Fairfax, Ep. 2

October 12, 2019 — After a sterling Virginia debut a year ago, Literary Death Match returned to the Fairfax for the brilliant Fall for the Book Festival, on a night that saw Christina Dalcher outlast Amaud Jamaul Johnson in a seesaw battle of LDM Cabinet of Non-Wonders, ending with Dalcher winning the LDM Fall for the Book, Ep. 2 crown, and literary immortality to go with it. 

What is Literary Death Match? Part literary event, part comedy show, part game show, Literary Death Match brings together four of today’s finest writers to compete in an edge-of-your-seat read-off critiqued by three celebrity judges, and concluded by a slapstick showdown to decide the ultimate champion.

Judges: 

Literary Merit: Tayla Burney, journalist on NPR's programming team, moderator, and consultant

Performance: Zach Powers, author of First Cosmic Velocity and winner of the BOA Short Fiction Prize for his collection Gravity Changes

Intangibles: Kasha Patel, science journalist and stand-up comedian named as Thrillist magazine’s “Best Undiscovered Comedians in the US”

Readers: 
Round 1: 
* Christina Dalcher, author of Vox and winner of the Bath Flash Award
* Rion Amilcar Scott, PEN/Bingham Prize-winning author of Insurrections and The World Doesn’t Require You

Round 2: 
* Randon Billings Noble, essayist and author of Be With Me Always
* Amaud Jamaul Johnson, poet and Dorset Prize-winning author of Red Summer and Darktown Follies

Hosted by LDM creator Adrian Todd Zuniga (author of Collision Theory).  

Where: Harris Theatre, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA (map)