Massachusetts Statewide Poetry Calendar

Freeverse!
@Mill City Speaks
Wicked Loud Team Qualifier Slam
$100 in prizes

Poets 13 to 19 are eligible to compete
Please contact Untitled Open Mic on Facebook

Hosted by and with a spotlight feature from
ANTHONY FEBO

Friday, January 24
7:30 to 10 pm

@ Coffee & Cotton in Mill No. 5
250 Jackson Street
Lowell, MA

4th Friday of Every Month
Poetry Slam
Open Mic

 Come on down to the cafe for a night celebrating local LGBTQ+ talent. Whether you're an amateur or a seasoned professional we want to hear your songs, stories, and poems, see your dance routines, and laugh til our sides hurt at your stand up bits. Emcee Resi Ibañez is a Filipinx genderqueer poet, writer, and community storyteller, who believes in storytelling as a way of building community. They have been published in bklyn boihood’s Outside the XY: Queer Black and Brown Masculinity, LOAM magazine, and will soon be published in Blue Oak Press’s upcoming anthology They Rise Like a Wave: an Anthology of Asian American Woman Poets, as well as Loom Press’s Atlantic Currents: Connecting Cork and Lowell. More info at https://www.facebook.com/events/1770488649764214/ .

Come on down to the cafe for a night celebrating local LGBTQ+ talent. Whether you're an amateur or a seasoned professional we want to hear your songs, stories, and poems, see your dance routines, and laugh til our sides hurt at your stand up bits. Emcee Resi Ibañez is a Filipinx genderqueer poet, writer, and community storyteller, who believes in storytelling as a way of building community. They have been published in bklyn boihood’s Outside the XY: Queer Black and Brown Masculinity, LOAM magazine, and will soon be published in Blue Oak Press’s upcoming anthology They Rise Like a Wave: an Anthology of Asian American Woman Poets, as well as Loom Press’s Atlantic Currents: Connecting Cork and Lowell. More info at https://www.facebook.com/events/1770488649764214/ .

Come on down to the cafe for a night celebrating local LGBTQ+ talent. Whether you're an amateur or a seasoned professional we want to hear your songs, stories, and poems, see your dance routines, and laugh til our sides hurt at your stand up bits. Emcee Resi Ibañez is a Filipinx genderqueer poet, writer, and community storyteller, who believes in storytelling as a way of building community. They have been published in bklyn boihood’s Outside the XY: Queer Black and Brown Masculinity, LOAM magazine, and will soon be published in Blue Oak Press’s upcoming anthology They Rise Like a Wave: an Anthology of Asian American Woman Poets, as well as Loom Press’s Atlantic Currents: Connecting Cork and Lowell. More info at https://www.facebook.com/events/1770488649764214/ .

Come on down to the cafe for a night celebrating local LGBTQ+ talent. Whether you're an amateur or a seasoned professional we want to hear your songs, stories, and poems, see your dance routines, and laugh til our sides hurt at your stand up bits. Emcee Resi Ibañez is a Filipinx genderqueer poet, writer, and community storyteller, who believes in storytelling as a way of building community. They have been published in bklyn boihood’s Outside the XY: Queer Black and Brown Masculinity, LOAM magazine, and will soon be published in Blue Oak Press’s upcoming anthology They Rise Like a Wave: an Anthology of Asian American Woman Poets, as well as Loom Press’s Atlantic Currents: Connecting Cork and Lowell. More info at https://www.facebook.com/events/1770488649764214/ .

Come on down to the cafe for a night celebrating local LGBTQ+ talent. Whether you're an amateur or a seasoned professional we want to hear your songs, stories, and poems, see your dance routines, and laugh til our sides hurt at your stand up bits. Emcee Resi Ibañez is a Filipinx genderqueer poet, writer, and community storyteller, who believes in storytelling as a way of building community. They have been published in bklyn boihood’s Outside the XY: Queer Black and Brown Masculinity, LOAM magazine, and will soon be published in Blue Oak Press’s upcoming anthology They Rise Like a Wave: an Anthology of Asian American Woman Poets, as well as Loom Press’s Atlantic Currents: Connecting Cork and Lowell. More info at https://www.facebook.com/events/1770488649764214/ .

The slam season is blooming in full flower with another qualifier for our 2024 (yes, it’s coming!) Mill City Slam Team. Poets compete with original works for a chance to win not only a space in our Mill City Slam Finals but also the $70 Grand Prize!

The Untitled Open Mic is hosted at Coffee and Cotton at Mill No. 5. Located in a historic downtown textile building, Mill No. 5 is a destination into what Lowell is; home to independent shops, The Luna Theatre, the Farm Market, and Coffee and Cotton. Coffee and Cotton is the heart of the building, serving up coffee, espresso, and lattes, wine, local craft beer, delicious, made to order, locally sourced options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It is also a venue for live music, game nights, community events, and now our Untitled Open Mic.

/// About the Slam ///
This is the second qualifying slam for the Mill City Speaks 2024 Poetry Slam Team. Poets will go three rounds, leaving only the best of the best for the final MONEY round. Winner gets $70, and runner-up gets $30 (Real Cash! American Dollars!).

The Poets should sign up in advance because there is no guarantee (but maybe a chance) to have a space open on the night of the event. Contact lowellpoetry@gmail.com if you’re interested in competing.
However, judges will be chosen on the night itself! No particular qualification except wanting to participate in the fun. Anyone willing to put numbers to poetry is eligible. For more info, as we said, contact lowellpoetry@gmail.com.

/// Format ///
Sign-Ups Open @ 6pm
Open Mic Starts @ 6:30 pm
Poetry Slam begins after the open reading.
All Done @ 9:00pm
/// Details ///
Free Admission
Food, Drink, and Merch for Sale
@ Coffee & Cotton
250 Jackson St. No. 401
Lowell, Mass. 01852
https://millno5.com/directions/

Also streaming online
ZOOM Info
Mill City Speaks is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Untitled Mill City Speaks Qualifier Time: Nov 1, 2023 06:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86401480425
Meeting ID: 864 0148 0425 Passcode available on request;
email to lowellpoetry@gmail.com.

/// Safer Space & Community Guidelines ///
We strive to foster a space of inclusivity and respect. We ask everyone to not bring (in no particular order) ableist, ageist, body shaming, classist, homophobic, misogynist, misandrist, racist, transphobic, oppressive language, attitudes, and actions at the space. We look to hold ourselves and one another accountable to creating a culture in which we treat each other with consent and respect. This includes but is not limited to respecting people's physical and emotional boundaries and receiving explicit verbal consent before touching someone or crossing other personal boundaries. If you are disrupting our safer space we will ask you to leave.
/// Zoom Guidelines /// (Online)

1. Some best practices suggest being somewhere with minimal background noise and good lighting, use headphones if possible, and close any applications not being used on your device to improve Zoom quality.

2.) It is best to have your display on “Speaker View” to see the host and performer. “Gallery View” will allow you to see all guests at once.
3.) Feel free to add a name and pronoun into your display so we can say hello and know who is joining us. Keep in mind that this event is streaming publicly so take any precautions about sharing your identity.
4.) Guests could also have “Video” on or off, as that is optional.5.) During performances/readings the host will “Mute” all other guests.
6.) Guests are encouraged to show love and gratitude visually on screen or in the chat window.
7.) Please be respectful on screen and in the chat window - and acknowledge the space you can take up in this digital communal platform.
8.) Host will allow guests to un-mute after performances if they choose and able to out loud affirmations or gratitudes.
9.) Any conflicts to the safer space / community guidelines the host may remove you from the Zoom call. If you feel like you have been accidentally or wrongfully removed, please reach out to the organizers.
Please reach out to here with questions regarding the open mic or slam.
“This program is supported in part by a grant from the Lowell Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.”

• Posted in Untitled Open Mic, Mill City Speaks

Middlesex Community College Night!
We celebrate the poetry community of Middlesex with two featured poets:
Professors Jonathan Bennett & Willy Ramirez

/// Format ///
Sign-Ups Open @ 6pm
Open Mic Starts @ 6:30 pm
Poetry Feature begins after the open reading.
All Done @ 9:00pm
/// Details ///
Free Admission
Food, Drink, and Merch for Sale
@ Coffee & Cotton
250 Jackson St. No. 401
Lowell, Mass. 01852
https://millno5.com/directions/

Also streaming online:
Mill City Speaks is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Untitled featuring Jonathan Bennett & Willy Ramirez from MCC Time: Nov 15, 2023 06:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87497042108
Meeting ID: 874 9704 2108 Passcode available on request;
email lowellpoetry@gmail.com

/// About the Slam ///
This is the third qualifying slam for the Mill City Speaks 2024 Poetry Slam Team. Poets will go three rounds, leaving only the best of the best for the final MONEY round. Winner gets $70, and runner-up gets $30 (Real Cash! American Dollars!). Both will qualify for our Slam Team Finals, coming up in March of 2024.
The Poets should sign up in advance because there is no guarantee (but maybe a chance) to have a space open on the night of the event. Contact lowellpoetry@gmail.com if you’re interested in competing.
However, judges will be chosen on the night itself! No particular qualification except wanting to participate in the fun. Anyone willing to put numbers to poetry is eligible. For more info, as we said, contact lowellpoetry@gmail.com.
/// Format ///
Sign-Ups Open @ 6pm
Open Mic Starts @ 6:30 pm
Poetry Slam begins after the open reading.
All Done @ 9:00pm
/// Details ///
Free Admission
Food, Drink, and Merch for Sale
@ Coffee & Cotton
250 Jackson St. No. 401
Lowell, Mass. 01852
https://millno5.com/directions/
Also streaming online
ZOOM Info
Mill City Speaks is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Untitled Mill City Speaks Qualifier Time: Nov 1, 2023 06:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86401480425
Meeting ID: 864 0148 0425 Passcode available on request;
email to lowellpoetry@gmail.com.