Last night I had the chance to attend A Better Bee, a spelling bee with literary celebrities to benefit the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses.

The event was held in what seemed to be an artists’ space on 36th and 10th, which is a kind of desolate area if you haven’t been there, not the place to walk around with your headphones on at night. Among the famous scribes being put to the test were Billy Collins, Paul La Farge, Rick Moody, Sigird Nunez, and Meg Wolitzer.

As word after erudite word was lobbed at the spellers, I realized my vocabulary could stand some beefing up. But now forever emblazoned on my brain are not just the spellings but also the definitations of such gems as macaque, pukka, and the word that made Village Voice food writer Robert Sietsema last night’s winner, bezoar.

After the bee, there was a musical performance by the Wingdale Community Singers, featuring Rick Moody, author of Demonology, The Ice Storm, and Garden State. We didn’t stay though Moody is hot in an arrogant-Michael Stipe kind of way.

Upcoming CLMP events include their Literary Writers Conference, November 2-4, co-sponsored by the New School, and their Periodically Speaking reading series, the next installment of which is on November 14 and features emerging writers.