Hello Litquakers,
We’re celebrating the start of Litquake in just two weeks with our first-ever Literary Night Market! Come party with us while you sip complimentary drinks, sample foods from across the Bay, rub shoulders with featured authors, and, of course, buy books. We can’t wait!
Until then, you’ll be hearing from us a bit more, as we try to help parse out all of the must-see events in this year’s stellar lineup. Check out a few of them below. |
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In the great tradition of San Francisco jazz and spoken-word basement readings first forged by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Kenneth Rexroth, and Bob Kaufman, Litquake is proud to bring back this festival favorite, showcasing world-class poets accompanied by improvised music created on the spot.
Featuring San Francisco Poet Laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin, Oakland Poet Laureate Ayodele "WordSlanger" Nzinga, Darius Simpson, and special guest Chiamaka Enyi-Amadi, with music from the Broun Fellinis. |
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For bestselling author Ingrid Rojas Contreras, magic runs in the family. Raised amidst the political violence of 1980s and '90s Colombia, her home was filled with her mother's fortune-telling clients, while her maternal grandfather, Nono, was a renowned curandero, a community healer who could tell the future, treat the sick, and move the clouds. In 2012, she returned to Colombia with her mother, to relearn her family history, trace her lineage back to her Indigenous and Spanish roots, and uncover the violent and rigid colonial narrative that would eventually break her mestizo family into two camps: those who believe “the secrets” are a gift, and those who are convinced they are a curse.
Ingrid Rojas Contreras discusses her new memoir The Man Who Could Move Clouds, with Colombian writer Julián Lopera. Afterwards, the two authors host a cumbia dance party with DJ Telepathic Juan. |
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In 2016, writer Jerry Stahl’s lifelong depression was at an all-time high, while his career and personal life were at an all-time low. He had an idea to go on a trip where the despair he was feeling, the acute sadness, regret, and fear, for both himself and the entire United States, would be appropriate. He decided to book a bus tour of Holocaust concentration camps. Seamlessly weaving global and personal history, through the lens of his gonzo gallows humor, Stahl’s new memoir Nein, Nein, Nein! (Akashic Books) takes us on a bizarre yet brilliant journey through Poland and Germany, where he must confront everything from genocidal horrors to generational pain, oddball fellow travelers, gang polkas, and the truly disturbing snack bar at Auschwitz.
Jerry Stahl will be in conversation with writer/actor Beth Lisick, followed by book sales and signing. |
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Litquake Weekly Literary news, upcoming events, and whatever else we’re looking at...
“Black history is the blueprint of not only Black culture, but American culture...and we are the architects, creating, influencing, impacting and documenting, story-telling, and preserving.” George McCalman’s book Illustrated Black History: Honoring the Iconic and the Unseen is out next Tuesday, September 27th. You can find him at Litquake on October 8 • San Francisco Chronicle’s Datebook
“SFPL has over 3 million books in its collection, but only a handful have the honor of being the top circulated titles across all of its libraries.” Check out the most popular books in San Francisco, according to our libraries • The San Francisco Standard
“I am going into the darkest parts of me for the most humiliating things that ever happened to me, or the most arrogant moments when I’ve shown my ego and privilege, and tearing them down, or turning them upside down.” Andrew Sean Greer discusses his brand-new book that dodges queer tropes and revisits an old character. Catch him at Litquake • LGBTQ Nation
In honor of her new historical novel On the Rooftop, Margaret Wilkerson Sexton has compiled a playlist of influential music. Take a listen here • Spotify
“In chapter after chapter, Alfred’s artists affirm that making a life from art is hard, but it can be done.” In Why I Make Art, artists reflect on their purpose, practice, philosophy on a life immersed in art • Hyperallergic |
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