Moonlighting: A Queer Open Mic and Reading Series featuring Claudia Wilson on November 5, 2015

This reading is part of our monthly LGBTQ series, Moonlighting. Click here for more information about this recurring show.

The featured reader for November 5, 2015 is Claudia Wilson.

Claudia Wilson, Ohio transplant and recent grad.

Claudia Wilson, Ohio transplant and recent grad.

Claudia Wilson loves poetry and is from Cleveland/Columbus, Ohio. They recently graduated from Boston College where they studied Social Work. Claudia loves building community, listening to music, and watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

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, November 4, 2015: Clint Smith

Harvard-via-DC poet Clint Ward Smith.

Harvard-via-DC poet Clint Ward Smith.

Clint Smith is a 2014 National Poetry Slam champion, an Individual World Poetry Slam Finalist, a Callaloo Fellow, and has served as a cultural ambassador for the U.S. Department of State. His poetry has been published or is forthcoming in Kinfolks, American Literary Review, Still: The Journal, Winter Tangerine Review, Lime Hawk, Harvard Educational Review and elsewhere. He is a recipient of the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship with research interests that include critical pedagogy, mass incarceration, race, and inequality. He has been profiled in The Washington Post, Vox, The Huffington Post, The Root, NBC News and the book, “American Teacher: Heroes in the Classroom” (Welcome Books, 2013). His TED Talk, The Danger of Silence, has been viewed more the 2 million times and was named one of the top 20 TED Talks of 2014. His new TED Talk, How to Raise a Black Son in America, was released in April 2015.

Currently, he is a doctoral candidate in Education at Harvard University with a concentration in Culture, Institutions, and Society (CIS). He earned a BA in English from Davidson College and is an alumnus of the New Orleans Public School System. Clint enjoys wool socks, burritos, and 3v3 pickup soccer– not necessarily all at the same time. You can visit his website or follow him on Twitter.

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, October 28, 2015

Last night was a cozy, sweet evening at the Cantab– a nice switch-up from our usual packed-to-the-gills house, where nearly everyone had a seat and fans of the feature trickled in slowly with the rain. The centerpiece of the night was the excellently smart Melissa Lozada-Oliva, a genuine performer and thinker who hasn’t let the title of National Poetry Slam Champion stop her from bringing her constantly evolving voice to light in her new poems.

By the time we got to slamtime, the house was full and so was the first slam in the 8×8 series! Eight poets faced off for a chance to qualify for the 2016 Boston Poetry Slam team (and maybe to take on new champ Mckendy Fils-Aimé in December). The final round came down to a ramping-up Chloé Cunha and an absolutely ruthless Nora Meiners: the audience knows they lucked out getting to hear three poems from each of these powerhouses, but an extra round of applause went to Nora for capturing the win and the ten-dollar prize.

Next week: our feature will be another National Poetry Slam Champion, DC slam sensation and Harvard doctoral candidate Clint Smith! There’ll also be another open slam in this final series of the year, so get prepped this week in time to jump in.

BUT WAIT, THE RECAP’S NOT OVER: you might have seen that we had an official photographer in the house last night to catch a visual recap of the show. Check out some stills of the show’s performances:

Thanks to BPS official photographer Rich Beaubien for these lovely photos! (Readers, please be friendly and don’t forget to apply proper credit when sharing.)

Tips from the Bar: Daylight Savings Prompt

Write a poem considering something (other than linear time, say) that it makes no sense to change twice a year.

Cantab Feature for Wednesday, October 28, 2015: Melissa Lozada-Oliva

2015 NPS Champion Melissa Lozada-Oliva.

2015 NPS Champion Melissa Lozada-Oliva.

Melissa Lozada-Oliva is a spoken word poet and bookstore babe living in Boston. A gap-toothed bruja, Melissa believes in awkward silences, being loud, and saying no. Her poetry tries to capture the feeling her parents get when they meet someone from their home country and the feeling she gets when she’s late to a party. She is a National Poetry Slam Champion (2015) and a Brenda Moosey Video Slam Winner (2015). She has previously been published in Electric Cereal, Jaded Ibis Press, Microchondria and The Guardian.

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, October 21, 2015

On pretty much any Wednesday night at the Boston Poetry Slam, you could tell yourself you were looking forward to a diverse, solid, and highly original open mic, a standout feature, or a baller all-star poetry slam. When the stars align, though (not that you’d know from our lightless basement, but let’s metaphor for a change), you can get all three parts of the show to dovetail flawlessly. What a great night at the Boston Poetry Slam!

After a really excellent open mic, showing off some real-talk dialogue among regulars and offering some standout new readers (not to mention a couple of debut hosts), Tim Toaster Henderson took the stage. And by “took the stage,” we really mean “rolled the stage up into a six-dimensional cigar and took us on a magic Linklater carpet ride into intersectionality, bigot recognition, and cicada heaven.” Did you miss it? Would you love to see more? He’ll be at Slam Free or Die in Manchester tonight and the House Slam in Boston on Friday.

The slam was, as advertised, packed with all-star winners from the past eight weeks, all looking to try on the crown of the venue’s coveted Champion of Champions title! Last season’s champion, Mckendy Fils-Aimé, stood by in the wings, waiting for this season’s finale to mint an opponent for him: the champs 8×8 slam came down to Jess Riz and Emily O’Neill, both bringing illuminating, remarkable work straight from the page. After gaining some momentum in an early-night tiebreaker round, Emily took the big win for the season title! She elected to move on and challenge Mckendy for the venue champion title in the highly anticipated all-new-poem finale round. Both poets showcased their own voices beautifully, but an off-page debut poem by Mckendy took the win in a 3-2 split from the judges. Congratulations to everyone! Long live Mckendy Fils-Aimé, who’ll be defending his new title on December 30!

Next week (that’s right, the hits keep on coming): we’ll feature a National Poetry Slam Champion, Melissa Lozada-Oliva of the 2015 House Slam Team. Our open poetry slams will also begin again: eight weekly chances remain to qualify for the 2016 Boston Poetry Slam team.

Tips from the Bar: I Was Going to Park There

Produce a poetic rebuke for someone who stole your chair at a bar or a show.

Bonus points: try this in form (other than free verse).

Cantab Feature for Wednesday, October 21, 2015: Tim “Toaster” Henderson and the Champion of Champions Poetry Slam

Chicago/Bay poet Tim Toaster Henderson. Photo by Ian Tuttle.

Chicago/Bay poet Tim Toaster Henderson. Photo by Ian Tuttle.

Toaster is a performance poet who has competed in the Individual World Poetry Slam, National Poetry Slam, Ink Slam and other “big money” poetry competitions. He has also performed in a large variety of literary showcases such as Literary Death Match, The Encyclopedia Show, Lit Quake and Beast Crawl. Toaster was featured in SF Weekly, on All Def Digital’s youtube channel and Season 4 of Lexus Verses and Flow. You can find his work on his website, his Instagram, and his Twitter.

Tonight also marks the final night in our current 8×8 poetry slam series! Eight slam winners will slam off for the season championship and the opportunity to slam against August’s Season Champion, Mckendy Fils-Aimé, to fill the vacant Champion of Champions post.

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. The Champions of Champions Slam in the 8×8 speed slam series will follow. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $3.

Encyclopedia Show: Somerville for TUESDAY, October 20, 2015 — S3V2: WYOMING

Encyclopedia Show: Somerville — WYOMING on October 20, 2015! Art by Melissa Newman-Evans.

Encyclopedia Show: Somerville — WYOMING on October 20, 2015! Art by Melissa Newman-Evans.

TUESDAY, October 20, 2015
The Davis Square Theatre
255 Elm St. in Somerville
7pm doors, 8pm-10pm show
all ages, $10/$7 sliding scale
click for Facebook event

The Boston Poetry Slam and Catherine Martin present the next installment in a slightly educational monthly series!

Our theme for this month’s show will be WYOMING! We’ve invited an exciting complement of artists to produce poetic experiences about one of the most interesting square states. Note that this event in the series will take place on a TUESDAY.

The Encyclopedia Show Somerville is a franchise event, wherein invited artists from a variety of performance disciplines present all-new, original works on sub-topics of a single theme. A recurring cast of hosts and characters welcomes the artists with open arms and minds, while the resident Fact Checker is charged with maintaining the integrity of the Encyclopedic Truth of the show. Presenting all-original guest performances from local artists, plus work from our recurring cast members:

  • Rob Crean and Chloé Cunha provide clever banter and funny accents appropriate for CO-HOSTING
  • The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library offers MUSICAL SUPPORT
  • Wes Hazard dispenses QUESTIONABLE EXPERTISE with panache and aplomb
  • and Intern Steve Subrizi has been advised to be less clumsy around the paint pots.

Live Fact Checking is reluctantly provided by Jack van Sly from the Institute of Human Knowledge and Hygiene. The personal assistant to Mr. van Sly is Jade Sylvan.

This show in our monthly Encylopedia Show: Somerville series takes place at the Davis Square Theatre, 255 Elm St. in Somerville. Doors and the theatre bar open for a pre-show welcome party at 7:00. The show begins promptly at 8:00 and finishes at 10:00, including a short intermission. This is an all ages show! Admission is $10, or $7 for students, teachers, or guests in Prohibition-era dress.

Cantab Recap for Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Last week: we welcomed the most excellent and thoughtful language pioneer Corrina Bain to the stage. C brought us a set with all the vulnerability, intensity, and honesty we’ve come to expect from this unique poet’s voice. The four-poet Slam of Doom (very serious) came down to a nailbiting third round between Encyclopedia Show host Chloé Cunha and New Hampshire wunderkind Ed Wilkinson. Ed took the final round, and the ten bucks, qualifying him for next week’s Champion of Champions slam.

NEXT WEEK: it’s a double-header! On Tuesday, we’ll welcome The Encyclopedia Show: Somerville back to the Davis Square Theatre for the second installment of Season 3; the show will feature poetry, music, comedy, and Very Important Interviews on the topic of WYOMING! Then, on Wednesday, we’re back at the Cantab for our usual open mic, featuring Tim “Toaster” Henderson and the Champion of Champions poetry slam. October! October! October!