LOS ANGELES 1, NEW YORKER 0

Canteen is thrilled to announce Outwrite, our new reading series and competition. One part American Idol, one part Iowa MFA workshop, Outwrite lets aspiring writers go up against established authors on a level playing field.

The inaugural event took place on April 12, 2010, in front of a packed house at L.A.’s Skylight Books. Dana Goodyear, poet and New Yorker staff writer, took on literary debutantes Bradley Spinelli and A. Wolfe.

While acclaimed memoirist and novelist Joyce Maynard (To Die For, At Home in the World) read to the audience for 15 minutes, our contestants madly wrote a response to the evening’s topic: “There’s a good explanation for those Internet searches you found on my computer.” A. Wolfe’s entry got the most applause and took the grand prize. Congratulations, A. Wolfe!

View photos from Outwrite L.A. here.

Outwrite will travel soon to New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. Specific dates will be announced shortly.

Want to be a competitor? Join Canteen’s mailing list or follow us on Twitter or Facebook.

Want to host an event? Please contact us.