Boston Poetry Slam Newsletter
Hello Poet!
What an amazing summer it has been!
Thank you to everyone who attended the NorthBeast Regional a couple weeks ago. The event wouldn’t be what it was without our incredible staff, volunteers, poets, coaches, judges, audience members, venue partners, and anyone who has gone to any BPS programming this year. We had an incredible three days of poetry, culminating in a glorious finals stage. Ultimately, Just (be)Loved took home the crown as 2026 NorthBeast champions! Congratulations to the team and thank you to all competing poets for your dedication and your poems.
Check out the Instagram, @northbeastregional for some amazing photos that showcase the incredible poet-ing that took place.
FILL OUT THE SURVEY!
IF YOU ATTENDED NORTHBEAST (as a poet, coach, or general attendee) PLEASE FILL OUT THIS SURVEY SO WE CAN KEEP IMPROVING NORTHBEAST YEAR-AFTER-YEAR!
We also implore you to take this Accessibility Survey,
*Volunteers and staff, we will have a separate survey for you soon!
That’s all on NorthBeast!
Slam Adams Season 4 is underway!
Sign up for the next Slam Adams on 9/7 by emailing myles@bostonpoetryslam.com or [email protected]
Let’s let the community know! If you live in the Jamaica Plain area, we encourage you to SPREAD THE WORD to your neighbors - here is a link to a flyer which you can print out and put up at your favorite local cafe/bar/bookstore/etc.
General info about Slam Adams:
Looking for another poetry show? Looking to try out slamming in a low-stakes, highly-supportive environment? Do you like beer of the alcoholic or non-alcoholic varieties? Is "every Wednesday" simply not enough for you? Behold! Boston Poetry Slam has a monthly slam series at the Sam Adams Brewery in Jamaica Plain, appropriately named "Slam Adams."
Slam Adams is every first Monday of the month, from 6-8pm. It is slam-only, meaning no open mic. Cover is $4, but if you volunteer to judge you may get in free! Sign ups for the slam take place IN ADVANCE - if you would like to sign up, email [email protected]m or [email protected].
Coming up at Boston Poetry Slam
First and foremost, we have TWO fun slams for you in August…
THE TAG TEAM SLAM IS THIS WEEK, and YOU (yes, you, poet with a group piece with another poet!) should sign up now!
Poets will sign up in teams of two and face off against each other in a three-round competition. In round 1, each team member will send up one team member to perform an original poem. In round 2, the teams will send up the other team member to perform an original poem. In the FINAL round, the remaining teams will each send up a group piece featuring both team members!
PLEASE SIGN UP NOW!!! DM us or email us (ideally [email protected]) to sign up!!
The winners will get $75 and the top two teams will qualify to try out for the 2027 slam team!
8/26 is our annual ALLSTON CHRISTMAS SLAM! Come celebrate the local holiday with us for our annual found poem slam: bring any piece of text under 3 minutes that was found out on the streets (or the internet) and would not typically be considered a poem. Competitors will be paired up and the winners of each found poem pair will win a prize from the Allston Christmas Sidewalk (a collection of items Myles has scrounged in Allston Christmases past).
See all of our upcoming shows at this link.
For now, here’s a sneak peek of what you can expect in the fall…
Features from…
Hieu Minh Ngyuen
Leena Aboutaleb
Kai Wallin (book release show!)
And, as always, tons of fun slams (some with stakes, some without!)
Wanna know what you missed the last few weeks at the Cantab?
You can read a recap of every Wednesday on our website. Check out the last few recaps below!
We want your feedback and ideas! Take our community survey now!📋
CALLING ALL BOSTON POETRY SLAM ATTENDEES! Do you have suggestions to improve the show? Features you’d like to see? Themed slam ideas? Perhaps something you’d been looking to share with our staff? We heavily encourage you to participate in our COMMUNITY SURVEY! We want to hear from you to help our show be the best it can be, and who better to provide that feedback than our community? The form can be found HERE or our website bostonpoetryslam.com. Still unsure? Talk to a staff member at our Wednesday night shows for more details.
We also have a running, short-and sweet anonymous feedback form here as well.
About Boston Poetry Slam:
The core Boston Poetry Slam show runs at the Cantab Lounge in Cambridge, Mass. every Wednesday night, giving poets a chance to share their work in the open mic or slam and featuring a headlining poet or theme slam. Doors @7:15, show starts at 8pm. 21+. $4 cover (cash preferred, Venmo available). Follow our Instagram (below) for the most up-to-date info.
The show and its community are curated entirely by unpaid volunteers. Boston Poetry Slam Inc is a registered 501c3 non-profit organization in the United States. Donations (https://bostonpoetryslam.com/donate) are tax deductible to the full extent provided by the law.
Website: https://bostonpoetryslam.com/
Instagram: @bostonpoetryslam
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bostonpoetryslam
Our official zine, The Cantabernacle, is available online and at our Wednesday night shows! Submissions are also now open for the next issue, so please send us your work at [email protected]
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Fill out our anonymous feedback form and/or contact [email protected]
Newsletter Credits: Written by Amy Argentar, edited by Michael F. Gill
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