Wednesday, November 15, 2023 at 5:21AM November 15, 2023 — After five years away, Literary Death Match returned to Boston — or, really, Cambridge — for a wondrous affair at The Brattle that saw Desmond Hall outlast co-finalist E.B. Bartels in a down-to-the-wire Arithme-Lit finale that won Hall the LDM Boston, Ep. 17 crown, and literary immortality to go with it.
Tuesday, October 14, 2014 at 2:03PM 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.
Saturday, April 5, 2014 at 1:56AM April 5, 2014 — On a magical Lone Star State night, Literary Death Match is teamed with the San Antonio Book Festival for a night of literature, laughs, lore-making at the glorious Charline McCombs Empire Theatre. The brilliant night ended with Antonio Sacre outdueling Owen Egerton by a score of 46-45 in a Lone Star Lit finale that won Sacre the LDM San Antonio, Ep. 1 crown.
Friday, March 28, 2014 at 2:10PM April 3, 2014 — In Literary Death Match's colossal return to magical Austin — and more specifically Alamo Ritz— the packed house saw Neal Pollack outduel Elizabeth McCracken in a Cyrillic-Off by a final score of 145.1 to 145 — the narrowest of margins — to win Pollack the LDM Austin, Ep. 7 crown.
Thursday, April 18, 2013 at 11:28AM April 18, 2013 — As a kick-off to the LA Times Festival of Books, LDM's 20th-ever episode in LA ended in slapstick fashion, as volunteers from the crowd took turns writing Pulitzer Prize-winning author's names with a Sharpie clasped between their toes. The result: Owen Egerton narrowly outdid co-finalist Ophira Eisenberg by a 4-1 score, to win the LDM LA, Ep. 20 crown!
Friday, October 26, 2012 at 8:44PM October 27, 2012 — On a winter-cool Saturday afternoon, Literary Death Match returned to the Texas Book Festival (and Austin's gorgeous Paramount Theatre) for a knockout masterpiece that saw the amazing Kambri Crews outduel the beloved Bob Shea in a Literary Spelling Bee by a final score of 13-5, winning her the LDM Austin, Ep. 5 crown.
Saturday, October 22, 2011 at 3:40AM October 22, 2011 — In what will go down in literary history as a Texas Book Festival classic, Literary Death Match held court at the Paramount Theatre with an uber-all-star lineup, and before a packed house of 470, Martha Hall Foose outscored Charles Yu 2,589 to 2,504 in a Books by Numbers finale that won Foose the Literary Death Match crown.
Saturday, October 16, 2010 at 5:15PM October 16, 2010 — Before a brilliant and energetic audience at the Texas Book Festival, journalist Hank Stuever's three-person team outsat Team Bob Shea, in a dramatic, Texan-skewed game of Muzakal Chairs — winning Stuever the LDM crown.
Friday, April 23, 2010 at 12:51AM April 22, 2010 — Literary Death Match Austin's return — at Speakeasy, the 11th stop on Opium100's Monster Fundraising Tour — was a Texas-sized success that ended with Tyler Stoddard Smith narrowly besting Spike Gillespie 5-3 in a wild game of Wildly High Five the Co-Host Then Guess the Musical Artist. Smith, basking in new literary immortality, was crowned by Austin, Ep. 1 champ (and emergency judge) Amelia Gray.
Thursday, April 8, 2010 at 9:35AM April 8 — To celebrate the 4th stop on Opium100's Fundraising Tour, the Literary Death Match returned to the Mile High City with an epic-sized six-reader AWP affair that ended when New England Review rep Matthew Olzmann outdueled Naugatuck Review's M in a wild finale of Literary Resurrection. Olzmann won by a narrow 3-2 margin, resurrecting Willem Defoe Jesus before M could raise Mel Gibson Jesus.