Cantab Recap for Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Just so you know, Cantabbers: sometimes, when we say a reading was “intimate,” we don’t mean that nobody was in the room. We mean that the feature held us in the palm of his hand as though we were the only bar in the world, and his the only poems that mattered. Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib did just that for us last night, bringing us relief and renewed energy to take on the events of the week with broadened perspective and better language. What a beautiful and necessary night.

Our last speed slam of the series was a wild ride, finalizing in Mill City death match between Bobby Crawford and Zeke Russell. In this case, the student surpassed the master: Bobby escaped the one-minute round with ten dollars and the last spot in the May 20 Champion of Champions Slam.

Next week, our co-founder, now a resident of Onset, Maine, returns to the scene of the crime: please come welcome back SlamMaster Emeritus Michael Brown. Our speed slam will be the very last of the season, and the Last Chance Slam to qualify for the World Qualifier Speed Slam on May 13.