National Poetry Month has just ended at the Boston Poetry Slam, folks, and we went out on a high note. First, Marty McConnell led a workshop to kick off a big night, and the venue responded in kind with a super-solid and interesting open mic. Marty replied with a feature (kicking off with a brand-new-to-everyone poem, by the way) that had folks tripping over themselves to get a copy of her newest book, wine for a shotgun. Awesome!
But wait, there was more: six folks showed up for the Champion of Champions slam, all with a new poem in their back pockets designed to challenge the reigning champ, Zanne Langlois. To honor the close of our spring speed slam series, we started the slam with a one-minute round that saw the end of the night for previous winners Nathan Comstock and Dave McKenna. Zeke Russell and Keiran Collier were respectively eliminated in the two-minute round, leaving the final battle between CUPSI wunderkind Bobby Crawford and Cantab old-schooler Tom Slavin! Tom took the round, the win, and the challenge to compete against Zanne in the one-off new poem round… And swept the night in a major victory. Congrats to Tom on his new title, and a round of applause for Zanne who held it for almost a full year.
Next week: you like slam? We hope you like slam. We’ve got slam in our name, so we’ve just gotta: on Wednesday, May 1, join us as we begin to narrow the field to determine who will represent us at the Individual World Poetry Slam this October. It’s the massive 20-poet World Qualifier Speed Slam, with all 2- and 1-minute poems, top poets invited to return at the end of the month, and a $5 cover to help raise money to send the eventual winner to the big competition. Sweet!
Boston Poetry Slam Online