Edinburgh, Ep. 15

August 28, 2015 — For the sixth of eight consecutive LDM's in eight days at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Literary Death Match glittered with the magic only a Fringe showcase can offer, as the pitch-perfect hour finished with a racing finish that saw Kirsty Logan outduel John Osborne in hotly-contested game of Literary Spelling Bee III by a narrow margin to win her the LDM Edinburgh, Ep. 15 crown. 

But before the finale was even a thought, the show opened with Salla Simukka, who read from her novel As Red As Blood, first in Finnish, then in English (an excerpt about a girl being broken up with). Next up was Kirsty Logan, author of The Gracekeepers, who read a short story about a girl who runs away with the circus. 

The mic was then handed to the trio of all-star judges: Mark Doty, poet, winner of National Book Award, LA Times Book Award, two Lambda Awards, and way more; Holly Jack, Scottish actress known for River City, Staked and Waterloo Road; and Charlie Baker (Just the One), award-winning standup, star of Edinburgh Comedy Fest Live 2012 and 2014. The brilliant-minded trio heaped loads of praise and witticisms on both readers before huddling up and making the late-afternoon's first impossible decision, declaring Logan as the first finalist. 

Then came Round 2, kicked off by John Osborne, author of Most People Aren't That Happy, Anyway, who performed a poem about learning the constellations. Finally it was Tendai Huchu, author of The Maestro, The Magistrate & The Mathematician who read about watching a talent show on television. 

The microphone was again passed to the judges, who were mind-blown by the captivating authors, delivering a blinding set of commentary about both writers, before making the night's second impossible choice, deciding to send Osborne on to the finals. 

Then up stepped LDM creator Adrian Todd Zuniga, who announced the night's finale: Literary Spelling Bee III, in which the two finalists were tasked with spelling increasingly complicated author names, and after it was all said and done it was Kirsty Logan who stood as champion, winning the LDM Edinburgh, Ep. 15 crown, and literary immortality to go with it. 

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