Cantab Recap for Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Ahh, sticky summer in the sticky basement of the Cantab, folks. What more could a poet want? Actually, poets always want more: so it was a good thing we had the very excellent Emily Carroll in the house this week, laying down one perfectly crafted line at a time. This hard-working organizer and bar server showed off how the listening ear we’ve come to expect from her is also attached to a fantastic editor, thinker, and and lover of language… As if you needed more reasons to love whiskey and Moonlighting!

The night’s poetry slam was packed with first-name-only hopefuls before Emily even took the stage, including a phenomenal crop of rookies. In fact, two of them crushed everyone else in the show to make the head-to-head final round! Remember what we said about poets always wanting more: Brenda and Christian managed a photo finish in the third round, triggering a tie-breaker flashback to last week and bringing the audience two more poems! At the end of the night, Christian swept up the $10, but we are pretty sure Brenda will be back for… You know.

Next week: we know you’ll surely be back for the year’s first NorthBEAST Regional, featuring five teams from around the northeast. This week’s competition includes teams from Portland, Providence, Lizard Lounge, and New York City, all slamming off against the hometown heroes. Remember that it’s a $5 cover charge this week to help raise money to send our team to the National Poetry Slam in August!

Tips from the Bar: the Ed Wilkinson Prompt

See if you can provide a(n incomplete) list of things that Uptown Funk has promised to bring to you, but that you decline to receive.

Cantab Feature for Wednesday, June 17, 2015: Emily Carroll

Emily Carroll, Moonlighting co-curator and Cantab barstar.

Emily Carroll, Moonlighting co-curator and Cantab barstar.

Emily Carroll is a freelance writer, designer, teaching artist, and waitress, and bartender. She holds a BFA from Emerson College, where she was co-curator and SlamMaster of the Emerson Poetry Project. Now the co-curator of Moonlighting, the Boston Poetry Slam’s LGBTQ-celebratory series, Her work appears in Umbrella Factory and Guernica, on IndieFeed Performance Poetry, and frequently on the open mic at the Cantab. If you wanted her to serve you a tonic and gin, you should have ordered it that way.

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 Feature for Wednesday, June 10, 2015: World Qualifier Finals

The Boston Poetry Slam will kick off our Summer of Slam a little bit early this year with the second and final night of the annual World Qualifier: the final four poems (of a six-poem series) to select the Boston Poetry Slam’s sole representative to the 2015 Individual World Poetry Slam! This year’s IWPS will take place in Washington, D.C. on October 8-10, and our World Qualifier slam winner will be entered into the event.

Our roster for the show is confirmed and complete! The following poets have qualified to slam in Finals, and the order of the first round will be as follows:
1. Sam Mercer
2. Mckendy Fils-Aimé
3. Zeke Russell
4. Nora Meiners
5. Meaghan Ford
6. Kylie Noelle
7. Sean Patrick Mulroy
8. Janae Johnson
Sacrificial poets: Ed Wilkinson and Zanne Langlois.

This winner-take-all competition features the top eight finishers from the May 13 World Qualifier Speed Slam. A four-round night, including one limit-breaking 4-minute round, will culminate in a head-to-head finals to determine who will represent the BPS in DC!

For more details, 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 Phoenix, Arizona this October.

Cantab Recap for Wednesday, June 3, 2015

What an incredible week at the Boston Poetry Slam, folks! We kicked off Wednesday night with a stellar open mic, including a spotlight from the enchanting Tolonda Henderson of Washington, D.C. Our headliner was the much-anticipated Jeffrey McDaniel, of course, who gracefully met and exceeded all expectations, shaking up even the most cynical poets’ concepts of figurative language and personal narrative. You can grab his latest book online at the University of Pittsburgh Press: it’s called The Chapel of Inadvertent Joy.

The slam was a hot six-poet affair, winding down to a quietly determined JR Mahung and the no-holds-barred Hannah Brown! After a dynamic interplay of concept and idea between the two poets in the final round, JR came out $10 richer and with his first slam victory at the Cantab. Excellent!

Next week: skip your laundry and pack a few extra bucks for our special $5 cover charge… We’ll be holding the World Qualifier Final, an eight-poet extravaganza to select the Boston Poetry Slam’s rep to the 2015 Individual World Poetry Slam in Washington, D.C. this October. Come see Sam Mercer, Mckendy Fils-Aimé, Zeke Russell, Nora Meiners, Meaghan Ford, Kylie Noelle, Sean Patrick Mulroy, and Janae Johnson slam off in an extended four-round show. So many poems, yet only one poet can be the World Qualifier Champion!

Tips from the Bar: The Barter System

What outrageous price would you overpay for a three-minute spot on your favorite stage?

Moonlighting: A Queer Open Mic and Reading Series Featuring Sophia Holtz and Josh Elbaum on June 4, 2015

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

The featured reader for June 4, 2015 is a double feature with Sophia Holtz and Josh Elbaum. More about our features:

Sophia Holtz, Moonlighting co-feature.

Sophia Holtz, Moonlighting co-feature.

Sophia Holtz is a writer, performer, and sometimes-illustrator. She has featured in bars, colleges, and the occasional basement throughout the United States, and is a member of the 2015 Boston Poetry Slam team. Her work has appeared in RHINO, decomP, H_NGM_N, and other journals. She received her B.A. from Hampshire College, and is a soon-to-be M.F.A. candidate at NYU. Find her at Sophia Holtz.

Josh Elbaum, Moonlighting co-feature.

Josh Elbaum, Moonlighting co-feature.

Joshua was born in California and will return there someday to live in a eucalyptus tree. Josh’s poetry is a shameless ploy to make cooler friends. He falls in love too easy & won’t ever stop.

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, June 3, 2015: Jeffrey McDaniel

Sarah Lawrence professor and classic slammer Jeffrey McDaniel.

Sarah Lawrence professor and classic slammer Jeffrey McDaniel.

Jeffrey McDaniel is the author of five books of poetry, most recently Chapel of Inadvertent Joy (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2013), and including The Endarkenment (Pittsburgh, 2008), The Splinter Factory (Manic D, 2002), The Forgiveness Parade (Manic D Press, 1998), and Alibi School (Manic D, 1995). A compilation of selected poems, Katastrophenkunde, was translated into German by Ron Winkler and published in 2006.

Jeffrey represented Washington, D.C. in the 1993, 1994 and 1995 National Poetry Slams, as well as Venice Beach in 1998. His poems have been published in many magazines and anthologies, including Best American Poetry in 1994 and 2010, Ploughshares, and American Poetry Review. In 2010, he was one of five judges for the National Book Award in poetry. A recipient of an National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, he teaches at Sarah Lawrence College and lives in the Hudson Valley.

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.

Tolonda Henderson performs at the Sparkle Queer Open Mic in D.C. Photo by Julia Keane for Writer's Bloc.

Tolonda Henderson performs at the Sparkle Queer Open Mic in D.C. Photo by Julia Keane for Writer’s Bloc.

Tonight’s show will also feature a spotlight by Tolonda Henderson! Tolonda lives in Virginia and was a finalist for the Beltway Poetry Slam’s 2013 National Poetry Slam Team. Her poem “Regrets” may be seen on Button Poetry. She regularly performs features in the Washington, D.C. area, and moonlights as an academic librarian by day.

Annual Attleboro Arts Museum Poetry Slam: Thursday, May 28, 2015

Host Simone Beaubien introduces the next poet at the 2010 Attleboro Arts Museum Slam. Photo by Artie Moffa.

Host Simone Beaubien introduces the next poet at the 2010 Attleboro Arts Museum Slam. Photo by Artie Moffa.

Thursday, May 28, 2015
86 Park St., Attleboro, MA
sign-ups at 6:30, open mic at 7:00, slam at 8:00
FREE show for all ages
details at Attleboro Arts Museum website

The Boston Poetry Slam has presented a free poetry slam in conjunction with the Attleboro Arts Museum annually since 2007! This year’s special event will feature the Boston Poetry Slam Team, the Providence Poetry Slam Team, the Seven Hills Slam from Worcester, and an open mic featuring YOU, all hosted by BPS SlamMaster Simone Beaubien. As always, the show is held in the main room of the Museum at 86 Park St. in Attleboro, and the event is free of charge.

This year’s event will differ from past presentations: an open mic for members of the Attleboro community and beyond will kick off the night. After the open mic, teams from the Boston Poetry Slam, the Providence Poetry Slam, and the Seven Hills Slam will go head-to-head-to-head in a performance poetry exhibition! These three freshly selected teams will be shaking out their metaphors in preparation for their trip to the National Poetry Slam in Oakland, California this August.

The Attleboro Arts Museum is located at 86 Park St. in Attleboro, Mass., just a short walk from the Attleboro stop on the Providence/Boston line of the Commuter Rail. Signups for the open mic begin at 6:30pm, with the open mic starting at 7:00. A poetry slam featuring teams from Boston, Providence, and Worcester will begin at the end of the open mic, around 8:00. The show is all ages and admission is free.

Cantab Recap for Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Last night at the Cantab, we were pleased to welcome back the slam’s original doorman, Ron Goba, for a much-anticipated feature. A long-ago mainstay of the door and the open mic, and now a regular bi-annual feature, Ron has never yet let us down: he brought us a complex, sound-dense, ten-part journey, filling his entire feature time with this singular poem. We are so proud to have hosted this intense and unique show.

After a good long break to enjoy the presence of our veteran feature, a slam packed with rookies hit the stage. Although one-time Mill City team member Nathan Comstock put forth a valiant effort to reach the final round, it was first-timer Rachel Dunkel who took the big win and the big $10. Congratulations to Rachel, our first open slam winner to qualify to try out for the 2016 Boston Poetry Slam Team!

TONIGHT: we are pleased to announce that the 2015 Boston Poetry Slam Team (with guest poet Zeke Russell) will perform at the Attleboro Art Museum in a head-to-head-to-head team slam with Providence and Worcester! This might actually be the very first NorthBEAST team slam anywhere in New England this year, so head down to cheer on (or heckle) your favorites: the lovely one-room museum is easily accessed from the Attleboro stop of the Boston/Providence Commuter Rail.

Next week: get in line early for NEA Fellow, National Book Award judge, and, yes poetry slam veteran Jeffrey McDaniel! He’ll be bringing copies of very his latest book, Chapel of Inadvertent Joy, which you can purchase to wave triumphantly during the third act of the show: our second open poetry slam of the series.