SF, Ep. 55

October 14, 2014 — In our annual spectacular, Literary Death Match returned to Litquake for a night at Public Works that was an insta-classic that ended with Danez Smith outdueling Kriistina Ehin in sudden-death overtime in a captivating game of Literary Charades to win Smith the LDM SF, Ep. 55 crown. 

But before the finale was even a thought, the night kicked off with April Joseph, traveling poetess featured in Bombay Gin and other chapbooks, who opened up with rapturous poems that featured bell dings and singing to boot. Then it was Danez Smith, slam poet and Cave Canem Fellow who fired off a trio of poems that ranged from his father lecturing him on the power of good pussy to dinosaurs in the hood. 

The mic was then handed to the night's trio of all-star judges: Christopher Moore, author of international bestsellers Lamb, A Dirty Job and Fool; Dhaya Lakshminarayanan, winner of Bay Guardian's best comedian of 2013 reader's poll; and Owen Egerton, award-winning screenwriter, performer and author of How Best to Avoid Dying. The three took turns reeling off applause and wit-riddled energetic quips before huddling up and making the night's first impossible decision, announcing it would be Smith who would be the night's first finalist.

After a brief intermission, Round 2 kicked off with Jeremy Adam Smith, award-winning journalist & author of Rad Dad: Dispatches from the Frontiers of Fatherhood who told the aching tale of a man who tried to be everything but ended up being nothing — and gave up on his dreams to be good to his wife. Finally it was Kriistina Ehin, internationally renowned, award-winning Estonian poet and author of Walker on Water, who told a captivating story about a woman who bites the arms off of three different men (and they're all doing just fine). 

Again the judges were handed the mic, and after applause for both author's wowing prose, the trio decided it would be Ehin who would advance as the night's second finalist. 

Then up stepped LDM creator Adrian Todd Zuniga, who announced the night's finale: Literary Charades. With a trio of actors on the stage, Zuniga delivered titles of famous books adapted into TV shows or film that the actors had to play out while Ehin and Smith guessed the titles. After Smith rocketed to a commanding lead, Team Ehin stormed back. Then, with everything to play for it was Smith who shouted out The Lord of the Rings first, winning her the Literary Death Match SF, Ep. 55 crown and literary immortality to go with it. 

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