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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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Cantab Feature for Wednesday, May 27, 2015: Ron Goba
The Cantab’s original Venerable Doorman, Ron Goba.
In 1991, Ron Goba left his last job, Chair of English for the Hingham public schools, with only three goals: to write every day, to workshop every week, and to find an open mic where he could share his workshopped poems. Every Wednesday for nearly fifteen years, he manned the seat at the door, bridging the gap between audience and staff on the open mic, as well as with a warm handshake that told regulars when they had finally arrived. His dense, surprising, and sound-heavy work has been called “a live wire that hissess… a state fair muttering through a Stradivarius” by Tom Daley and “a touchstone for writing” by co-founding SlamMaster Michael Brown. The Boston Poetry Slam is proud to welcome back one of the voices that built the venue.
Note that tonight’s feature will take the stage at 9:30, necessitating a shortened open mic. The slam will follow the feature as usual.
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 EARLY TONIGHT at approximately 9:30. 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, May 20, 2015
Another great night of slam at the Cantab, folks! We kicked off the night with a really solid open mic, followed by the excellent and up-and-coming Anthony Ragler from New York. Anthony brought us a slew of family poems, plus a little preview of what we might hear from him this year when he reps the Nuyorican at the National Poetry Slam.
The slam, of course, was the long-awaited Champion of Champions match, with Sean Patrick Mulroy defending his title against Sheldon Alexander, Chloé Cunha, Sophia Holtz, Sam Mercer, Nora Meiners, Kylie Noelle, and Bobby Crawford (Janae Johnson was on hand to heckle, of course). At the end of the speed-slam seven-poet slam, Chloé was the last poet standing, earning herself a season championship! She opted to let her cash prize ride in order to take a crack at dethroning Sean, but fell just short: Sean took the final round in a 3-2 nailbiter, retaining his title and earning the big $100.
Next week: our feature will start at 9:30, which means a slightly shorter open mic. Why? Because it’s our Venerable Doorman Ron Goba, of course, long-time doorman for the slam celebrating his birthday month with us. If you miss out on the open mic, though, don’t worry: we’ll be starting up another 8×8 series, which means eight slots in the open poetry slam at the end of the night.
Cantab Feature for Wednesday, May 20, 2015: Anthony Ragler and the Champion of Champions Speed Slam!
NPS 2014 Finalist Anthony Ragler. Photo by Philomena Haley.
When he is not binge drinking cranberry juice and eating fruit snacks, Anthony Ragler is a 21-year old writer, performer, and father. Using poetry, music and step dance, Anthony aims to change lives and heal wounds. He is an English and Education Major at Mercy College.
Anthony is an artist known for using persona and body movement to attack social stigmas and overly-traditional forms of thinking. He was a member of the 2014 NYC Urbana Slam Team that placed second in the nation at the 2014 National Poetry Slam in Oakland, Calif., as well as the 2013 Urban Word Slam Team that placed third internationally at the Brave New Voices Festival. He is the Inspired Word 2014 Grand Slam Champion and the Lincoln Center’s first ever youth Grand Slam Champion. Anthony has performed at numerous venues, including the United Nations, Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Symphony Space, Lincoln Center, The Apollo Theatre and the Audubon Ballroom in NYC, the Scottish Rite Theatre in Oakland, CA, and the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, Ill. He’s the first poet to teach Patricia Smith the Cupid Shuffle and the only poet to win a street fight on planet Neptune.
Tonight also marks the final night in our current 8×8 speed slam series! Eight slam winners will slam off for the season championship and the opportunity to challenge reigning Champion of Champions Sean Patrick Mulroy in an all-champions reduced-time-limit slam.
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 Champion of Champions Slam in the current 8×8 poetry slam series will follow. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $5.
Boston Poetry Slam Online