Williams College, Ep. 1

September 16, 2014 — In our couldn't-wait return to western Massachussetts, Literary Death Match teamed with the masterminds at Williams College for a literary extravaganza at the '62 Center of Theatre and Dance that saw Elizabeth K. Gordon outduel co-finalist Jedediah Berry by a score of 29-23 in a the Lone Star Lit finale to win Gordon the LDM Williams College, Ep. 1 crown. 

But before the finale was even a thought, the wonderful night kicked off with Kelly Link, author of the short story collections Magic for Beginners and Pretty Monsters, who read hysterical, charged, amazing Great Gatsy pornographic fan fiction. Then Jedediah Berry, author of The Manual of Detection and winner of the Crawford Award and the Dashiell Hammett Prizes, stepped up and pulled off a LDM first, by reading a story written on a deck of cards called The Family Arcana. 

The mic was then handed to the trio of all-star judges: Roy Blount, Jr., humorist, poet, dramatist & author of 23 books (like Alphabetter Juice); Muffy Plotner, drag queen and master-performer; and Jim Shepard, award-winning author of six novels (Project X), and four story collections. The trio heaped praise, dished whimsy and considered the magic of both readers before they announced the night's first impossible decision, declaring Berry the night's first finalist. 

Then came Round 2, led off by Elizabeth K. Gordon, (aka elizag) — performance poet and author of Love Cohoes — who lit the stage aflame with a pair of performance poems, the first of which focused on the question "Are you Really Working Class?" Next up was Jeff Parker, author of the novel Ovenman and the story collection The Taste of Penny, who wowed with a heartaching story about a gallant, handsome, cool, true friend in the form of an imbibing rooster. 

The mic was again handed to the judges, who were endlessly impressed with both writers, applauding thei r pretty-much-everything before making the night's second impossible choice, deciding it would be Gordon who would advance as the night's second finalist. 

Then up stepped LDM creator Adrian Todd Zuniga, who announced 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, traded points, and with everything to play for on the final question, it was Team Gorddon who slapped the bell first, nailing the final answer, winning her the LDM Williams College, Ep. 1 medal and literary immortality to go with it. 

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[House Manager]

The event location has been changed to the Main Stage in the Williams College '62 Center.