Calgary, Ep. 3

October 15, 2015 — In what's become an annual tradition, Literary Death Match once again teamed with Wordfest for an all-out literary and comedic extravaganza at the Royal Canadian Legion #1. The wild evening finished with Anakana Schofield narrowly outdueling Jeff Vandermeer in a Literary Spelling Bee III finale by a single letter, winning Schofield the LDM Calgary, Ep. 3 crown. 

But before the finale was even a thought, the night kicked off with the Anakana Schofield, author of Malarky (winner of Amazon.ca First Novel Award), who read from her Giller Prize-nominated novel Martin John. Next up was Sara Tilley, theatre artist and author of Skin Room, who read from her novel Duke, in the voice of her grandfather. 

The mic was then handed to our all-star trio of judges: Zsuzsi Gartner, author of the Giller Prize shortlisted Better Living Through Plastic Explosives; Susin Nielsen, Governor General's and Canadian Library Assn. Book of the Year Award winner; and Sean Dunnigan, judge featured on CBC Calgary’s afternoon Homestretch. The three praised and quipped before making their first impossible decision, as Schofield was advanced as the night's first finalist. 

Then the brilliant Tennessee eve zipped into Round 2, with Jeff VanderMeer, Nebula Award-winning author of Annihilation, Authority and Acceptance who read two dazzling short pieces. Finally it was Sherwin Tjia, author of The World is a Heartbreaker (A.M. Klein Poetry Award finalist), who read from his choose-your-own-adventure You are a Kitten!  

Then, again the mic was handed to the judges who delivered oddballetry, wisdom and laughs before making the night's second impossible decision, naming VanderMeer the night's second finalist. 

Then up stepped LDM creator Adrian Todd Zuniga, who announced the night's finale: Literary Spelling Bee III, in which Schofield and VanderMeer took turns spelling more and more complicated author names. In the final round, down by 1, Schofield delivered the necessary letters to leapfrog VanderMeer, winning her the Literary Death Match Calgary, Ep. 3 medal and literary immortality to go with it.