A Grand Stand

When Chris Rock said “grand opening, grand closing,” he could have been talking about Phoenix, a place where plenty of business and artistic endeavors wilt within a year. In fact, we heard a rumor that this Thursday’s Black Pearl Poetry Slam might be the last. We went straight to BPP head honcho, Ed Mabrey, to get the facts.

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Not only did the multiple national slam champ refute the rumor, he confirmed that Black Pearl Poetry is planting more poetry seeds as it approaches its first anniversary in the Valley this fall. “We just sent a team to the Brave New Voices National Youth Poetry Slam in Los Angeles,” says Mabrey. “It’s the first time Phoenix has sent a team.”

In addition to the team’s return and the usual verbal pyrotechnics, the night will also showcase the first spoken-word glimpse of Mabrey’s latest published tome, Waiting for the Mail Train.