Bath, Ep. 1

March 3, 2016 — As part of our 10-Year Anniversary celebration, Literary Death Match partnered with Picador as we headed to The Abbey Hotel for the Bath Literature Festival. The magical evening of literature, comedy, and hijinks saw Paul M.M. Cooper outduel Kat Arney in a Lone Star Lit finale to win Cooper the LDM Bath, Ep. 1 crown.

But before the finale was even a thought, the night kicked off with Jim Powell, author of Trading Futures and The Breaking of Eggs, followed by Paul M.M. Cooper, debut author of River of Ink. After the two read brilliant pieces, each, the mic was handed to the trio of all-star judges: Emma Hooper, musician and author of Etta and Otto and Russell and James; Viv Groskop, broadcaster, journalist, author of I Laughed I Cried; and Jem Roberts, comedian, performer and author of The Frood: The Authorised and Very Official History of Douglas Adams & The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The trio delivered praise and quips both before making the night's first impossible decision, naming Cooper as the night's first finalist.

Then came Round 2, with Nikesh Shukla, author of Meatspace, Coconut Unlimited and the editor of The Good Immigrant up against Kat Arney, award-winning blogger, part of The Naked Scientists, author of Herding Hemingway's Cats. After a powerfully-performed pair of readings, the judges were again center stage, and again delivered wisecracks and applause for each author before huddling up and making the night's second impossible decision, naming Arney the night's second finalist. 

Then up stepped LDM creator Adrian Todd Zuniga to announce the night's finale: One Star Wonder, in which he read off 1-star Amazon book reviews written about classic books. The finalists, teamed with volunteers from the crowd, traded points, and with everything to play for it was Cooper who nailed the final answer, winning him the LDM Bath Ep. 1 medal and literary immortality to go with it.

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