Dear Friends, 

We hope you are staying safe and sane in these difficult, crazy-making times. 

We’re writing to remind you that Litquake is not only still here, we’re hellbent on continuing our mission to empower our community and provide connection through literature. No matter the fresh challenges of COVID-19, we remain a nimble, resilient organization built by and for a nimble, resilient people: You. 

In the few days following the Bay Area’s first shelter-in-place order, we recognized the pervasive need for a gathering, in both collective mourning and joy, and we worked quickly to make it happen. We asked you what you needed and what you could share, and Litquake on Lockdown was born: ten straight days of virtual community-oriented events. Now we’re at it again with Litquake on Lockdown events presented every week until the end of July.  

Amid news of most major festivals, literary or otherwise, shuttering for the year, we promise you there will be a Litquake Festival 2020. It will undoubtedly look like no Litquake has ever before, but the mission remains the same: bring people together around the common humanity encapsulated in literature, and perpetuate a sense of the vibrant, uniquely diverse Bay Area literary community. 
 

Join us in keeping the flame alive in these troubling times.
 

We understand that many are not in a position to give right now. We invite you to send us a kind word, share our story, or attend one of our upcoming events. YOU keep us going! 

Reinventing our future and washing our hands,

About Litquake
Litquake, San Francisco's annual literary festival, was founded by Bay Area writers in order to put on a week-long literary spectacle for book lovers, complete with cutting-edge panels, unique cross-media events, and hundreds of readings. Since its founding in 1999, the festival has presented close to 8,650 author appearances for an audience of over 183,000 in its lively and inclusive celebration of San Francisco's thriving contemporary literary scene. Litquake seeks to foster interest in literature, perpetuate a sense of literary community, and provide a vibrant forum for Bay Area writing as a complement to the city's music, film, and cultural festivals. 2020 Dates: Oct. 8-17. www.litquake.org

Litquake is grateful for the support of the following funders who help make our programming possible. Institutional Giving: California Arts Council, California College of the Arts, California Institute of Integral Studies, Center for the Art of Translation, Chronicle Books, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, Grants for the Arts, HarperOne, Margaret and William R. Hearst III Foundation, Miner Anderson Family Foundation, Mystery Writers of America, Northern California Chapter, The Bernard Osher Foundation, Stanford Continuing Studies, Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, Zellerbach Foundation. Individual Giving: Frances Dinkelspiel and Gary Wayne, Margaret and Will Hearst, Scott James and Gerald Cain, Nion McEvoy, Craig Newmark, and Nicole Miner and Robert Mailer Anderson. Media Sponsors: San Francisco Chronicle, 7 X 7, KQED, Bay Area Reporter, Johnny Funcheap, and KALW 91.7