Literary Death Match London, Episode 2

BROOKLYN, New York – August 28, 2009 – Today Opium Magazine and the Literary Death Match announced their return to London for Literary Death Match London, Episode 2, on September 16 at Queen of Hoxton, 1 Curtain Road, EC2A 3JX (doors at 7:00, event at 8:15 sharp). The event, sponsored by Picador, will mark the 45th event in the history of the series (which is regularly featured in New York City and San Francisco, and recently debuted in Los Angeles, Boston, Seattle, Beijing, Denver and Chicago).

Hosted by Opium's founding editor, Todd Zuniga, the event will feature three all-star judges including Sichuan chef and author of Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper Fuchsia Dunlop,writer/presenter/comedian Amy Lamé, and author/presenter Damian Barr, presiding over four readers, including Musa Okwonga (A Cultured Left Foot), Craig Taylor (One Million Tiny Plays about Britain), Ashna Sankar (representing the magazine Rising), and Tom Chivers. All of it followed by DJ's and drinks until midnight.

Amber Marks (author of Headspace) won the first-ever Literary Death Match London, and in the past the event has featured Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket), Tom Perrotta (author of Election and Little Children), Todd Barry (Flight of the Conchords, The Wrestler), Andrew Leland (of The Believer), Andrew Sean Greer (The Story of a Marriage), Moby (the musician) and Ben Greenman (editor at The New Yorker).

“The first Literary Death Match in London was one of the great gold stars in Opiumʼs history,” said Zuniga. “It was an absolute thrill to see our first time in Europe so well received, so well attended and just so absolutely fun. My goal is to make it a regular occurrence, and this is the next step in making that happen.”

"The Literary Death Match is the unholy spawn of American Idol and the first reading of Allen Ginsburg's Howl at the Six Gallery 50 years ago,” said Jane Ganahl, director of San Francisco's long-running Litquake literary festival. “Dangerous, edgy, yet very ready for prime time.”

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About Opiumʼs Literary Death Match
The Literary Death Match, Opium Magazineʼs signature reading series, debuted in March 2006 in New York City. The competitive, humor-centric series features four readers, three guest-star judges and a hare-brained finale to decide the winner. Hosted by Opiumʼs founding editor, Todd Zuniga, the series expanded to San Francisco in 2007, and Beijing, Chicago and Denver in 2009, has featured 107 readers, 71 judges and over 3,500 attendees. The homepage, featuring write-ups from past events and videos of the finale, can be found at www.LiteraryDeathMatch.com.

About Opium Magazine
Opium Magazine, a subsidiary of Opium Den LLC and headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, is a literary humor publication. The website has been updated daily since its 2001 debut, and the print magazine, designed by award-winning designer David Barringer, has been published semi-annually since August 2005. Contributors include fiction writers Etgar Keret and Aimee Bender, artist Chuck Close, humorist Jack Handey, cartoonist Art Spiegelman, playwright Neil Labute, and many others. Opiumʼs homepage is www.OpiumMagazine.com.