One of the highlights of the Bookworm Literary Festival 2009 will undoubtedly be the Literary Death Match (LDM), a reading competition between world-class authors, sabotaged by absurd behavior from judges and the most random and outrageous methods to settle the score. Writing wunderkind, Opium magazine creator and editor, and creator of the LDM, Todd Zuniga, gives us some tips on how to organize our very own LDM.

Get your LDM objectives sorted out

Setting objectives is imperative to doing anything… (duh!). Knowing Todd’s objectives will help you understand why he chose the LDM format that he did, which will help you figure out your own LDM format easier (refer to point #2).

Todd’s objectives:

We wanted two things: to do something different, that appealed to people outside of the usual literary audience, and we wanted to involve the literary community. So, instead of compiling a list of readers we already knew to do an Opium (magazine) reading every month, for the LDM we invite other literary magazines to invite reader-representatives. So, the inspirations were: what would be fun? and: how do we do something that doesn't compete with, but involves, other literary magazines? 


Now you need to understand how LDM works

Rules are for changing. As long as you understand what your objectives are (refer to point #1), you should be able to modify the game accordingly. We’ll tell you how Todd does it, and then it will be up to you to make the LDM all your own.

Todd’s rules:

We invite a mix of four famous and emerging authors to perform their most electric writing before a panel of three all-star judges (and, of course, a lively crowd). There are two rounds, and two readers read in each round, each performing for eight minutes or less. After each round of readers, the true fun begins as the real stars of the show, the judges - focused on literary merit, performance and intangibles - take turns spouting hilarious, off-the-wall commentary about each story. Then they select their favorite reader from each round to advance to the finals.

The finale is absolutely ridiculous (apparently the Beijing finale is still a work in progress). The whole idea of the LDM is that readings are boring, so the last thing we want to make anyone sit through is more readings (they've already sat through 36 minutes of it). So the finale trades in the show's literary sensibility for an absurdly comical climax to decide who takes home the LDM crown, e.g. a Laser Tag duel, or a blindfolded money-grab where each bill features the face of literary giants like Salinger, Dickinson and Truman Capote (see video below). 


Now let’s talk about the perks and rewards

Whenever you set out to do anything, especially something that might make you want to tear your own hair out and bang your head against the wall repeatedly, you have to first figure out what salvation light you want to see at the end of the dark tunnel to make it worthwhile and to keep you going through the lowest of the low points.

Perks and rewards for Todd:

I end up meeting a handful of writers and editors and artists I'd not have met otherwise at every LDM. It's a fantastic perk.

As for reward, my proudest achievement regarding the LDM has to be the LDM in Chicago last month, the first time we've done it outside of NYC or SF. Chicago was the birthplace of Opium, and going back there and doing it, and it going over SO WELL - I was shocked by the attendance, by the post-event enthusiasm, by people inviting me back, inviting me to do it around the Midwest, where I'm from (St. Louis, MO) - that I just felt really, really good. People there got it, there was no drama, the readings were out of this world. My goal is to have the LDM be my Fight Club, to spread it around, start it up and let communities keep it going, and it felt great knowing that might really materialize.

Getting a sense of what obstacles lie between you and the perfect LDM

The great thing about not being the pioneer is that someone else has already tried and tested many formats, allowing you can shortcut your way to success.

Todd’s experience:

I'd say the first few LDMs were hard to organize. It's a lot of work because it's not just magazines/readers, but judges, too. Getting the perfect judges is always tough. Moreover, at first, a lot of magazines just didn't want to be a part of it; they thought it was a slur to literature, or that we were pitting people against one another, which still strikes me as hilarious. So our irony didn't work out so well. The Paris Review wouldn't do it, for instance, and Tin House, at first, turned us down repeatedly. So, we turned to magazines that were more into promoting themselves and the authors were especially nervous to be a part of it at the beginning.

Certain writer's groups and writers, when we brought it to SF, refused to even attend because they said it was putting writers in competition unfairly. By now, that has largely worn off, people are getting the psychology behind it, they see it's very much intended to create community, and it has a real Opium flavor to it, which means everyone's nice and fun (and, always surprisingly, so good looking).

Tips for success

The most important element for a successful LDM is to have hilarious judges. It's never happened, but my feeling is that even if the readers stink, the judges are the stars. We always have a comedian judging intangibles, so they're something to hold your breath for if you're an audience member. Who doesn't love comic relief? 


Measuring the success of your first ever LDM

We’re not telling you to compare yourself to Todd, or not. You’ll also have different objectives and formats to his LDMs, so things won’t measure up exactly anyway. However, it is always good to have some kind of a benchmark to figure out whether your first LDM worked well or not.

Todd’s first ever LDM:

The response was awesome. We did it in a bar in NYC that's not at all associated with doing a reading series (Back Room, a hidden speakeasy-type place owned by actor Tim Robbins), and people came because they were curious to see what the heck we were doing. Then something amazing happened: during the intermission and after the event, I realized the judging created a relationship so that the viewers felt like judges themselves. So, our hare-brained plan ended up being a device for attentive listenership. It was magical. After each round the audience didn't simply say "I liked Story A, I didn't like Story B," they say "I liked Story A because..." and that's really special.

The LDM at the Bookworm Literary Festival will take place Sat, Mar 14 at 8pm. The readers will be writers Zachary Mexico, James West, Liz Niven and Ridley Pearson. Todd predicts there will be lots of laughter, many surprises, a bevy of ridiculousness, genius readings, zero deaths, and at least one stabbing! 


Links and Sources

The Bookworm: International Literary Festival 2009
Literary Death Match: A History of Violence
Opium Magazine: Video of Literary Death Match
Gothamist: Interview with TZ from 2006
City Weekend: Interview with Todd Zuniga
Twitter: Todd Zuniga's Twitter Page
flickr: Todd Zuniga of Opium Magazine (image)
Redroom.com: image of Todd
Litpark.com: Top image of Todd