Chicago, Ep. 11

September 10, 2022 — After a foolishly-long six year absence, Literary Death Match returned to the Windy City, partnering with StoryStudio Chicago and Printers Row Lit Fest for a late-afternoon gem that saw Diana Slickman claim narrow victory over Mikki Kendall in an Original or Adapted? finale that won Slickman the LDM Chicago, Ep. 11 crown, and literary immortality to go with it.

Here's who took part: 

JUDGES: 

Literary Merit: Luis Alberto Urrea, multi-award-winning author, Pulitzer Prize finalist, author of 17 books including The House of Broken Angels (a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist), and member of the Latino Literature Hall of Fame

Performance: David Cerda, award-winning playwright, actor, songwriter, and Artistic Director of Hell in a Handbag Productions

Intangibles: Julia Morales, ensemble performer with Second City, writer, director, teacher and founder of the Stepping Stone Theater

READERS:
Round 1:
* Shannon Cason, The Moth GrandSlam champion, Snap Judgment regular (he won their Best Performance Award) and host of the long-running storytelling podcast Shannon Cason’s Homemade Stories

* Diana Slickman, writer, performer, theatre director, alumna of Neo-Futurists and an ensemble member with Theater Oobleck, and the sometime publisher of the micro-press Hope & Nonthings

Round 2: 
* Mikki Kendall, writer, diversity consultant, and author of the New York Times-bestselling Hood Feminism (Chicago Review of Books Award-winner) and Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists, a graphic novel

* Elizabeth Gomez, writer, podcaster and producer of Wokefield, public speaker, performer, and creator of the Windy City Rollers, Chicago’s first all-female roller derby league

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

Produced by Amy Danzer & Jen Coffeen

Where: Main Stage (on Polk between Dearborn and Federal)