Oct. 16 (at DJD Dance Centre)

Literary Death Match returns to Calgary for a landmark 10th episode, once again teaming with the wonderful Wordfest for a Friday night showdown at DJD Dance Centre that you won't want to miss. This show will sell out, so grab your tix right this second!

Here's the full lineup for the night:

ALL-STAR JUDGES:

Literary Merit: Liz Nugent, Dublin-based author of five #1 bestselling novels. She's winner of five Irish Book Awards and the James Joyce Medal for Literature. Her latest: The Truth About Ruby Cooper

Performance: Carol Off, award-winning journalist and longtime co-host of CBC Radio’s As It Happens, who has reported from conflict zones and political flashpoints around the world. Her latest: True Patriot Love: Reporting from the Frontlines of Canadian Sovereignty

Intangibles: Kurt Andersen, bestselling author, co-founder of Spy magazine, former editor-in-chief of New York, and co-creator and host of the Peabody Award-winning Studio 360. His latest: The Breakup. 

ALL-STAR READERS:

Round 1:
* Richard Kelly Kemick, award-winning poet, journalist and fiction writer whose books include Hello, Horse, I Am Herod and Caribou Run. His newest book, Decadence, is an essay collection about everything from volleyball and dogs to landfills and the absurdity of being alive

* Kim Fu, author of the acclaimed novels For Today I Am a Boy and The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore, and the award-winning story collection Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century. Born in Calgary, her latest is the darkly funny The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts

Round 2:
* Daniel Zomparelli, poet and fiction writer whose books include Jump Scare, Davie Street Translations, Rom Com and Everything Is Awful and You’re a Terrible Person. His latest: Super Castle Fun Park, mixes ghosts, technology, melancholy and pitch-black comedy.

* Joss Richard, Daytime Emmy Award-winning TV producer and creator and host of Three’s Company, Too: A Rewatch Podcast. Her debut novel It’s Different This Time was a USA Today bestseller and shortlisted for CBC Canada Reads 2026, and her latest romance novel: Let’s Kiss and Tell

Hosted by LDM creator Adrian Todd Zuniga.

Produced by Shelley Youngblut & Rita Sirignano.

Where: DJD Dance Centre, 111 12 Ave SE, Calgary
When: October 16, 7:30pm
Cost: $25 (get tickets via Wordfest now!)