At 8PM this Friday, May 13, Johnny Brenda’s is holding an epic battle of wits — an adult spelling bee! The Head & The Hand Press is hosting the Philly Lit Adult Spelling Bee for individuals to test their literacy skills.

The Facebook page event questions whether Philadelphia’s great writers actually have top-notch spelling skills, or whether spell check is the real mastermind — all in playful fun of course. This is being staged as  the ultimate test of knowledge as different literary organizations — or people that want to spell in support of an organization – try to figure out those big, fancy words some of us haven’t seen since the SATs.

For this 1st annual event, ten teams, each with two competitors representing an organization, will battle it out for the chance to earn the title “Majesties of Orthography” as well as receive a cash prize that will go support the growth of that organization. Money raised from ticket sales will go to The Head & The Hand.

It is not just a night for spelling either — there will be raffles for prizes including vouchers to mini-golf, The Franklin Institute, tickets to the Barnes Foundation and more. After the bee, attendees can enjoy motown jams by DJ DiuJi 13.

“We don’t always get a chance to stop and smell the roses,” The Head & The Hand Workshop Director, Zoe Gould said.

If you miss the opportunity to compete this year, you can always come and watch. The Head & The Hand would like to try and continue the competition as well, so any prospective spelling contenders can start training for next year’s bee. Order your tickets here!

“We hope people come out to see these folks. It’s a competition sure, but it’s mostly to support the literary arts,” Gould said.

The organizations currently registered are:

• Amalgam Comics
• Apiary Magazine
• Backyard Writers Workshop
• Editorial Freelancers Union
• Fuze Poetry
• Lanternfish Press
• Philebrity
• The Hatchery Reading Series
• The Head & The Hand Press