I grew up in the suburb of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, which is exactly as idyllic as it sounds. My childhood was uneventful, so I've learned to keep busy: since 1999, I've competed nationally at pinball, ultimate Frisbee, and slam poetry. It's fun trying to explain any of those things as 'competitive' to anyone, but so be it; for a long time, those activities, plus rock climbing, marked the four poles of my life. Poetry's the big one right now, but if you're here, you probably already know that. I stumbled into the Cantab Lounge in Cambridge in 1999, due entirely to the advice of Jack McCarthy. In 2001, I scored top honors in the team slam and found myself at the National Poetry Slam in Seattle, Washington. Flash-forward to 2003 when Michael Brown announced he would step down as SlamMaster of the Boston Poetry Slam and now you remember it kinda like I do: a David-Byrne how-did-I-get-here kind of ride.
So, I represented the Boston Poetry Slam at the Cantab Lounge at the National Poetry slam as part of the team in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. I've coached said team since 2004; in 2007, the venue team made semi-finals for the first time since 2000, placing top 20 in the country. That was pretty much my most exciting poetry event ever until the 2008 NPS, when my team posted a fourth-place finish overall and ticked the first Boston Finals stage appearance since 1995. I got to perform in Overture Hall in front of 1,000+ people, which is exactly as much fun as it sounds.
I rule the Boston Poetry Slam with an iron fist (read: my brain cycles in 3-minute increments) and, to retain the mighty title of SlamMaster, all I have to do book our features, host the heck outta the open mic and slam, release a flurry of press every Thursday, carry the microphone and music stand wherever I go, and keep track of everything we do and how we do it. Occasionally, I get to throw hecklers out of the bar, as long as they are small and susceptible to my wily charms.
What else? I get to produce all the Boston Poetry Slam shows I can find time for: like the World Qualifier at the Middle East in 2006, Marc Smith at the Cambridge Y in 2007, and the two-night NorthBEAST Regional Poetry Slam in Central Square in 2008. I've run the First Night Poetry Slams for the city of Boston since 2004 and produced the annual Attleboro Arts Museum Poetry Slams since 2006. And this one time, in Vancouver, I MC'ed the 2007 Individual World Poetry Slam Finals, and none of the 1,200 or so people in attendance threw even a beer bottle at me. I am a lucky lady.
I've been a featured reader on both coasts and all over New England. I read my poetry in bars, coffeehouses, comedy clubs, theaters, college auditoriums, high school cafeterias, living rooms, back porches, public parks, and hotel suites. Sometimes I do it for money. Sometimes I do it for competition. Sometimes I do it for a good cause, or just because. I always do it for fun.