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Thanks to all who have graced the stage, listened from the audience, took on the challenge to slam, supported the team and helped to make the Asylum a great community of voices. Please join us in 2008 for brilliant features, fantastic slams and a world of possibilities.
| 01/07 | The first Asylum of 2007 was a fantastic night. First up was the full open mic with many new voices and an excellent mix of poetry. After the open S. Bear Bergman took the stage as our feature. Bear read selections from her book, Butch Is a Noun. From pronouns to boxer briefs the work contained nuggets of truth that anyone, of any gender, sexuality or personal identity, could identify with. It was a great start to a new year and we hope the many new faces in the audience will join us again. Thanks for joining us Bear. |
| 01/14 | Dave Macpherson took the stage as our feature this week and those who missed it should weep. As an Asylum regular Dave is no stranger to our stage. Tonight we got to hear an in-depth set of Dave's work and it showed the diverse reach of his pen. Thanks Dave for sharing yourself, and your words. |
| 01/21 | A packed house greeted the first open qualifying slam of 2007
this week at the Asylum. There were many new faces in the audience
this week and it was great to hear a few of them in the open mic. Once
the judges were selected and the sacrificial poet was dispatched seven
worthy competitors took the stage for a two round bout of performance
poetry. The judges were tough this week, with a low score of 3 given
at one point. It's a good thing we toss those out. :-) Thank you
judges for making this game of words something more.
Excellent effort from Mareh, Liz, Dave Keali'i, Tyler, A-Dawg, John and Halliday. At the end of the night Mareh and Dave K earned the top two places. As their prize they get to move on to the Spring semi-final slam in May. Congrats! Check out the scores on our Slam page. |
| 01/28 | Pack night at the Asylum this week with an overflowing open mic and a feature from Baltimore poet Marc Marcel. With a confident performance Marc brought poems about printing new money, army recruiters and whistle blowers. He spoke of lost faith and beautiful words found in unexpected places. It was a well polished set and fine addition to the Asylum. Thanks for the words Marc. |
| 02/04 | This week the Poets' Aslum stage was graced with the lyrical genius of poet, Artie Moffa, the only poet, that we know of, whose poetry creds include the video game, Venture Africa. This was Artie's first feature... ever! Thanks for a great reading, Artie! |
| 02/11 | Another fun and exciting week at the Asylum with an open reading, special spotlight feature and an qualifying slam for the 2007 Worcester Slam team. Jen Mahon was in town and took the stage for a 15 minute set that had us wanting more. It was great to hear your voice again Jen. Following the spotlight eight worthy poets took the stage for the slam. Five tough judges where in the house to give us the numbers. Thanks to everyone who competed - Johnny, Kate, Cowboy Matt, MC Spiel, Liz, Troy, Tony Brown and John Clarke. At the end of the counting Tony Brown and Cowboy Matt finished in the top two spots. They'll move on to the Spring Semi-finals in May. Visit the slam page for the scores. |
| 02/18 | Hailing all the way from New York City, risking life and limb on the Chinatown bus, Erica Miriam Fabri brought her poetry to the Asylum stage. Erica mostly read from her collection, High Heel Magazine (winner of the 2006 Belle Letter Press Chapbook Contest), an intense, penetrating verse. If you missed her reading, you can find her at ericafabri.com. |
| 02/25 | Touring slam poet JW Baz hit the Asylum stage this week with an energetic set. He brought us pieces about love, love lost, lessons from Sunday school, and introspection. Though he's almost at the end of his tour he delivered the goods with high spirit and an easy wit. It was great to have you in the house Baz. |
| 03/04 | Fantastic night at the Asylum this week. The open mic was packed with good words and the feature, Erin Jackson, was on the top of her game. It's always great to have a local take the stage, especially one who has accomplished so much in the last year. With an effortless mix of serious and humorous pieces Erin delivered a flawless set. Crowd favorites, such as Sesame Street, were mixed with newer pieces that, at their heart, held a lesson cloaked in poetic form. Thanks for giving us your all Erin. |
| 03/11 | A grand time was had this week at the Poets' Asylum. In some ways it was like old home week with poets from the Monday Night Mini Reading in the house and on the mic. They came out to hear our fabulous feature, Sou MacMillan, read from her new novel Chrysanthemum. Sou read excerpts from the book that touched on politics, sex, bands, revolution (ok music really) and the joy of surrender. The queue to purchase her book ran deep after she finished. It's always great to hear one of our own read so passionately about something they love. Thanks for sharing this story with us Sou. |
| 03/18 | Busy night at the Asylum this week with a packed house, an open mic with
voices new and original plus an open qualifying slam. Eight
hearty competitors took part in the slam. They each brought their own
voice to the stage. The five judges took it all in and distilled those
words into numbers. Throw up couple of time penalties into the mix and
you have a great slam. Thanks to everyone who participated - Johnny,
Mya, J*me, Liz, Alphonso Rigatoni, Dave Mac, Heather and MC Spiel.
Props to sacrificial poet Trevor and to the stout judges who weathered
the highs and lows of an animated audience.
Normally the top two finishers move on to semi-finals. This month we had a tie in second place and after a bit of consultation it was decided that both competitors would move on to the next round. Congratulations to Alphonso Rigatoni, Dave Mac and J*me - we'll see you in May. |
| 03/25 | Our feature this week was the fantastic Molly Meacham. Molly performed her work with passion whether she was reading out of one of her two chapbooks or performing from memory. With storytelling flair she shared her words and her life with us, the good and not so good. It was a wonderful feature. Thank you Molly! |
| 04/01 | This week the Asylum held the final open qualifying slam of the 2007 Worcester Slam season. Six competitors battled with words for weapons on our little stage. It was a good competition with nary a penalty in sight. Thanks to Kate, Bobby, Halliday, Cyndi, Dennis and Maya for sharing their words. A pat on the back to the judges for their generally thankless work and a round of applause to the audience for sticking with us until the end. Finally congratulations to Maya and Kate on earning the two final places in the Spring Semi-final. |
| 04/08 | The Asylum this week had a slow start however once it got rolling words were flowing beautifully. Jeff Paris was our feature this week. He started his set with a series of "street" poems where the titles were derived from street addresses such as 1 Goldleaf Road or Retreat Ave. He then moved into what might have been slam poems from years back - pieces with a great sound and a tight message. He closed out his set with a handful of prose poems. Some amazing imagery in this grouping such as subway riders "carrying cellos instead of shoulder bags" and "your parents were better lovers than you". Jeff was a fantastic feature with a gentle voice and powerful verse. |
| 04/15 | Marc Smith, the creator of the poetry slam, was the feature at the Asylum this week. |
| 04/22 | The nice weather couldn't keep all the poets away from the Asylum though the crowd was a bit less than normal. Nonetheless the open mic was filled with good stuff and Barbara Adler wowed the audience with her set. Often funny, with a touch of deep meaning at times, her words kept the audience engaged. As she draws near the end of her tour her performance is near flawless. Catch her while you can - she rocks! |
| 04/29 | Adam Rubenstein was the feature this week. Word is he rocked the house with a ton of energy and emotion. |
| 05/06 | The results of the Spring Semi-final Slam are in. Congratulations to MC Spiel, Tony Brown, Kate and Maya - they move on to the team finals on May 20th. Also competing tonight were Cowboy Matt, Mareh, Dave Mac and Dave Keali'i. Give them round of applause next time you see them for their excellent work. Many thanks to the stout judges and enthusiastic audience; we couldn't do this slam thing without you. |
| 05/13 | Now that was fun. Susan B. Anthony Somers-Willett and Genevieve Van Cleve were our features this week as the Lady Business Tour rolled into central Mass. Genevieve brought a deep humor to the stage that had the audience clutching their sides with laughter as she spoke about reclaiming Jesus and sent a thank you to Sylvia Plathe. Susan shared a view of New Orleans and the golden ratio with eloquent language. Together they offered a great. Thank you ladies! |
| 05/20 | Breaking news!!! the 2007 Worcester Slam Team is... Gary Hoare, MC Spiel
(aka Bill MacMillan), Erin Jackson and Trevor Byrne-Smith.
Congratulations to them. Now the hard work begins.
Great work from the other finalists - Kate, Maya, Jon Wolf and Tony Brown. Special thanks to Simone Beaubien for hosting the slam, Alex Charalambides for hosting the open, the five awesome judges and the super-fine audience for making it a great night. Scores and such will get posted at some point in the next day or two. |
| 05/27 | Fantastic week at the Asylum with not one but two voices in our feature. Denver poets Katie Wirsing and Andrea Gibson shared their poetry and stories from their tour in their 35 minute set. The performed a mix of dual voice and individual works with a couple of covers capping both end of the feature. They were energetic and well-prepared, rocking the audience with vigor. Thanks for the words ladies! |
| 06/03 | Adam Stone was our feature this week. He started out with a quick cover by Derrick Brown and then plowed into a great set. If this set had a theme it was love - love lost, love of place, angry love, Muppet love. With a quick turn of phrase and knack for tugging at your heart when you weren't expecting it. Highlights included an excellent Rolf the Dog piece and a fantastic never-heard-before dual voice piece with Emily (whose last name I would butcher if I tried to put it here). Thanks Adam for a fine feature. |
| 06/10 | Things were slow to get started tonight with the weather turning nice for a chance. Once we got rolling though the poetry was smokin'. Our feature this week were the four members of the Worcester Youth Slam team - Eddy Habib, Emily Mele, Jeff Siegrist and Winter. Each has their own unique voice and together they bring an exuberant love for words. One moment poignant, the next belly laugh inducing these four voices rocked the house and left us wanting more. Thanks gang - break a leg in San Jose. |
| 06/17 | The Dead Poets Slam took the stage this week. Seven poets competed in this just-for-fun slam. The authors of the poems used ranged from Shel Silverstein to Tupac, from Oscar Wilde to Woody Woodbridge. There was laughter and applause and a whole bunch of fun. Congratulations to Tony Brown for his first place finish. Thanks to all the competitors for taking part. |
| 06/24 | Excellent evening at the Asylum this week with a lively audience and
poetry galore. On tap this week was a book reading by some of the
poets whose work appears in Look! Up In the Sky! - an anthology of comic book
poetry. Worcester poets were well represented in the collection and
almost a dozen of them came out for this event. It was great to hear
the diverse voices and view points centered around a common theme. All
the money raised in the bucket pass this week will be donated to the
Fenway Community Health Center in memory of Lisa King.
We also held our first ever Art Supporting Art event to raise money to support the 2007 Worcester Slam team. Over $750 was raised during the event!!! Many thanks to the talented artists who donated their creations. Special thanks to Cyndi Keeley for organizing the event. Our next fund raiser will be the annual auction on July 15th. We are grateful for your support. |
| 07/01 | After a strong open mic, tonights feature Jacob Rakovan presented his smart and witty work from his first chapbook. He gave a fantastic reading, including a clever take on Little Red Riding Hood. He had several strong poems about growing up in Ohio and ended with a poem in the voice of the Frankenstein monster. An unforgettable feature! |
| 07/08 | Fantastic feature this week from our very own Alex Charalambides. A fine mix of crowd favorites, less frequently shared works and a handful of covers kept the audience engaged and wanting more. Nice job Alex, keep up the hard work. |
| 07/15 | The results are in and the Asylum Auction raised a bit
more the $1800 over the course of 3 hours. Thanks to everyone who came
to the reading tonight. We couldn't have done it without you whether
you contributed items for the auction, bought one or a dozen things,
threw some money in the bucket, shared your words or simply sat back
and enjoyed the spectacle. Thank you for your continued support.
Join us next week for our feature Maze Forever. |
| 07/22 | The open mic was happening last night with some new voices reading for the first time, a couple of missing for too long poets returning to visit and Ms. Hailey Jones bidding us farewell before she heads off to the midwest for school. Our feature, Maze Forever, ran into mad traffic and had to cancel. He's appearing at the Cantab on Wednesday and in Providence on Thursday if you want to catch him. |
| 07/29 | Many thanks to the 2007 Cantab Slam Team for coming out to Worcester and sharing their art, energy and powerful words. Simone Beaubien, Shira Erlichman, Brian S. Ellis, and Jme clicked with the audience immediately. Their poetry and performance show them to be amazing artists who won cheers, applause and chapbook sales from the Asylum audience. Good luck to all of you in Austin. |
| 08/05 | Thank you to the members of the 2007 Worcester Slam team for their passion and great words at the send-off feature Sunday night. Trevor Byrne-Smith, Gary Hoare, Erin Jackson, MC Spiel and Jon Wolf took the stage to show us how their performance and partnership has come together since they became a team back in June. They performed their work with strength and confidence. Go Get'um Worcester! |
| 08/12 | Thanks to everyone who came out for the Summer '07 issue of Ballard Street Poetry Journal. Two of the contributors to the issue were on hand to read their work following the open mic. After the contributors read Bob Gill took the stage for a 20 or so minute set. Since he's the guy typing this it feels weird to say much more than that. |
| 08/19 | Thanks to everyone who came out for the annual Anti-Slam this week. Cyndi Keeley took the role of host and a panel of judges scored the poets in the tried and true rock-paper-scissors method. Much silliness ensued. A perfect end to another slam season. Rest up well slammers - the next slam season starts on September 16th. |
| 08/26 | Once again new voices took to the stage along with some of our regulars to kick off the night with a diverse open mic. Please do come again. After the open our feature, Karen Ladson, took the stage. She offered us "behind-the-poem" view of her work, giving us some of the back story for the poems. And what great poems they were with a quiet, simple delivery of powerful themes. This sampling of her work seemed to dwell on relationships: crushes, break-ups, weddings, family and more. Thank you for your strong words Karen. |
| 09/02 | We had a decent size crowd for a holiday Asylum and those who gathered were treated to the poetic arts of Dawn Saylor. Dawn shared some older non-slammy work and then moved into newer pieces. With her trusty monkey by her side she taught us about the nature of relationships. A firecracker of a performer even her quieter pieces drew knowing nods and appreciative comments for the audience. It was great set. Thanks for coming our way Dawn. |
| 09/09 | Great night at the Asylum with packed house, an extra special open mic
and the poetic stylings of Dawn Gabriel. Dawn was a firecracker
tonight with one excellent poem after another. With a set that mixed
well established and newer work she captured the audience and drew them
in with her words. Thanks for sharing your poetry Dawn.
And the extra specialness of the open mic???? There was a little marriage proposal at the close of the open - congrats to Logan & Kate! |
| 09/16 | This week the Asylum held the first qualifying slam of the 2008 season. Thanks to all the competitors for their great words. Congratulations to Ryk McIntyre and Bobby Gibbs for taking first and second place respectively. |
| 09/23 | Lots of new faces in the audience this week which is always nice to see. A couple of new voices took the stage - that's awesome as well. Our feature this week was Ansel Appleton. He offered a single piece, a story of success, relationships, let down, change and the need to move on. Thank you Ansel for sharing your words with us. |
| 09/30 | If you missed the Asylum this week you missed the amazingly funny Kyria Abrahams. She read excerpts from her upcoming book "I'm Perfect, You're Doomed", a comedic memoir involving Jehovah's Witnesses, slam poetry, OCD and the fiery destruction of the wicked at Armageddon. With a fine wit she offered the audience a glimpse of her childhood, from the joys of public speaking at 8 to laughtastic tale of carnal bean bagging. Yes friends this was a great feature. Thanks Kyria for the words and laughter. |
| 10/07 | A packed house met the open mic this week with standing room only the norm for much of the night. It is always good to see so many new faces looking for good words. This week our feature was Corrina Bain. She brought her hard edged work to the Asylum stage. Her well crafted words were delivered with an intensity of thought born on action. It was a good feature. Thank you for bringing your words home to Worcester Corrina. |
| 10/14 | Fun night at the Asylum this week with a dynamic open mic and a couple of new voices joining the mix. Welcome and come again. Following the open we held a qualifying slam for the 2008 season. Thanks to all the competitors for their great words. Congratulations to Trevor Byrne-Smith and Cyndi Keeley for taking first and second place respectively. |
| 10/21 | This week the Asylum welcomed J*me back to our stage. He was full of vigor, with energetic performances and banter. His set was a mix of persona pieces, political work and his "favorite poem ever". A cover of a Marty McConnell was thrown in for the sake of beauty. The audience stayed with the sometimes heavy material 'til the end with loud applause the reward to this poets hard labor. Thanks for joining us J*me. |
| 10/28 | Fantastic night of poetry at the Asylum this past week. Good crowd for much of the night and a great feature from Laura Moran. With a mix of new work and older pieces she gave a great performance whether off-page or working from notes. She balanced her heavier work with light moments. Thanks for the fabulous words Laura. Don't be a stranger. |
| 11/04 | After a jam-packed open mic (that included a herd of poets from Hampshire College & surprise visits from New Jersey) our feature Rob Ceriani from Denver stormed the stage. Rob rocked the room with a high energy & well-crafted set that left the place buzzing. Thanks again to Rob for a wonderful feature. |
| 11/11 | We held an open qualifying slam this past Sunday at the Asylum. Congratulations to Adam Stone and Sam Tietel on capturing spots in the Winter Semi-final in December. There is one more qualifying slam before then. |
| 11/18 | Seren Divine returned to the Asylum stage this week with a pair of musicians and great poetry. With a mix of solo poetry, poetry backed with music and vocal offerings from Jen and Danielle, this was a great set. Seren's work has moved away from the slam stylings of her time in Worcester into a place of more compact work with the same impact. It's always a pleasure to have you on the stage Seren. Don't be a stranger. |
| 11/25 | Congratulations to Tony Brown on winning the Other People's Poetry Slam this week at the Asylum. Tony read poems by competitors Gary Hoare and Andrew Watt to capture the win. In addition to Tony, Gary, and Andrew we were honored to have Heather Macpherson and Dave Keali'i compete. Thanks to all who took part in this holiday edition of the Poets' Asylum. |
| 12/02 | This week at the Asylum we had a packed house and open mic. Our feature
was Taylor Mali. Taylor did a wonderful set consisting of poems
from his new CD (Icarus Airlines), experimental work and a few old
favorites. He made the gathered think hard and laugh even harder.
Thanks for the great feature Taylor.
Thanks to Dave K for review of the reading. |
| 12/09 | There was a full house at the Asylum Sunday night despite the lousy weather. Those who came out heard some amazing poetry both in the open and from our feature Cristin O'Keefe-Aptowicz. Cristin read a mix of work from her four books of poetry and touched on relationships, learning the power of metaphors and sibling rivalry. Her high energy style and well crafted work had the audience held rapt with interest. It was a great night. Thanks for Cristin for coming out. |
| 12/16 | Congratulations to Dave Keali'i and Nick Davis in winning our latest open qualifying slam this week. They move on to the Winter semi-finals which take place next week. Please join us. |
| 12/23 | What a night!!! The Java Hut was packed to overflowing with friends
old and new. The poets were ready, the stage was set, the coffee was
served to the very last drop. It was a great last night at the Hut. I
do believe we sent her on her way in style.
After a handful of poets to open up the room we held the Winter Semi-final Slam. After two rounds the scores were tallied. Congratulations to Adam Stone, Bobby Gibbs, Trevor Byrne-Smith and Ryk McIntyre for taking the top 4 spots tonight. They move on to the team finals in May 2008. Thanks to Dave Keali'i, Cyndi Kealey, Sam Teitel & Nick Davis for their fine poetry. Thanks too to the judges and audience for making this a night to remember. Scores have been posted on the Slam page. Hope to see you at The Q. |
| 12/30 | The Asylum packed our new venue this week in our inaugural reading at The Q Cafe. Thanks to everyone who came out for what we hope will be a long stay at this great little coffee house. Thanks too to Emilee and the staff for making us feel right at home. Our first feature @ the new venue (and the last feature of 2007) was Chris Fortin. Chris brought a mix of new and old work, plus a couple of excellent covers, for his set. It was an excellent was to break in our new space. Good to have you back, if only for one night Chris. |
Looking for info on our past events? We have lists of info going back to 2001.
| 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 |
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