It’ll be words vs. words Friday and Saturday during the third annual Midwest Poetry Mash-Up, a regional poetry slam tournament for the Twin Cities and greater Midwest. There will be two preliminary bouts per team, beginning at 8 p.m. Friday, with a prize of $300 for the winner. Contestants are: Hot and Sour, Miso Soup, Boston Poetry Slam, Slam Free or Die, Landline 2.0, 4 the People, Queer Shenanigans, Macalester Poetry Slam, BuckSlam and Ghosts of Moon City. The finals are at 7 p.m. Saturday at Open Book, 1011 Washington Ave. S., Mpls. For ticket information go to midwestpoetrymashup.com.

Also on Saturday a record-setting 37 area bookstores will participate in the 2025 Twin Cities Independent Bookstore Day, which celebrates the region’s community-based bookstores. Rain Taxi is again offering the popular free Bookstore Passport, illustrated by Kevin Cannon, that can be picked up at participating bookstores between Wednesday and April 27. During those days participants can travel to as many bookstores as they can, getting their Passport stamped at each store. Each stamped page becomes a discount coupon for a future visit, and readers who reach certain goals can enter to win prizes, including bookstore gift cards, free books and merchandise and more. Readers who obtain 20-29 stamps can enter to win a prize pack of books and those with 30 or more stamps can enter to win one of three grand prizes. For more details and a list of participating bookstores, go to raintaxi.com/twin-cities-independent-bookstore-passport-2025.