Hong Kong, Ep. 3
Wednesday, March 12, 2014 at 6:39AM March 12, 2014 — On a steamy, vibrant night in Asia's coolest capital, Literary Death Match rollicked at the jam-packed XXX Gallery, where Shannon Young outdueled co-finalist Renate Leukert in an oh-so-close battle of Lone Star Lit that went to sudden death before Young nailed the final answer, to win her the LDM Hong Kong, Ep. 3 crown.
But before the finale was even a thought, the night kicked off with Peter Humphreys, co-editor of HK lit anthology Another Hong Kong who told the wonderful tale of a stranger coming to join Hong Kong Writers Cirle. Next up was Renate Leukert, German slam poet/storyteller, who brilliantly performed her poem "Love is Evil and Let Me Tell You Why."
The mic was then turned over to the trio of all-star judges: Nury Vittachi, author of The Feng Shui Detective series and quite possibly Asia’s most widely syndicated newspaper columnist; Shirley Sheung, HK-based artist and actor in both Chinese and English theatre productions; and Jim Brewsky, comedian and runner-up 2013 Hong Kong International Comedy Festival. The genius trio reeled off praise upon praise for both readers — with humorous interstitial commentery — before deciding it would be Leukert who would advance as the night's first finalist.
Then the night whizzed into Round 2, with Shannon Young (editor of the anthology, How Does One Dress to Buy Dragonfruit: True Stories of Expat Women in Asia, author of The Art of Escalator Jumping) who dazzled with a tale of her youth in suburban Arizona, when she wanted a dog, but was given a snake instead. Then to finish things off with masterful style, it was Tom Schmidt, award-winning graphic novelist/author of Bumbling Through Hong Kong who performed an excerpt from a graphic novel about his time in Borneo.
Again the mics were handed over to the judges, who again dealt hilarities and congratulations to each reader before huddling up and deciding it would be Young who would advance as the night's second finalist.
Then up stepped LDM creator Adrian Todd Zuniga to announce the night's finale: Lone Star Lit, 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 on the final question, it was Team Young who jabbed the buzzer first, nailed the final answer, winning her the LDM Hong Kong, Ep. 3 medal and literary immortality to go with it.
Follow LDM on Twitter!
Reader Comments (1)
Great site just bookmarked