feature for Wednesday, February 15, 2017: Safia Elhillo
Sudanese-American award-winning poet Safia Elhillo.
Safia Elhillo’s first full-length collection, The January Children, is forthcoming from University of Nebraska Press in 2017. Sudanese by way of Washington, DC, she received a BA from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study and an MFA in poetry at the New School. Safia is a Pushcart Prize nominee, co-winner of the 2015 Brunel University African Poetry Prize, and winner of the 2016 Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets. She has received fellowships from Cave Canem, The Conversation, and Crescendo Literary and The Poetry Foundation’s Poetry Incubator.
In addition to appearing in several journals and anthologies including “The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop,” her work has been translated into Arabic and Greek. With Fatimah Asghar, she is co-editor of the anthology “Halal If You Hear Me.” Safia is an alum and former coach of the DC Youth Slam Team, and a founding member of New York University’s Slam NYU, and has shared her work on platforms including TEDxNewYork, BBC World Service, and the South African State Theater.
Note that tonight’s open poetry slam will be a speed slam with 3-, 2-, and 1-minute rounds. Slam winners qualify for the 2017 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 poetry slam in the 8×8 series will follow. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $3.
Cantab Recap for Wednesday, February 8, 2017
Cantabbers, was it only just this past Wednesday night when we frolicked freely on the sidewalks, unfettered by winter whiteness or a million overripe snowflake metaphors? Yea, it was: the gold old days, a surprisingly! non-problematic! Erotic Poetry Night! (thank you, brilliant open mic poets!) when Chloé Cunha tickled your fancy with the exact magic number of sex haiku, and– get this– for the first time in Cantab history, LOVE defeated DEATH in the head-to-head theme slam! Congratulations to John “Captain Love” Pinkham who led his team to victory, and brace yourselves for the shaken fist of Cassandra “Captain Death” de Alba, who will rise to battle again, just you wait.
Next week: please remind your friends that it is NOT exclusive sexytimes open mic on February 15. Instead, we will enjoy a feature from the season’s most-requested poet: Safia Elhillo will be in the house, and you can bet every seat will be taken, so get your butt in one early! Late arrivers will still get to enjoy the eleven o’clock poetry slam, the third in our speed slam series with 3-, 2-, and 1-minute rounds.
Tips from the Bar: That’s No Horse
Compare a major life event to a specific historic event. (No Trojan Horse metaphors, please.)
Boston Poetry Slam Online