From Delfin Vigil, Chronicle Staff Writer, comes this piece on the Bee-In, the spelling contest at the Crown Point Gallery, which was recently hostes as a fundraiser for Small Press Distribution in Berkeley:

Tobias Wolff summed it up best: "I believe it's a very poor writer who can't spell a word more than one way," said Wolff, who, along with a group of the Bay Area's literary illuminati, looked a bit "illiterati" at a celebrity spelling bee in San Francisco on Monday night.

Called the Bee-In, the spelling contest at the Crown Point Gallery was put together as a fundraiser for Small Press Distribution in Berkeley, which, since 1969, has been spelling "survival" for poets and writers without big book deals.

"It's amazing how quickly spelling bees can turn into a death match," the nonprofit's executive director, Jeffrey Lependorf, said as he happily watched writers such as Beth Lisick, Kemble Scott and Maxine Chernoff choke on their own vowels. "Spelling is a dirty business."

The upper-level loft gallery on Hawthorne Street was abuzz as local writers, editors, publishers and altogether bad spellers began the evening with bartender Lou Bustamante's speciality drinks, such as the Bee's Knees, a vodka and honey syrup drink that would later leave many competitors a little tongue-tied. Tickets to the sold-out event went for $50 to $250.

"I'm here because I'm a publisher and a writer. This is the scene in which I swim in," said spectator Malcolm Margolin, founder of Heyday Books, as several renditions of "I Put a Spell on You" played on a stereo in the background. "And, yes, I'm here because there's free vodka."

The bee began with "All Things Considered" commentator Laura Sydell as emcee and Chronicle Book Editor Oscar Villalon as the official judge. Both were believed to have been selected only after chickening out as contestants.

"All words selected for the Bee-In have been painstakingly researched, although the definitions have not," said Villalon, explaining the rules. "The speller may ask the judge for a definition, but the judge doesn't do sentences. Don't even think about asking for language of origin."

Read the rest of the article here.

Source: SFGate.com

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