To the Pain

Opium Magazine's Literary Death Match is part open mike night, part talent show, and part scandalous one-upmanship. Sure, well-known authors read from their work, and that's very edifying. But the event thrives on — demands, even — disinhibited, controversial shit-disturbing, just as much as high IQs. The setup pits two pairs of writers against each other; their performances are judged by smart-mouthed local characters, and the winners are in turn thrown in the ring to fight. In this particular episode, authors Peter Orner, Ellen Sussman, April Sinclair, and Jesse Nathan take the stage, only to be subjected to the opinions of Believer magazine editor Andrew Leland, SF Appeal online newspaper editor Eve Batey, and a mystery adjudicator. In case you're thinking, "Wait. April Sinclair is a serious, sober woman, the author of esteemed young-adult novel Coffee Will Make You Black. She doesn't belong with these crazies," consider a weird and funny quote from her most recent novel, I Left My Back Door Open: "There's no such thang as a black anorexic!" This kind of assertion is perfect for the LDM. Give us $20 on Sinclair, right now.
Fri., May 8, 7 p.m., 2009