The Brooklyn-based independent bookstore Word has created a literary basketball league, running pale, computer-bound, and shy writers up and down the chain-link courts of Brooklyn.

According to Stephanie Anderson, the manager at Word, the league began as bookstore workers were inventing basketball teams for famous writers: names like the Updike Wasps or the Hemingway Marlins. Pretty soon, they had enough real-life players for a team.

Beware: if you want to join the league, you have to pass a literary test first. All the details are here: "We're starting a summer basketball league. Not quite sure what format, yet--that'll be determined by how many people join up. But we've got American Playground across Franklin Street and we are determined to use it. Both men and women are welcome. The league will play from May to August, and we'll do our best to work with everybody's schedules."