Former Poet Laureate Billy Collins judges four local writers in Literary Death Match at Mad Cow Theatre

Cast off whatever good manners you usually put on when attending a literary event and get ready to howl for blood, because at Literary Death Match, four writers enter; one writer leaves. Look on with wonder and terror as David James Poissant, Erica Dawson, Kristen Arnett and Kristin Harmel slash and batter each other with their words; in fact, the audience is encouraged to “get rowdy,” so don’t just look on, talk some smack while the writers put the smackdown on each other. Two-time U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins (a man who understands the violence of fictitious action) will thunder down judgment from above, thumbs-up or -downing the writers as if they were a band of vying gladiators in the colosseum. You may feel a tiny bit of remorse for your fierce participation in this bookish bashfest, but don’t: The price of admission supports local publisher Burrow Press.

7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 7 | Mad Cow Theatre, 54 W. Church St. | burrowpress.com | sold out

This article appears in Oct 7-13, 2015.