Cantab recap for Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Poets! Listeners! Wednesday night bar patrons! Thanks so much for bringing this year’s National Poetry Month to a close with us this week at the Cantab. Our feature this Wednesday was Jonathan Mendoza, 2015 National Poetry Slam champion and Pizza Pi Press author. Jonathan brought us a solid selection of brand-new ideas and work just-published in his latest book, and we were honored to witness its first night in the world: When the Crows Come is available straight from the press for $15, or see Jonathan in person for the no-shipping price, maybe even including his wonderful story about the cover.

The slam to close the night was the very last of the year’s speed slam series, and the Last Chance Slam to get on the roster for next week’s World Qualifier. A mighty roster of two poets took the stage in a head-to-head 3-2-1 battle: at the end of the show, Alyssa got a well-deserved round of applause, but Spencer Burchill took home the $10 and the qualifying spot.

But what’s next week’s World Qualifier, you ask? Oh, no big deal: just the weirdest, wildest, fastest slam royale you’ll ever see. Over two dozen poets are qualified for two rounds of poetry next week, but the catch is that they only get spots for a 2-minute and a 1-minute poem. Everyone invited is a previous slam winner, so it’s a great chance to catch your favorite slam winners breaking out of the three-minute box to perform something new to you! The top eight poets advance to the May 24 Final, and heads up: this big ol’ show will be a special $5 cover night, which will help us raise the funds to send our World Qualifier winner to the 2017 Individual World Poetry Slam in Spokane, Washington.