More literary brawling, but all in good fun. Mostly. From the San Francisco Chronicle (”Literary Death Match exudes attitude. But beer in the face? That’s so slapstick.” by Edward Guthmann):

When Literary Death Match started, it was supposed to be a lark. Todd Zuniga and Elizabeth Koch, editors of the literary journal Opium, wanted to add some sizzle to the local lit scene - a friskiness to foil the preciousness of literary readings.

So they invited four local writers to read from their work and brought in three judges to select a winner. Instead of renting a dusty bookstore, they staged their “American Idol”-for-scribes at Harlot, a sleek South of Market bar with gothic bordello decor.

“People love sports,” reasoned Koch. “They love getting their heart and emotions behind one person and seeing competition. It’s just all in good fun.”

Instead, at the first Literary Death Match in July, author Stephen Elliott was so offended by judge Howard Junker’s put-down - “As a writer, I think he has no literary merit” - that Elliott tossed a glass of beer in his face during intermission.

Maybe there can be a special reviewers vs. writers night. I’ll show up and beat the crap out of myself.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007 at 2:23 pm and is filed under Books and Reviewing, I on the News, Writers and Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.