Brisbane, Ep. 1

May 4, 2022 — To celebrate our full-scale relocation to Australia, Literary Death Match teamed with the wunderkinds at the Brisbane Writers Festival for a whizbang affair at the eye-squintingly gorgeous Princess Theatre that saw Jonathan O’Brien topple Martine Kropkowski in a closer-than-it appeared battle of ArithmeLit, winning O'Brien the LDM Brisbane, Ep. 1 crown, and literary immortality to go with it. 

Here's the lineup from the night: 

JUDGES: 

Literary Merit: Benjamin Law, broadcaster and writer of TV, plays, and author of The Family Law (adapted into an award-winning SBS TV series), Gaysia, and editor of Growing Up Queer in Australia 

Performance: Hope One, award-winning beatbox artist, founder of School of Beatbox Australia, and star of the award-winning theatre show Hot Brown Honey

Intangibles: Reuben Kaye, actor, TV presenter, musician, multi-award-winning cabaret superstar and overall wowing presence

READERS:
Round 1:
* Martine Kropkowski, soldier turned journalist turned creative writer and researcher; UQP Writing Mentorship award-winner for her novel This Wretched Self

* Lee McGowan, writer, researcher and author of Football Fiction: A History and co-author of Never Say Die: The Hundred Year Overnight Success of Australian Women's Football​

Round 2: 
* Tobias Madden, author of the ABIA longlisted Anything But Fine and the forthcoming Take A Bow, Noah Mitchell, editor of Underdog: #LoveOzYA Short Stories, co-writer of the cabaret show Siblingship, and former professional dancer 

* Jonathan O’Brien, writer, educator, and recipient of the Lord Mayor's Young and Emerging Artists Fellowship and the State Library of Queensland Young Writers Award, along with being founder of the artist residency space House Conspiracy

Hosted by LDM creator Adrian Todd Zuniga (author of the award-nominated novel Collision Theory)

Where: Princess Theatre, 8 Annerley Rd, Woolloongabba, Queensland
When: May 4, 8 p.m. sharp