Viva Lucha Libro

Two of Austin's greatest literary minds are about to go head-to-head for the title of Champion of Austin Letters in a not-to-be-missed Lucha Libro duel.

In the blue corner, Manuel Gonzales: The author of The Miniature Wife and Other Stories has also been published in McSweeney's and served as the director of the Austin Bat Cave for the past four years. He's due to head east soon to help start a master's of fine arts program at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, and he served as one of this year's judges for the Austin Chronicle Short Story Contest. He also, we're told, occasionally bakes pies.

And in the red corner, we have Owen Egerton: The How Best to Avoid Dying author is also well-known throughout town for his exploits with Master Pancake, his Whip-In residency, and The Book of Harold. Incidentally, Egerton also served as a judge for our annual short story contest, but (fortunately, given the bitter rivalry) did so in 2013. As a Type II diabetic, he must surely resent Gonzales' pie-baking.

In between the dueling wordsmiths, there's Steph Opitz, literary director of the Texas Book Festival, who will be moderating as the competitors duke it out with their books' sexiest sentences, most offensive sections, and most obscure allusions.

It's bound to be an evening of quick wits and Belgian wits, thanks to the fact that it's all going down at the Whip-In (1950 S. I-35). With the home turf advantage and the fact that Gonzales is already planning an escape route to points east, we're hoping Egerton doesn't treat his victory as a foregone conclusion.

But the only way to know for sure? Show up and watch the whole battle go down.

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For complete details, visit the event's Facebook page.