House Slam @ Haley House 2nd & 4th Fridays

The House Slam

2nd and 4th Fridays, Doors open at 6:30 pm.  Each House Slam event offers an eclectic open-mic, a polished featured poet, and a competitive poetry slam. The Slam offers a safe space for poets seeking to express themselves. And the poets aren’t just good – they’re national champions! The House Slam team went out to Oakland, CA for the 2015 National Poetry Slam and brought the title back to Roxbury. This article features photos and videos of the championship-winning poets. And be sure to check out The House Slam’s own website for the current schedule.

Urban Poetry Slam @ Dudley Cafe May 3

• Tuesday, May 3 at 7 PM - 10 PM

• pin	Show Map Dudley Cafe 15 Warren St, Roxbury 02119

Join the SOUP's (Society of Urban Poetry) Monthly Slam at the Dudley Cafe, either as an audience member or feel free to compete! If you think you got what it takes, then step to the Soup Mic and just, just: Just Slam!!

This is a special-edition for ArtWeek! A pre-slam talk will give a brief history of slam poetry. Also, there will be a Q&A session with the night's competition winners!

The Deal: 12 poets, 3 rounds, 5 judges, and amazing poetry
The Bounty: Three cash prizes: $75 for First Place, $35 for Second Place, and $15 for Third Place.
Slam Poets: Please come early to ensure your spot on the list.

Tickets are $10 at the door and $8 if pre-purchased online.

Mass Poetry Festival Apr29-May1

America’s Top Prize-Winning Poets Converge in Salem, MA for the Three-Day Mass Poetry Festival.

The 8th Massachusetts Poetry Festival brings American’s most admired poets from across the country to a celebration of Massachusetts’ lively contemporary poetry scene—Friday, April 29 – Sunday, May 1, 2016 in downtown Salem, MA.

Throughout the weekend, we spotlight the following highly acclaimed poets: former N.Y. Poet Laureate Marie Howe, 2015 Pulitzer-prize recipient Greg Pardlo, Mark Doty, Sandra Beasley, Martha Collins, Edward Hirsch, Ada Limón, David Rivard, Charles Simic, and Ocean Vuong.

The Mass Poetry Festival offers nearly 100 poetry readings and workshops, a small press and literary fair, panels, poetry slams, and open-air readings. Panel topics range broadly from The State of Poetry, poetry and gender, book publishing, poetry and Asian art, to the Common Threads Reading, where contemporary poets with Massachusetts ties discuss their literary heirs. More than 150 poets will engage with thousands of New Englanders. Admission is $20, and $7 for students and seniors; an additional $10 service fee for all workshops.

Visit www.masspoetry.org for more information.

Poetry Event - Sexual Assault Apr 7

Thursday, April 7 at 7 PM
BU Morse Auditorium
602 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, Massachusetts 02215

An open mic to showcase the profound words of survivors, their families, and their friends.

This open mic is not limited to only poetry/spoken word. Short-Stories and performance is more than welcome so long as it is relevant and empowering.

IF YOU WISH TO REMAIN ANONYMOUS --> PLEASE SUBMIT POEMS, STORIES, ETC. TO THE FOLLOWING EMAIL ADDRESS --> kboots@bu.edu
Your poems/stories will be read and will be completely anonymous. If you have any questions, please contact the email above.

East Meets Words Youth Performance Apr9

Friday, April 8 at 6 PM - 9 PM
EMW Bookstore
934 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139


***PLEASE NOTE OUR EARLIER START TIME at 6PM. DOORS OPEN AT 6PM FOR PATCHMAKING WITH YEP, and OPEN MIC BEGINS AT 7:00PM!

Come out for a night of performances and patch-making with ATASK's Youth Empowerment Project (YEP), in awareness of DENIM DAY: an anti-rape, anti-violence, anti-victim blaming campaign, using denim jeans as a creative protest tool to fight against rape and violence in our communities and our world.

We're super excited to have YEP as our feature for April and invite you and the community to come by to EMW Bookstore before the Open Mic to make a denim patch with us with ATASK! Come in and make your own patch in support of Denim Day on Wednesday, April 27th!


***Patch-making begins at 6pm and ends before the start of the open mic at 7:30pm. Doors open at 6pm.***


/// Location & Admissions ///
EMW Bookstore
934 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA
$5-$10 Sliding Scale

/// Directions ///
Red line: Take the T to Central and walk towards Harvard Square on Mass Ave, or take the 1 bus down the street.


/// THE FEATURE ///
Youth Empowerment Project @ ATASK: Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence
atask.org

ATASK began with the vision of founder Reverend Cheng Imm Tan, who mobilized a group of volunteers in Boston over 25 years ago to address important gaps in services and access for Asian immigrant victims of domestic violence. Incorporated in 1992, the Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence (ATASK) has operated New England’s only multilingual emergency shelter, advocacy services, outreach, and education programs for battered Asian adults and their children. ATASK’s mission is to prevent domestic violence in Asian families and communities and to provide hope to survivors.

Founded in 2009, Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) is the youth leadership program under ATASK. They are a group of awesome Asian American youth devoted to ending domestic/dating violence, sexual violence, and all of the inequalities and layers of oppression that exists in all our communities.

Courage of the Verb March 19

The Boston Art & Music Collective and Strength of Doves Productions invites you to:

COURAGE OF THE VERB

A Unique Opportunity to Explore the Cross Sections of Spoken Word and Entrepreneurship

SPOKEN WORD POETRY | ENTREPRENEURSHIP | COLLABORATIVE COMMUNITIES  

We invite you to attend a one day conference/meetup focusing on the cross sections of Spoken Word Poetry and Entrepreneurship. This conference will provide a platform where artists can learn from entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs can learn from spoken word artists to improve their success, communication, presentation, and brand. 

This event will focus on an exchange in expertise of business skills needed by artists and public speaking techniques needed by entrepreneurs who are forced to speak publicly about their ventures. Why not learn from each other? 

Whether you are an artist, entrepreneur, a creative person or just looking to learn more about promoting yourself, your business or your ideas, this is one event you do not want to miss!

Featured panelists include:

Catherine T. Morris (Founder & Visionary, The Boston Art & Music Soul Collective) | Lissa Piercy (Executive Director, Strength of Doves) | Jared Paul (Co-Founder, Strength of Doves and two time Individual World Poetry Slam Finalist) | Adrian Wong (CEO, Beta Burger) | Brandon Ransom (CEO & CO-Founder, Techtrition) | Melissa Potter Forde (CEO & Branding Expert, Think Big Dream Big) | House Slam (2015, National Poetry Slam Team) | Porsha Olayiwola (2014 Individual World Poetry Slam Champion and 2015 National Poetry Slam Champion) |Tim Hall (Artist, Educator, Entrepreneur) | Jha D (Founder of “if you can Feel It, you can Speak It” Open Mic) | Caroline Harvey (Artist, Poet and Educator) | G. Valentino Ball (Editor In Chief and a Co-founder of KillerBoomBox Media Group) | Reggie Williams (Entrepreneur & Community Relations Manager, PressPass TV)

Highlights of Conference:

• [8:00am - 8:45am]: Continental Breakfast | Registration
• [9:00am - 9:20am]: Panelist Presentation (2 Entrepreneurs pitch, 2 Spoken Word Artists perform)
• [9:25am - 10:25am]: General Panel Discussion: Can You Hear Me? Can you see Me
• [10:30am - 11:30am]: Breakout Session #1 : School of Hardknocks 
• [10:30am - 11:30am]: Breakout Session #2: To Be or Not to Be a Brand 
• [10:30am - 11:30am]: Breakout Session #3: Strategic Presentation
• [11:45am - 12:15pm]: Keynote: Performance by The House Slam 
• [12:15pm - 1:00pm]: Lunch Mixer

SPECIAL DISCOUNT STUDENT TICKETS: $20.00 (FLAT RATE)

Starting Monday, March 14th through March 18th, high school and college students receive a 15% discount off the General Admission ticket price. All tickets include breakfast, panel discussion, keynote performance, lunch mixer and registration for 1 breakout session. Students are required to bring and show their valid ID at the Registration table.

GENERAL ADMISSION TICKETS: $32.64 (tax and fee included) 

All tickets include breakfast, panel discussion, keynote performance, lunch mixer and registration for 1 breakout session.

Ticket Sponsorships

Become a sponsor for this event! The BAMS Collective and Strength of Doves are committed to providing access for all, whenever possible. With this in mind we will be providing sponsored tickets for community members who cannot afford the conference fee. By becoming a sponsor, you are providing access for a community member who would not otherwise be able to attend this event. See sponsor options below.

• General Admission: Community Sponsor: $53.74 (tax and fee included). *Includes 1 ticket for purchaser plus 1 ticket for community member.

For complete agenda, panelist and ticket information click here: Courage Of The Verb. 

Open Mic & Clothing Exchange March 3

• Thursday, March 3 at 9:00 PM in EST 2 days from now · -5—3° Mostly Sunny

• pin	Show Map Bella Luna Restaurant and Milky Way Lounge 284 Amory St, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts 02130

• About
• Discussion

Details

--- the lovely Pelaiah Auset is our feature this month!
--- we will have another winter gear drive! donate any winter gear/accessories to go to people in need this winter and receive $2 off admission!
--- read below for more details and help spread the word :-)
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Open mic kicks off the night:
**All types of talent welcome! come and express yourself
***DJ Nomadik & Essex aka Anthony Schofield host
****If interested in signing up, ARRIVE BY 9:30 (space limited!)
*****Raffles and other activities during the event
******21+ ... 9pm doors $7 to enter
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
DJ Nomadik spins after open mic til close

East Meets Words Anniversary March 11

• Friday, March 11 at 8:00 PM - 12:00 AM in EST Mar 11 at 8:00 PM to Mar 12 at 12:00 AM in EST

• pin	Show Map Villa Victoria 640 Tremont St, Boston, Massachusetts 02118

• About
• Discussion

Details

East Meets Words is the longest running Asian / Pacific Islander open mic series in the East Coast.

On Friday, March 11th, we will celebrate a decade of creative expression and community! We have hosted 132 open mics with features ranging from APIA luminaries I Was Born With Two Tongues, Beau Sia, Reggie Cabico, Kelly Tsai, and Yellow Rage, to local community youth and budding artists and activists just starting to find their voice. This event will have curated performances. Please reach out to emwbookstore@gmail.com if you are interested in performing. More info will be announced soon!

/// Location & Admissions ///
Villa Victoria, 85 W Newton St, Boston, MA
$5-$20 Sliding Scale

/// THE FEATURE ///
Bao Phi
www.baophi.com

Bao Phi is a two-time Minnesota Grand Slam champion and a National Poetry Slam finalist, Bao Phi has appeared on HBO Presents Russell Simmons Def Poetry, featured in the live performances and taping of the blockbuster diasporic Vietnamese variety show Paris By Night 114: Tôi Là Người Việt Nam, and a poem of his appeared in the 2006 Best American Poetry anthology. His poems and essays are widely published in numerous publications including Screaming Monkeys and Spoken Word Revolution Redux. He has also released several CDs of his poetry, such as the recently sold-out Refugeography to his newest CD, The Nguyens EP. A short story of his, Revolution Shuffle, appeared in the landmark anthology Octavia’s Brood: Stories from Social Justice Movements, AK Press, 2015.

In addition to his creative work, he was nominated for a Facing Race Ambassador award in recognition for his community work, and has published essays in topics from Asians in hip hop to Asian representation in video games. He has been a guest speaker at numerous events and for various entities, such as Giant Steps and Bushconnect. Currently he continues to perform across the country, remains active as an Asian American community organizer, and is the Program Director of the Loft, where he manages various programs serving writers as well as creates and operates programs for artists and audiences of color. He was the Coordinating Chair of the National APIA Spoken Word Poetry Summit, 2011.

Courage of the Verb

• clock

  Saturday, March 19 at 8 AM - 1 PM

• pin	Show Map Cambridge Innovation Center 1 Broadway, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142

• ticket

  Find Tickets Tickets Available bit.ly

EARLY BIRD TIX: $20.00 (all tickets include breakfast, guest speakers, breakout sessions, a keynote performance and a lunch mixer.)

[ [ [ The Boston Art & Music Soul Collective and Strength of Doves are committed to providing access for all, whenever possible. If you are interested in attending this event, but the price of tickets makes you unable to do so, please email Lissa@strengthofdoves.com, subject line "Community Tickets for Courage of the Verb" and a note that you are interested in a community ticket. Thank you! ] ] ]

What's the event about?

As a special edition of "The Prelude", this one day conference/meetup focuses on the cross sections of Spoken Word Poetry and Entrepreneurship, where artists can learn from entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs can learn from spoken word artists (artists need business skills and entrepreneurs need to do public speaking all the time for pitching - why not learn from each other?) 

Sister Outsider Poetry March 11

• Friday March 11 at 8 PM

• pin	Show Map Marran Theater Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138

Hey all, this is a MUST SEE kind of show. It is the first day of spring break, so make it count!

Presented by the Student Association of GSASS (S.A.G) with support from Lesley’s Women’s Center, Third-Wave, Queer Lesley (QLEAR) and Allied Against Oppression (AAO)

Sister Outsider Poetry is an award-winning duo representing some of the top performance poets in the world, Dominique Christina and Denice Frohman. They have appeared on 10 national poetry slam finals stages and have seven championships collectively. Inspired by the life and work of Audre Lorde, they write and perform their “otherness” into the center and use spoken word as a tool for social change.
http://www.sisteroutsiderpoetry.com/
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sister-outsider-poetry-tickets-21778617431

Friday, March 11, 2016 ~ 7:45-9:30pm

Marran Theater, Doble Campus (34 Mellen St.)

***A reception will be held beforehand from 7pm-8pm***
**Event is free and open to the public

Breakbeat Poets Feb25

• Thursday 7pm

  pin	Show Map Uforge Gallery 767 Centre St, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts 02130

Who: Contributors to THE BREAKBEAT POETS - Idris Goodwin, Eve Ewing, Franny Choi, José Olivarez, Sofia Snow

When: Thursday, February 25 at 7:00 pm
Where: UForge Gallery - 767 Centre Street, JP
Free, all ages

"Hip-Hop is the largest youth culture in the history of the planet rock. It has produced generations of artists who have revolutionized their genre(s) by applying the aesthetic innovations of the culture.

The BreakBeat Poets features 78 poets, born somewhere between 1961-1999, All-City and Coast-to-Coast, who are creating the next and now movement(s) in American letters. This is the first poetry anthology by and for the Hip-Hop generation. It is for people who love Hip-Hop, for fans of the culture, for people who've never read a poem, for people who thought poems were only something done by dead white dudes who got lost in a forest, and for poetry heads. This anthology is meant to expand the idea of who a poet is and what a poem is for.

The BreakBeat Poets are the scribes recording and remixing a fuller spectrum of experience of what it means to be alive in this moment. The BreakBeat Poets are a break with the past and an honoring of the tradition(s), an undeniable body expanding the canon for the fresher." More at http://www.haymarketbooks.org/pb/The-BreakBeat-Poets

Join Papercuts at UForge Gallery for an excellent evening of spoken word poetry! For more wonderful poetry, be sure to check out Mr. Hip's reading series just two days after at the same venue.

Critical Breakdown Open Mic Every Last Sunday

This Sunday February 28th, 2016 we will "Show Love" specifically by paying homage to Black History.

Join us from 6p-9p (open mic sign up starts at 530p). for an evening of spoken word poetry, hip hop, trivia, discussion, and building community. we will have all types of info and resource tables available to network too.

See you Sunday!

Peace,

#teamCriticalBreakdown

p.s. any questions on how to join us, volunteer, feature, or get vendor opportunities please email us at:criticalbreakdownboston@gmail.com

Critical Breakdown brings people of all ages together through Hip-Hop, spoken word, and other forms of socially conscious performance & visual art. Through monthly open mics, Critical Breakdown explores solutions to poverty, oppression, and injustice while giving space for expression, resource sharing, and healing.

Critical Breakdown is a program of the community and facilitated by the "Village In Progress" (VIP) Initiative.

First Friday Youth Open Mic March 4

• Friday, March 4 at 7 PM - 10 PM

• pin	Show Map First Fridays Youth Open Mic 633 Centre St, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts 02130

On Jan. 31st, 2016, Rev. Sekou and the Holy Ghost released their debut album, “The Revolution Has Come”. This movement suite was produced by St. Louis based record label, FarFetched in collaboration with The Fellowship of Reconciliation and Eloveate Music. Recorded in Saint Louis in mid-November, over 30 musicians, engineers, and vocalists from around the country brought this project into being. The 9-track project celebrates the gutbucket blues, gospel, soul, and funk at once. The single, “We Coming”—a protest anthem—features the 8-piece Saint Boogie Brass Brand. Harmonic, rock guitar, and a B3 Hammond organ carry the listener to protest ecstasy. Based on chants from the streets, the song reminds the powers that be that movement is here to stay. “We Coming” is a both party and protest. The mournful track “Goodbye Baby”— A Elegy for the Mothers of the Martyred—embodies slave field hollers, and 1960s Hard blues. The stolen lives of trans folks are remembered in Jay-Marie Hill’s heart-wrenching ballad—“Past Time”. War, Eros, and redemption are captured in “Hell No”, “Sanctified”, and “Welcome Home.” The sonic landscape of “The Revolution Has Come” captures the toil of southern field hands, grieving mothers’ wails, the vibrancy of contemporary street protest, backwoods juke joints, and shotgun churches—all driven by a funk bass line.

About the Band
The sound of Rev. Sekou and the Holy Ghost—featuring Jay-Marie Hil— is a symphony of gospel, blues, soul, funk and freedom songs. Laced with religious and racy lyrics--sanctified blues-- their music was born of struggle. The two met at The Movement for Black Lives gathering this summer, when Rev. Sekou washed pepper spray off Jay-Marie's face in the aftermath of a protest that rescued a 14 year old boy from police custody. In August 2015 they reunited during Janelle Monáe's protest tour and found themselves penning a full album in less than a week.

The Rev. Sekou is a third generation Pentecostal preacher and long time organizer, author and activist, grounded in the tradition of the Arkansas Delta Blues. His grandfather played piano in juke joints for the legends including B.B. King, Albert King, and Louis Jordan.

Singer-Songwriter and #SayHerName activist Jay-Marie is San Francisco Bay Area born and raised, an active member of the Black Lives Matter Bay Area Chapter, and bassist/saxophonist for the San Francisco/Oakland based band Bones of a Feather.

Boston Tech Poetrics Feb 25

• Thursday, February 25 at 7 PM

• pin	Show Map Spotify Boston 48 Grove St, Somerville, Massachusetts 02144

Boston Tech Poetics is excited to bring you two artists this month. One works on bringing software out into the physical world while the other models the physical world in software.

Joelle Bitton - http://joelle.superficiel.org/
Joelle is an artist, designer and HCI researcher, currently enrolled as a DDes candidate at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. For her presentation, "Living in the Material World", she has this to say: "I look at personal data and digital fabrication and I see creative opportunities arising. I’m proposing to use human-based data as parameters for CNC-machining. Twipology and Rabota are two recent projects that suggest that digital fabrication can be unprecise, slow, non-linear but... on purpose. Overall, the point is to establish a daily relationship with technology that is intimate and disruptive at the same time."

Matthew Tytel - http://tytel.org/
Matt is a music and virtual reality software developer. He is a former Leap Motion employee where he created interactive physics toys ranging from centipedes, to pluckable flowers. In his presentation titled "Playful Physics Toys - in 3D!", Matt will go through the long term process of developing interactive physical objects that started with simple blocks and ended with constructing dance robots.