Cantab Feature for Wednesday, December 2, 2015: Marshall Gillson

Marshall Gillson, nerd/rapper/poet by night and also day. Photo by Christopher Clauss.

Marshall Gillson, nerd/rapper/poet by night and also day. Photo by Christopher Clauss.

Marshall “Gripp” Gillson is a nerd by day and a poet/rapper by day also. He was born in Providence, R.I. and holds both a B.S. and an M.S. in Computer Science. He has been an active slam poet since 2008, representing five different venues in four different states in national competition. As the 2014 Providence Grand Slam champion, he placed 15th in the 2014 Individual World Poetry Slam. He is also the founder and editor of the independent literary magazine The Misanthropy and boasts publications in Maps for Teeth, Three Line Poetry, and the depression-themed anthology Light as a Feather, as well as several self-published chapbooks.

As a rapper, he has released five independent LPs, two mixtapes, several compilation albums, and a number of mythical creatures from captivity. In 2011, he officially founded glassEyeballs, an independent record label and publishing company. His fifth solo album, “Ansible”, was released on January 21, 2014. In his spare time, he enjoys arguing, pontificating, and writing biographies in the third person.

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, November 25, 2015

Happy end of November, poets! We closed out the eleventh month with a rockin’ night at the show, including a bright and brilliant feature from local favorite Chloé Cunha. Chloé took us on a journey of form, idea, and sneezing –but don’t worry, she won’t stop there. You can surely expect her to be back up on the slam stage next week!

Oh, and the slam, of course: workhorse host Tom Slavin got a little assist from guest mathematician Sean Patrick Mulroy as the judges whittled down a packed roster to just two finalists. Emily O’Neill, reading from her new manuscript, took on Cecily Schuler, slam organizer from NYC: strong showings from both brought Cecily the win for their first visit to the Cantab slam stage! That ten-dollar prize should be good for half a cup of coffee once she gets home.

Next week: we’re back with another local, bringing greatest hits, new work, and unreleased B-sides to the stage. Get ready to welcome 2015 Boston Poetry Slam Team member Marshall Gillson! We’ll also throw open the gates on the sixth slam in the 8×8 series.

Tips From the Bar: Nice Fedora

Consider something borrowed, overheard, or stole that ultimately became distinctly associated with only you.

Bonus MacKenzie family prompt: try on “guilty pleasures.”

Cantab Feature for Wednesday, November 25, 2015: Chloé Cunha

Chloé Cunha, occasional sapphic vampire, shown here performing at the 2015 Boston Poetry Slam Erotic Poetry Night. Photo by Marshall Goff.

Chloé Cunha, occasional sapphic vampire, shown here performing at the 2015 Boston Poetry Slam Erotic Poetry Night. Photo by Marshall Goff.

Chloé Cunha is a poet, screenwriter, and occasional sapphic vampire, such as in the upcoming film Blood of the Tribades (2016), or when in good company. When not dorking out about weird, surreal movies, she is probably dorking out about any number of other things, as she exists in a near-constant state of dorkiness. As a regular of the Cantab Lounge she is ecstatic to be featuring and looking forward to ordering a drink from the stage.

She once won a contest for Poetry Business Manager by writing a ghazal about Justice Antonin Scalia having a one-night stand in his voice, using many of his own words. It was truly disgusting and she is very proud of it. She has featured at BPS’ monthly queer reading Moonlighting, and her work has appeared on the Scout Cambridge website, Electric Cereal, Amethyst Arsenic, and the upcoming erasure anthology Bye-Bye Bukowski, from Hyacinth Girl Press, edited by Sarah Xerta. She is also co-host of the Encyclopedia Show Somerville.

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, November 18, 2015

Dang, but it’s been a wild two weeks at the Cantab! Just a couple of Wednesdays ago, we had the very excellent Joshua Bennett swing through and bring us an exceptionally fine set. Josh is in town for a few lucky semesters, so watch for his readings at MIT (and book him while you can!). And, actually, while you’re booking one new New Englander, you might as well think about a second: last night, we welcomed two-time Denver poet Eirean Bradley back to the Cantab stage for a paper-flinging, arm-waving, solid poem-poeming good time. Eirean is a new resident of Worcester, so you can hang with him in Wormtown while you’re checking out submissions to his press or literary magazine. What a winter it’s going to be around here!

Speaking of winter: the dead of winter is when we conduct our Team Selection Slams, and there are just a few more opportunities to qualify for those left. The most recent two were snapped up by first-time Cantab slam winner Quentin Lucas, who defeated rival venue favorite Melissa Lozada-Oliva for the spot… Then, last night, Cantab vets Meaghan Ford and Zeke Russell faced off for the ten-dollar prize, with Zeke taking top honors. A veritable murderer’s row awaits in January, slam fans!

Oh, oh, but next week: it’ll be a packed house as collegiate returnees and vacationing educators roll into the venue (and up to the bar) in droves. Expect to see some faces you’ve missed on the open mic, plus, of course, a much-awaited feature from local poet, host, and French-leaning thinker Chloé Cunha.

Cantab Feature for Wednesday, November 18, 2015: Eirean Bradley

Denver poet and 2015 NPS Finalist Eirean Bradley. Photo by Adam Rubinstein for NPS2015 and Poetry Slam, Inc.

Denver poet and 2015 NPS Finalist Eirean Bradley. Photo by Adam Rubinstein for NPS2015 and Poetry Slam, Inc.

Eirean Bradley is a two-time National Poetry Slam Finalist (and nine-time competitor) who is good at yelling at strangers in ways that get him applauded and not arrested. He believes that poetry should be done like everything else: loudly and unapologetically. He performed his poetry in all of the lower forty-eight states. He is a multiple time pushcart prize nominee, the poetry curator at Drunk in a Midnight Choir, and the author of two full-length books on University of Hell Press.

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.

Tips from the Bar: “Try Not to Just Make It About Life”

Write about a time you knew you were defeated before you even started arguing.

Cantab Feature for Wednesday, November 11, 2015: Joshua Bennett

Yonkers poet and Callaloo fellow Joshua Bennett.

Yonkers poet and Callaloo fellow Joshua Bennett.

Joshua Bennett hails from Yonkers, NY. He is a doctoral candidate in the English Department at Princeton University, and has received fellowships from the Callaloo Creative Writing Workshop, the School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at MIT, the Josephine de Karman Fellowship Trust, and the Ford Foundation. Winner of the 2015 National Poetry Series, his poems have been published or are forthcoming in Beloit Poetry Journal, Callaloo, the Kenyon Review, New England Review, Women & Performance: a journal of feminist theory and elsewhere.

Joshua has recited his original work at venues such as The Sundance Film Festival, The NAACP Image Awards, and President Obama’s Evening of Poetry and Music at The White House. Penguin Books will publish his first collection of poems, The Sobbing School, in 2016. He is also the founding editor of Kinfolks: a journal of black expression.

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, November 4, 2015

Happy November, Cantabbers! It might feel like spring, but it’s election season… Which means we have some of our favorite thinkers and educators taking the stage as winter draws nigh. This past Wednesday, DC slam champ, NOLA poet, and Harvard doctoral candidate Clint Smith graced our stage, giving us plenty of food for thought with the dynamism we only wish our schoolteachers had all had. Clint’s still new to town, so don’t forget that he’s available for bookings and to invite to your readings: get at him at his personal website.

Our slam, one of the last eight remaining before team qualifiers, showed off a lot of poets getting serious about competition! Chief among these were finalists Chloé Cunha and Neiel Israel. Despite Chloé possibly having slammed more poems on the Cantab stage than anyone else this year, National Poetry Slam veteran Neiel took her first ever Cantab win. What a night!

Next week: we’re back with another brilliant thinker in residence in Cambridge… It’s Joshua Bennett, UPenn slam sensation and Kinfolks founding editor. Plus, we’ll finish the night with the third slam in the current 8×8 series. See you there!

Writing Prompt: Dragons Don’t Live There

Adam Stone still hates the moon. Try this: “a way to cure the moon’s morning breath.”

Bonus MacKenzie family prompt: make use of the idea of “murderous intent.”