Opium Magazine News

OPIUM MAGAZINE LAUNCHES NEW IPHONE APP “QUICKFIX” TO REVOLUTIONIZE READING AND CAUSE LIGHT WRIST INJURIES

2009-12-07T07:17:00.000-08:00

BROOKLYN, New York – December 7, 2009 – Today Opium Magazine announced the launch of its new iPhone application, “Opiumʼs QuickFix with Jiggle Technology.” The app, available for $1.99 at the iTunes store for the iPhone and iPod Touch, will bring an app-exclusive story to its owners every week, along with giving access to all of OpiumMagazine.comʼs archives (just shake the iPhone for a random story). For the launch, the app features an all-new story by humor writer Jack Handey of Deep Thoughts fame.

Developed by Vince Donovan — an unholy hybrid of novelist and programmer, embodying the worst personal aspects of each — the app is being promoted by a series of commercials featuring Opiumʼs founding editor, Todd Zuniga, in locations around the world, including The Dead Sea, and Damascus Gate. In recent focus-group testing for the app, “enjoyment of literature rates” soared by 221%, while light “literacy-based wrist injuries” were reported by 21% of testers, due to the appʼs ground-breaking Jiggle Technology.

“Opium Magazine has always pushed for literature to rejoin the pop-culture conversation, and our QuickFix app helps us to continue that push,” said Opiumʼs founding editor, Todd Zuniga. “In fact, I think itʼs imperative that literary magazines create apps. Otherwise, the Books section of the App store will continue to farcically showcase ʻbooksʼ like ʻSelf Help Classicsʼ and ʻDog Tricks & Bark Machine.ʼ Ugh.”

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About Opium Magazine
Opium Magazine, a subsidiary of Opium for the Arts, a 501(c)(3) non-proﬁt, is a literary humor publication headquartered in Brooklyn, New York. 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, artists Chuck Close and Vik Muniz, humorist Jack Handey, cartoonist Art Spiegelman, playwright Neil Labute, and many others. Opiumʼs homepage is www.OpiumMagazine.com.

Literary Death Match New York City, Ep 19

2009-10-07T10:46:00.000-07:00

BROOKLYN, New York – October 8, 2009 – Opium Magazine and the Literary Death Match announced their 19th New York City Literary Death Match taking place at the Bowery Poetry Club on Thursday, October 29 at 8:00 p.m.

Hosted by Opium's PR and Marketing Director, Kelly Helder, and Full Ginsburg writer/comedian Jared Bloom, the event will feature three all-star judges including Grove/Atlantic editor Amy Hundley, Colbert Report writer Peter Grosz and comedian Gabe Liedman.

They will wittily preside over four readers: Sarah Jane Stratford, author of Midnight Guardian; David Hollander, author of L.I.E.; Robert Lopez , author of Part of the World and Kamby Bolongo Mean River; and David Henry Sterry, editor of Hos, Hookers, Call-Girls, and Rent Boys: Prostitutes Writing on Life, Love, Work, Sex, and Money.

“As the Literary Death Match expands around the planet, New York City proves to be the place with the greatest mix of diverse talent, and this event is certainly proof,” Todd Zuniga, Opium’s founding editor. “It’s a thrill for us to present a former sex worker alongside a first-time novelist, a Colbert Report writer next to one of our favorite NYC comedians.”

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 show is $10 at the door and all proceeds benefit Opium for the Arts.

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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.

Literary Death Match Paris, Episode 1

2009-09-03T07:33:00.000-07:00

Literary Death Match Raleigh, Episode 1

2009-09-02T13:53:00.000-07:00

BROOKLYN, New York – August 28, 2009 – Today Opium Magazine and the Literary Death Match announced their debut in Raleigh, North Carolina for Literary Death Match Raleigh, Episode 1 on September 16 at The Pour House, 224 S. Blount Street (doors at 9:00, event at 9:30 sharp). The event will be on the same night as London, Episode 2, marking the 45th and 46th events in the history of the series (which is regularly featured in New York City and San Francisco).

Hosted by Opium's PR and Marketing Director, Kelly Helder, and Raleigh Quarterly's co-publisher, Greg Behr, the event will feature three all-star judges including "Big Fish" author Daniel Wallace, Internet sensation(s) Rhett & Link, and Carolina Rollergirl KGBebe. They will preside over four readers, including Raleigh Quarterly co-publisher Billy Warden, The Monti Storytelling Series founder Jeff Polish, Scott McClanahan (author of the short story collection "Stories") and Lockie Hunter (author of the novel "Girls, Girls, Out").

“For the Literary Death Match to succeed on the massive scale I want it to, it can’t just exist in known literary cities like New York City, San Francisco and London,” said Opium Magazine founding editor and Literary Death Match creator Todd Zuniga. “That’s why we’re pushing so hard to launch it in bustling lit-centric communities like Raleigh, where not only is there a huge cluster of passionate writers, but some serious homerun hitters to lean on, like Daniel Wallace.”

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).

"After successes in London and Beijing, Literary Death Match's arrival in Raleigh really puts us on the cultural map," says Greg Behr. "Sort of like a big, dagger-filled tattoo you can't remember getting."

"I used to dream of a Pulitzer," says writer/participant Billy Warden. "Now I obsess over the Literary Death Match title. If I can take LDM, I think I can take Richard Russo."

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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.

Literary Death Match London, Episode 2

2009-08-28T06:56:00.000-07:00

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.