NIGHT EVENTS

This is your chance to let loose after the bouts. All late night events are at the Electric Lounge, and will begin shortly after the conclusion of the third bout on Wednesday and Thursday, and the second bout on Friday. Scores will posted at the Lounge, as soon as tabulated, during the late-night events.

TUESDAY NIGHT
For those of you planning to arrive on Tuesday Evening, there's plenty going on.

Open Mike At Ruta Maya
This is a Tuesday evening tradition, held as a warm-up to our Tuesday night slams at the Electric Lounge. If you'd like to read at the open mike, arrive before the 6 p.m. start time and sign up with hosts Mark Maslow and Sara Wynn. Ruta Maya is a coffeehouse on the northeast corner of 4th and Lavaca, about a block from the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, which is where the other festivities will be taking place later in the evening. This will be the site of South By Southwest Spoken Word in 1999. It's easiest to take 5th (going east) or 6th (going west) if you're stopping in directly from the airport or most of the hotels. From the Austin Motel, just go north on Congress and take a left on 4th, after you go over the bridge. Note: Ruta Maya will be used as a bout venue on Wednesday and Thursday nights.

The Bats
This might be your best opportunity to see the bats. Every night at sunset during the summer, hundreds of Mexican freetail bats spill out from underneath the Congress Avenue bridge to get their day started. You can either view them from the bridge itself, or under the bridge in a designated park area on the east side of the bridge. To access the park area, it's best to park just south of the bridge and walk over. The smell is pretty ferocious, but it's quite a show. And on Tuesday, you don't have to worry about hightailing it to your venue.

The Alamo Drafthouse Extravaganza
The Alamo is one of the coolest movie houses in Austin, located at 409 Colorado. Starting at 8 p.m., we'll be showing a number of slam-related movies, including SlamNation (which screened at the Alamo during South By Southwest), Slam (featuring Saul Williams from the '96 New York team and Beau Sia from the '96 New York team and '97 Mouth Almighty team), Wammo's video for "There Is Too Much Light In This Bar," and the '98 Nationals PSA, which promises to be 30 of the greatest seconds of your life. Marc Smith will also be there to give a reading and a pre-Nationals invocation. Admission will be $2. Note: the Alamo will be used as a venue on Wednesday and Thursday nights.

The Electric Lounge
The home of the Austin Poetry Slam, the 1998 National Poetry Slam Opening Ceremonies, and the NPS late-night events (including the Individual Semi-Finals on Friday). Regardless of whether you're getting into town late Tuesday or coming from the Alamo, this is the best possible place for you to get a nightcap and a hug from a fellow poet. For those of you who saw it during South By Southwest, you'll marvel at the recent remodeling job. For those of you who have never seen it, you'll just plain marvel. There will be bouts here Wednesday through Friday.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT

MUTANT DISCO KARAOKE POETRY EXTRAVAGANZA
Sing or read to the karaoke machine or the live band.

THURSDAY NIGHT

CHEF'S SURPRISE
Show up after the bouts for a Texas-sized herd of surprises. Could be a Bad Poetry Slam, freestyle rapping and beat-boxing, Tag Team Challenges ..... only one way to find out.

FRIDAY NIGHT

INDIVIDUAL SEMI-FINALS
The top ten poets in the individual all-arounds get on the high beam for two rounds of mayhem. The top six will move on to Saturday night.

SATURDAY NIGHT

THE FINALS
The 1998 National Poetry Slam Finals will be held at the Paramount Theater, 703 Congress, on Saturday, August 22 at 8 p.m. The Asylum Street Spankers, one of Austin's best-loved bands, will open the show, followed by Best Of The Week Showcase Poems, the first two rounds of the team finals, the individual finals, and the concluding two rounds of the team finals.

CLOSING NIGHT PARTY
At a location to be announced; information will be in your poet bags. Think blowout of an unprecedented scale.