Poetry Slam at the Cantab Lounge: 2009 Team Bios

The 2009 team was selected over a two-night, six-round slam of the top nineteen slammers in the Cantab Lounge. This year we welcome three rookies to the team, including two Emerson College CUPSI finalists and the SlamMaster of the Hampshire College Slam Collective, as well as the return of two previous NPS finalists. This August, they will travel to West Palm Beach, Florida, for the 2009 National Poetry Slam.

Presenting the 2009 Boston-Cantab Slam Team:

Maxwell R. Kessler is a native Idahoan, proud of his Rocky Mountain roots. He started writing poetry when he sang for the heavy metal band Bedlam his sophomore year of high school. He first slammed (and lost) at the Cantab Lounge four years ago. Since then, he has been a member of two Emerson College Slam Teams, including The Gringo Choir and the CUPSI 2009 Finalists, the /B/ Team. He helped found and run the Emerson Poetry Project, a weekly poetry reading at Emerson College. He considers himself quite lucky and extremely blessed to be on the Cantab team.

Omoizele Okoawo ("Oz") has been a force in poetry slam for nearly a decade, both as remarkable performer and talented coach. A perennial team semi-finalist at the National Poetry Slam, he placed in the top ten individually ranked poets in the 2007 competition. This marks his third year on the Cantab team.

Sean Patrick Conlon is a dedicated student of the page and a firm believer in the power of spoken word. As SlamMaster of the Hampshire College Slam Collective, Sean founded the first Nationally Certified spoken word venue based on a college campus, and has coached teams in two national competitions. Cantab Rookie of the Year for 2005, this is Sean's first year on the Cantab team.

Carlos Williams (a.k.a. Los! a.k.a. Lo-Down a.k.a. Billiams a.k.a. Thrilliams a.k.a. The Kid), was a member of the 2008 and 2009 Emerson College Slam Team and winner of “Best Male Poet” at the 2009 College Nationals. This is his rookie year on the Cantab Slam team since he stepped through the doors and became an irregular regular four years ago.

Brian S. Ellis has been performing poetry in the New England area for four years and has been traveling nationally for two. He's been a member of the Cantab Lounge Slam team since two thousand and six and has represented the venue at the the Individual World Poetry Slam. His first full book of poems was published in two thousand eight with Write Bloody Books. He has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize twice.

Simone Beaubien, SlamMaster of the Boston Poetry Slam at the Cantab Lounge since 2004, serves as performance and strategy coach for the 2009 Cantab Slam Team. Veteran of six Cantab teams since 2001, including the 2008 National Poetry Slam Finalists, she's also worked with members of the 2008 and 2009 Emerson College slam teams (semi-finalists and finalists at CUPSI, respectively), and members of 2009's debut Brandeis University Slam Team (also semi-finalists at CUPSI). This year, she'll take on the challenge of coaching the Cantab's first five-man slam team, all of them already veterans of the Finals Stage.

You can see the team onstage every Wednesday at the Cantab Lounge, or check their schedule of appearances. To book the team to perform at your venue or event, email cantab@slamnews.com.

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