Moonlighting: A Queer Open Mic and Reading Series Featuring Porsha Olayiwola on February 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 February 5 is Porsha Olayiwola.

Porsha Olayiwola, Haley House co-founder and 2014 Individual World Poetry Slam Champion.

Porsha Olayiwola, Haley House co-founder and 2014 Individual World Poetry Slam Champion.

Black, poet, dyke-goddess, hip-hop feminist, womanist, friend, Porsha Olayiwola is a performance artist who believes in pixie dust and second chances. A resident of Boston by way of Chicago, Porsha O was the runner-up at the 2012 Women of the World Poetry Slam and is the reigning (2014) Individual World Poetry Slam Champion. Her intention is to speak, love, praise, and maintain a cypher that is undocumented, uncontrollable and just plain ole dope.

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 Recap for Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Heat Two of our Preliminary Team Selection Slams is now complete! Rankings from the slam:

  1. Nora Meiners 54.2
  2. Zeke Russell 53.8
  3. Colin Killick 53.1
  4. Emily Eastman 52.9
  5. Sean Patrick Mulroy 52.3
  6. Ed Wilkinson 52.1

  7. John Mortara
  8. Mike Leon

Poets in bold are invited to advance to Semi-Finals on February 18. Congratulations to everyone! We also offer thanks to our excellent sacrifices, local Omoizele Okoawo and traveler Zanne Langlois. Lastly, our judges rocked the house with speed and consistency for two whole rounds: thanks to Halo and Fish, Leah, Z, John Pinkham, and Carley and Will.

Next week: it’s time to cut loose! Forget those silly and meaningless team slams, because we are going to slam about something that matters: GOOD vs. EVIL! HEAVEN vs. HELL! VIRTUE vs. SIN! That’s right, in honor of Erotic Poetry Night, we’ll be having our first-ever Deadly Sins vs. Heavenly Virtues, a (obviously) seven-round smackdown to determine the direction of all our souls. The night’s open mic will be an EROTIC theme, by the way, so look out: if you were counting on bringing your new sweetie to see poetry for Valentine’s Day, just be advised that it is going to get non-redundantly dirty in the Cantab next week.

Ohhhhh, and and and: there’s a show tonight! It’s Moonlighting with Porsha O, the champion of everything! You hardly have to leave the safety of the subway car for this show: just hop off at Forest Hills and run across the street into Fazenda Coffee Roasters. Open mic sign-up starts at 7:00p.m. and this monthly LGBTQ-friendly show is all ages and welcoming to all!

Tips from the Bar: You Went Over Time and Time Has Things to Say About It

A welcome-back present from bartender Adam to himself: an appropriately snarky prompt. Try a poem where the clock talks trash about your inability to keep your mouth shut.

Cantab Feature for Wednesday, February 4, 2015: Team Selection Preliminaries (Second Heat)

The Cantab’s Team Selection Slams have always been the venue’s biggest, wildest poetry slams of the season. For 2015, for the first time, the venue will split the rowdy preliminary slam into two separate sessions, with the February event being the second prelim pool of two. The following poets will compete tonight (order TBD):

  • Colin Killick
  • Jake Villarreal
  • Zeke Russell
  • John Mortara
  • Emily Eastman
  • Mike Leon
  • Nora Meiners
  • Sean Patrick Mulroy
  • Ed Wilkinson
  • Sacrifices: Omoizele Okoawo, Zanne Langlois

The top six poets after two rounds will meet the top poets from the first heat at the Semi-Finals on Wednesday, February 18.

Team Selection Slams are a three-session affair for Cantab poets, with the top five poets after seven rounds comprising the venue’s National Poetry Slam Team. The 2015 Boston Poetry Slam Team will travel to the National Poetry Slam, once again across the mainland in sunny Oakland, California.

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 9:30. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $5; proceeds will go toward funding the National Poetry Slam in August.

Cantab Recap for Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Heat One of our Preliminary Team Selection Slams has ended! Ranks are as follows:

  1. Bobby Crawford 53.4
  2. Mckendy Fils-Aimé 53.1
  3. Marshall Gillson 52.9
  4. Ellyn Touchette 52.6
  5. Meaghan Ford 52.3
  6. Sophia Holtz 51.5

  7. Nathan Comstock
  8. Austin Hendricks

Poets in bold are invited to advance to Semi-Finals on February 18. Congratulations to everyone, and special thanks to our sacrifices, Janae Johnson and Adam Stone, and our five intrepid judges: Andrew, Josh, J.R., Alyssa, and Liana!

Next week: just like this week, but with NINE poets fighting for spots in Semi-Finals! Come see Jake Villarreal, Zeke Russell, John Mortara, Emily Eastman, Mike Leon, Nora Meiners, Sean Patrick Mulroy, Ed Wilkinson, and Colin Killick in Heat Two of the Team Selection Preliminaries. It all goes down next Wednesday with our usual 8:00 open mic, an early 9:30 slam, and a $5 cover for two all-star rounds of competition. See you there!

Tips from the Bar: There’s No Place Like Home

Adam Stone returns, bitterly from a national tour and offers the following prompt:

The Hypochondriac Explains the Universe to a Privileged Person

Slam Prelims is ON for tonight, January 28, 2015!

Happy Snowmageddon 2015, everyone! With the blizzard now over and the Cantab Lounge open, we are pleased to announce that the first heat of the Boston Poetry Slam will take place as scheduled tonight. Click here to remind yourself of the awesome all-star list of slammers participating.

Some tips on traveling to the Cantab tonight:

  • UPDATE: The Cambridge parking ban (and snow emergency) will be lifted at 4:00 p.m. today.
    As of 11:30 a.m. today, a snow emergency parking ban is still in effect for Cambridge. The City of Cambridge has stated they will re-evaluate the ban at “midday” today; click the preceding link for up-to-date info, or watch this space for details. (In the meantime, that means no parking on Mass Ave.)
  • The MBTA is running normal hours and all routes are open today.
  • Plan to leave early! Everything takes longer in the snow, and the longer you wait to leave, the more time your roommate has to remind you that you only did 3/7th of the shoveling. If you arrive to see us before 7:15 door time, you can always grab dinner in Central and bring it in to enjoy with a drink from the bar.

As long as you feel safe traveling tonight, we would love to see you at the very first slam of our 2015 Team Selection season. Come visit for the 8:00 open mic and stay for the 9:30 slam! And remember that the cover is $5 tonight, because shipping the 2015 team to Oakland, California for the National Poetry Slam in August is starting to sound like a bigger and better prize than ever.

Cantab Feature for Wednesday, January 28, 2015: Team Selection Preliminaries (First Heat)

The Cantab’s Team Selection Slams have always been the venue’s biggest, wildest poetry slams of the season. For 2015, for the first time, the venue will split the rowdy preliminary slam into two separate sessions, with the January event being the first prelim pool of two. The following poets will compete tonight (order TBD):

  • Marshall Gillson
  • Austin Hendricks
  • Meaghan Ford
  • Sophia Holtz
  • Mckendy Fils-Aimé
  • Nathan Comstock
  • Ellyn Touchette
  • Bobby Crawford
  • Sacrifices: Janae Johnson, Adam Stone

The top six poets after two rounds will meet the top poets from the second heat at the Semi-Finals on Wednesday, February 18.

Team Selection Slams are a three-session affair for Cantab poets, with the top five poets after seven rounds comprising the venue’s National Poetry Slam Team. The 2015 Boston Poetry Slam Team will travel to the National Poetry Slam, once again across the mainland in sunny Oakland, California.

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 9:30. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $5; proceeds will go toward funding the National Poetry Slam in August.

Cantab Recap for Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Slam legend Jason Carney was in the house last night, showing off his classic slam-era chops and a few tricks he learned in his MFA program to boot! A consummate performer, Jason brought us family stories, wild trips through nightmare and dream, and a compelling call to action. You can take a peek at his fascinating memoir, Starve the Vulture, at his publisher’s page here.

The Last Chance slam closed the night, and it was certainly a doozy: not just one, but TWO ties raised the stakes in the first round of play! The finals came down to veteran local Colin Killick and first-time slammer (and second time Cantab reader) JR Mahung. With raucous audience response for both, the judges had a tough decision to make… Colin sealed the win with an off-page, off mic performance and took home the $10. Colin also wins a spot in our February 4 slam team selection prelim!

Next week: TEAM SELECTION SLAMS BEGIN (you know it’s important when caps lock gets involved). Wednesday, January 28 will be the first of two preliminary heats to narrow the field for the 2015 Boston Poetry Slam Team! Remember: our open mic will be a little shorter, the feature is the awesomely all-star 8-person slam, and we’ll be looking for judges ASAP. Cover charge is $5 tonight to help raise money to send the team to Oakland in August.

Tips from the Bar: The Vulture Prompt

A “ghost line” (per Rachel McKibbens) is a line you use to prompt or inform a poem, but erase from your work at the end. You can use a ghost line of your own devising, from daily life, or borrow one from another artist.

Try starting your poem with a ghost line: delete it when your poem has taken shape. Here’s a possible example from Jason Carney’s Starve the Vulture:

Faith without works is dead.