Literary Death Match

[Written for the editors of New York Magazine‘s Vulture (nymag.com/vulture)]
Last Night’s Gig: Gloves-Optional Literary Death Match Crowns New Champ
“Judging you is like egging a convent,” observed New Yorker editor Ben Greenman of one contestant, shortly before the flinging commenced at last night’s Literary Death Match at The Kitchen.
Greenman, the “literary merit” judge, was joined by jurists Amanda Stern (host of the Happy Ending reading series) and Joshua Furst (The Sabotage Cafe, Short People). Inside their crosshairs was reader Susan Buttenwieser, a single parent who teaches writing to LGBT youth. She was representing the indie lit publication failbetter in the multi-pub brawl for a tiara, sash and bragging rights.
Stern gently mocked Susan’s surname before concluding, brightly, “You get points for that!” Furst, judging “intangibles,” noted darkly, “I don’t trust people who raise children in New York City.”
The event’s tone was offbeat, flip and gently derisive, a refreshing antidote to the sober-bordering-on-sombre tone that pervades certain readings. A big crowd of indie publishers and literary types jammed the large space for this latest tilt in the periodic reading series presented by Opium Magazine. Quick Fiction was also represented in an engrossing reading by Pedro Ponce.
A soft-spoken GianCarlo DiTrapano, publisher of New York Tyrant, was the eventual winner, clinching the honor in a lively “Cyrillic-Off” competition to recognize Pulitzer-winners’ names. Contemplating his sash with one hand, DiTrapano remarked to Vulture with careful brio, “This is encouraging.”
Also encouraging was the lack of gauntlet-dropping contretemps. The last Death Match, in San Francisco, erupted in a drink-tossing tiff by one affronted contestant. The next New York event will likely be at the end of January.
Some say that readings should die a quick death. Maybe they just needed a little chin music? -Jeffrey MacIntyre
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