We Won! Fourteen Hills’ D.W. Lichtenberg Takes Home Title of Literary Death Match SF Champion!

You are a spectacle; a roving, plodding panther on the stage. It takes balls to turn your back on the crowd, said performance judge, cartoonist Michael Capozzola, when discussing D.W. Lichtenberg’s mesmerizingly raw reading at Literary Death Match SF on Friday night.

D.W. Lichtenberg read a short story called Jason Look about an aimless twenty-something who breaks up with his girlfriend, quits his job, and goes on a gum-shoplifting, chain-smoking bender; all in the name of reclaiming his story.

Shoving stick after stick of Juicy Fruit Gum into his mouth while pacing in circles across the stage, Lichtenberg kept judges and audience alike in a constant state of suspense over what would happen next, both in the story and on stage. Several judges later confessed that the performance had kept them in a constant state of anxiety over whether Lichtenberg would finally trip over his microphone cord and tumble off the stage.

Such worries were thankfully unfounded as Lichtenberg did not falter, neither in his footing nor in his performance in the competition.

Lichtenberg beat out Seth Harwood, author of the novel Jack Wakes Up, in a head-to-head reading competition. He then cemented his victory by besting Charlie Haas, Oakland journalist and author of the novel The Enthusiast in a rousing game of musical chairs.

D.W. Lichtenberg, one of the youngest readers ever to perform at Literary Death Match, is now the youngest reader to have won the competition (pending fact-check; 23 at official time of victory).

If you missed Literary Death Match SF, you can view videos from the match posted by Evan Karp over at Examiner.com.

You can also see D.W. Lichtenberg perform this Wednesday at the Space Gallery at 1141 Polk St. in San Francisco at the release party for his new book, The Ancient Book of Hip. DWL will be doing some other bay-area readings, found at: http://www.dwlichtenberg.com/readings

-Keely, Fourteen Hills Staff