The Poets' Asylum closes out 2009 with a feature by our slammaster, Bill MacMillan. MacMillan is the founder of the Worcester Poetry Slam and co-founder of the Worcester Poets' Asylum. Bill was a member of the Providence Slam Team that won the national championship in '96 & was later featured in the film SlamNation. He was the co-host of the 2005 iWPS in Worcester & has been on numerous Worcester slam teams. When not writing, Bill is an accomplished visual artist and armor conservator. He can drink more coffee than the average person, but still hates talking about himself in the third person.

Come on down to Jumpin' Juice and Java (335 Chandler Street, Worcester). The sign-up list goes out by 6:00 p.m. and the reading starts by 6:30 p.m. No cover; please put some money in the bucket to support reading. It's the last reading of 2009 and it should be a good one.

The weekly Poets' Asylum reading for December 20th has been canceled. The feature backed out early today and after consultation among some of the organizers we decided that there would probably only be a light crowd coming out. So we agreed to cancel tonight's reading.

Have a safe and sane holiday, whatever that means to you. And join us next week for a feature by Asylum co-found Bill MacMillan.

This Sunday, December 20th, the Poets' Asylum welcomes Dane Kuttler as our feature. Kuttler grew up in northern New Jersey, where she learned about the wonders of independent coffee shops, and the importance of knowing one's origins. In college, Dane became a regular at the Hampshire Slam Collective, and participated in the first-ever Women of the World Poetry Slam in Detroit, MI. Her poetry is often lyrical and narrative, exploring themes of Jewish and queer identities, with a lot of love poems to her grandparents.

Join us at Jumpin' Juice and Java (335 Chandler Street, Worcester). The sign-up list goes out by 6:00 p.m. and the reading starts by 6:30 p.m. No cover however please put some money in the bucket; it's how we pay the feature.

This Sunday, December 13th, we're trying something new at the Poets' Asylum with the TED conference inspired 8-Minute Speech Slam. This will be a one round slam with a invitational slate of 7 competitors plus one wild card slot for someone present that night who is prepared to take part. Each person will perform the "speech of their life" about some topic they find deeply important, personal or just plain enriching. Performances will be judges by audience members and the winner of the night will head home with some bragging rights (and a prize of some sort if we can figure out something appropriate).

Come on down to Jumpin' Juice and Java (335 Chandler Street, Worcester). The sign-up list goes out by 6:00 p.m. and the reading starts by 6:30 p.m. No cover; please put some money in the bucket to support reading.

On December 5th and 6th we uploaded nine new photo sets to the Photo Gallery at poetsasylum.org.  The photo sets cover our features from the past four months. Check out the photos of Jeff Stumpo, Lara Bozabalian, David Perez, Scott Woods, Corrina Bain, Mark Palos and Ryan McLellan, Rob Sturma, Rachel McKibbens and Tui Scanlan.

All these photos, and many more, can be found by visiting poetsasylum.org and clicking the Photo Gallery button on the left.

This week the Poets' Asylum will hold our regular open mic followed by a Head-to-Head Haiku Death Match. Competitors should bring at least 30 haiku to participate. A descendant and sub-genre of poetry slam, a Haiku Death Match is a competitive head-to-head poetry duel. The Haiku Death Match has been a prominent "sideshow" feature at the annual National Poetry Slam since in the mid 1990s.

Haiku is a traditional form of Japanese poetry consisting of 17 syllables in three metrical phrases of five syllables, seven syllables, five syllables. Haiku in English usually appear in three lines, to parallel the three metrical phrases of Japanese haiku. Slam haiku used in a Haiku Death Match is far simpler - just 17 syllables.

Come on down to Jumpin' Juice and Java (335 Chandler Street, Worcester). The reading starts around 6:00 p.m. No cover; please put some money in the bucket to support reading.

This Sunday, November 29th, the Poets' Asylum will hold a just-for-fun Open Slam. This will be a two round slam with all the usual rules in play. There will be a small cash prize for the winner. Simply put, poetry slam is the competitive art of performance poetry. It puts a dual emphasis on writing and performance, encouraging poets to focus on what they're saying and how they're saying it. Slam poetry can be moving, funny and deadly serious, sometimes all in the same poem.

If that sounds like a good time then join us for some great words. Come on down to Jumpin' Juice and Java (335 Chandler Street, Worcester). The sign-up list goes up by 6:00 p.m. with the reading starting by 6:30. No cover; please put some money in the bucket when it comes your way. It helps to support reading and cover our expenses.

This Sunday, November 22nd, the Poets' Asylum welcomes poet Tui Scanlan as our feature. Scanlan, also known as Tui-Z, burst onto the Hawai'i poetry scene last year when he qualified to compete in the nationals in his first year of competition. He has since worked as a mentor for Youth Speaks, released a poetry CD titled Patient Zero and competed as a member of the 2009 Hawai'i Slam team.

Come on down to Jumpin' Juice and Java (335 Chandler Street, Worcester). The sign-up list goes out around 6:00 p.m. and the reading starts closer to 6:30 p.m. The feature follows the poetry open mic. Please put some money in the bucket to when it comes your way, it's how we pay the feature.

Our feature this Sunday, November 15th at the Poets' Asylum is Rachel McKibbens. Known for her astonishingly visceral stage presence and devotion to craft, McKibbens has become one of the most respected poets in the spoken word community. She is the 2009 Women of the World poetry slam champion, is an eight-time National Poetry Slam team member, a three-time NPS finalist, and a 2007 New York Foundation for the Arts poetry fellow and Pushcart nominee. McKibbens teaches poetry and creative writing throughout the country. She'll rock your socks off and leave you wanting more.

Please join us at Jumpin' Juice and Java (335 Chandler Street, Worcester) for our regular poetry open mic. The reading starts around 6:00 p.m. No cover; please put some money in the bucket to support the feature.