''Literary Death Match'' is a
reading series co-created in 2006 by
Todd Zuniga
Adrian Todd Zuniga (born February 4, 1975) is the founding editor of ''Opium Magazine'', author of the novel ''Collision Theory'', the Writers Guild of America Award-nominated co-writer of ''Longshot'' featured in Madden NFL 18, and the co-creato ...
,
Elizabeth Koch
Elizabeth Koch Tiscione (born 1986) is an oboist and principal oboe of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. She joined the ASO in the fall of 2007, and was granted tenure January 2009. She is a native of Buffalo, New York. Her teachers were Richard Woo ...
, and Dennis DiClaudio. Each event features four readers who read their own writing for seven minutes or less, and are then
critiqued by three judges (often actors, comedians, authors, musicians or dancers) in the categories of literary merit, performance and intangibles. The winner is then decided by a literary-skewed,
game show-type finale to decide who wins the Literary Death Match crown.
Locations
The ''Literary Death Match'' has occurred regularly in
New York City,
San Francisco and
London, and has been produced in a total of 37 cities around the world, including
Los Angeles,
Chicago,
Boston,
Miami and
Dallas in the United States,
Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...
,
Toronto and
Montreal in Canada, as well as
Dublin,
Paris,
Edinburgh,
Beijing,
Vilnius and
Shanghai. On September 7, 2011, the event presented its 1,000th participant in
Glasgow (Cargo Publishing's Allan Wilson).
United States
In the United States, the event has featured readers
Tom Perrotta (author of ''Election'', ''Little Children''),
Daniel Handler (a.k.a.
Lemony Snicket
Lemony Snicket is the pen name of American author Daniel Handler (born February 28, 1970). Handler has published several children's books under the name, most notably ''A Series of Unfortunate Events'', which has sold over 60 million copies and s ...
) and ''
The Believer
Believer(s) or The Believer(s) may refer to:
Religion
* Believer, a person who holds a particular belief
** Believer, a person who holds a particular religious belief
*** Believers, Christians with a religious faith in the divine Christ
*** Beli ...
'' editor
Heidi Julavits and judges like
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
winners
Richard Russo
Richard Russo (July 15, 1949) is an American novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, and teacher.
Early life and education
Russo was born in Johnstown, New York, and raised in nearby Gloversville. He earned a bachelor's degree, a Master o ...
and
Jennifer Egan, ''24''s
Mary Lynn Rajskub
Mary Lynn Rajskub (; born June 22, 1971) is an American actress and comedian who is best known for portraying Chloe O'Brian in the action thriller series '' 24'', and the character Gail the Snail in ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia''. Rajskub ...
, supermodel
Paulina Porizkova, and the musician
Moby
Richard Melville Hall (born September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, singer, producer, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "among the ...
.
Europe
In Europe, the event has featured readers
Joe Dunthorne
Joe Dunthorne (born 1982) is a Welsh novelist, poet and journalist. He made his name with his novel ''Submarine'' (2008), made into a film in 2010. His second novel, ''Wild Abandon'' (2011), won the RSL Encore Award. A selection of his poems w ...
(author of ''Submarine''),
Esther Freud (''Hideous Kinky''),
Nikesh Shukla (C4 Comedy Labs' ''Kabadasses'' creator), comedy writers
David Quantick and
Robert Popper, and judges
Rich Fulcher (''The Mighty Boosh''), model-turned-author
Sara J. Stockbridge, comedian
Josie Long
Josie Isabel Long (born 17 April 1982) is a British comedian. She started performing as a stand-up at the age of 14 and won the BBC New Comedy Awards at 17.
In 2006, Long won the If.comeddies Best Newcomer award at the Edinburgh Festival Frin ...
, Sichuan chef
Fuchsia Dunlop,
Kaiser Chiefs drummer
Nick Hodgson and Irish musician
Cathy Davey
Catherine "Cathy" Davey (born 1979) is an Irish singer-songwriter. She has released one extended play, "Come Over" (2004), and four albums, '' Something Ilk'' (2004), ''Tales of Silversleeve'' (2007), '' The Nameless'' (2010) and ''New Forest'' ...
.
Accolades
In 2008, ''Literary Death Match'' was named "Best Scribbler Smackdown" by the ''
San Francisco Bay Guardian'' "Best of the Bay" awards. In 2010, ''
Interview'' said "Events like Literary Death Match are helping to revitalize the coolitude of the printed word."
"Literary Death Match is Taking Names"
''Interview'', 2010.
History
References
{{Reflist, 30em
External links
Literary Death Match
Litquake
San Francisco's Literary Festival
Social events
Literary societies
Recurring events established in 2006