LA, Ep. 51

 

May 22, 2022 — Literary Death Match returned to LA (and more specificlally Dynasty Typewriter) for what turned into a must-see celebration of words, nerds, comedy and surprise that saw James Sie narrowly outduel Natashia Deón in a Literary Spelling Bee IV finale to win Sie the LDM LA, Ep. 51 crown, and literary immortality to go with it.

Here's the full lineup from the night: 

JUDGES:

Literary Merit: Pamela Ribon, screenwriter (Moana, Ralph Breaks the Internet), performer, comic-book writer and best-selling author of Notes to Boys: And Other Things I Shouldn't Share in Public (which she adapted into the animated series My Year of Dicks)

Performance: Emily V. Gordon, Oscar-nominated writer of The Big Sick (which won her an Independent Spirit Award), write and exec-producer of Apple TV's Little America and author of Super You: Release Your Inner Superhero

Intangibles: Martha Kelly, stand-up comedian and actress featured in Baskets, Euphoria (as Laurie, the most terrifying character we've seen in ages), Gaslit, the new season of Hacks and so much more

READERS:
Round 1:
* James Sie, author of Still Life Las Vegas (a Lambda Literary Award nominee) and All Kinds of Other, award-winning playwright, and voiceover artist for Stillwater, Jackie Chan Adventures and Avatar: The Last Airbender

* Akilah Hughes, comedian, actor, author of Obviously! Stories from My Timeline, former host of Crooked Media's What a Day! podcast, and Sundance Episodic Story Lab alum

Round 2: 
* Natashia Deón, author of The Perishing and Grace (named Best Book by the New York Times), a two-time NAACP Image Award Nominee, practicing criminal attorney, a PEN America Fellow

* Rosecrans Baldwin, bestselling author of Everything Now: Lessons from the City-State of Los Angeles (winner of the 2022 California Book Award) and The Last Kid Left, co-founder of The Morning News and a finalist for a James Beard Award in Journalism

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

Where: Dynasty Typewriter, 2511 Wilshire Blvd, LA
When: May 22