Grace Notes: Poetry at Grace Cathedral Wednesday April 23 · 7:30pm Grace Cathedral · 1100 California St, SF CA
Celebrate National Poetry Month with us! Returning for our 10th year to this gloriously Gothic space, enjoy a special evening of exalted verse with poetry in the pews from a distinguished roster of poets. Curated and hosted by D.A. Powelland PreetiVangani, four celebrated poets will share their work: Armen Davoudian, Rachel Richardson, Maw Shein Win, and Matthew Zapruder. A book sale and signing will follow the readings. Book sales provided by Green Apple Books. FREE, $5-10 suggested donation.
History and Healing: A Celebration of AAPI Heritage Month Wednesday April 30 · 6:30pm SFPL Main Branch · 100 Larkin St, SF
Co-presented with Heyday Books
Join Litquake and Heyday Books at the San Francisco Public Library as we kick off Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month with a very special conversation that celebrates AAPI history while also offering hope and healing for our current moment.
Authors Karen Fang and Satsuki Ina have brought to life remarkable true stories from twentieth-century Asian American history. In her memoir The Poet and the Silk Girl, Ina pieces together secret letters, diary entries, photographs, and haiku to craft the love story of her parents, who were newlyweds when incarcerated at Tule Lake and other prison camps during WWII. In Background Artist, Fang reclaims the overlooked story of Tyrus Wong, a Chinese immigrant who became an accomplished muralist, Hallmark card designer, and artist for Warner Brothers and Disney studios—despite frequent hostilities and restrictions and without receiving proper credit.
The echoes of historical injustices still reverberate today, so this conversation will also give contemporary Asian Americans and their allies powerful tools to encourage recovery, resilience, and hope for the future. In Louder than the Lies, artist and educator Ellie Yang Camp offers context, compassion, and concrete tactics for building understanding and creating coalitions to combat continued racism. And in The Healing Trauma Workbook for Asian Americans, clinical psychologist Helen H. Hsu presents culturally informed treatment methods to contend with trauma, build resilience, and forge strength in Asian American identities. Moderator Dora Wang, a psychiatrist and memoirist (author of The Kitchen Shrink) will guide this empowering and illuminating discussion. FREE
Who are those quirky Frenchies behind the BART short story machines? With their quarterly publication—Short Circuit—Short Édition seeks to inspire, delight, move, and challenge readers, transporting them beyond their daily routines, even if just for a few minutes. If you have unpublished short stories of 8,000 characters maximum—whether creative nonfiction, fiction, comics, or works for children aged 6 to 14—Short Édition invites you to submit for a chance at international publication!
We're SO excited to co-present these literary-inflected films at this year's stellar SFFILM Festival (April 17-27) along with these discount codes for the Litquake loyal. Harvest (dir. Athina Rachel Tsangari)—Discount code: AB938JY Middle Ages-set film observes the upheaval residents of a village face when capitalist dynamics come to town, based on Jim Crace's novel of the same name. Rains Over Babel (dir. Gala del Sol)—Discount code: AH483EH A tropical, neon-lit bar filled with colorful figures, drag queens throwing shade, and the Grim Reaper herself sets the stage for an epic life-and-death adventure.
About Litquake 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. 2025 Dates: Oct. 9-25. www.litquake.org
Litquake is grateful for the support of the following funders who help make our programming possible. Institutional Giving: Alta: Journal of Alta California, Amazon Literary Partnership, Bernard Osher Foundation, California Arts Council, California Humanities, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, Center for the Art of Translation, Grants for the Arts, Government of Ireland Emigrant Support Programme, HarperOne, Hawthornden Foundation, Joseph and Vera Long Foundation, Margaret and William R. Hearst III Foundation, Mary A. Crocker Trust, Miner Anderson Family Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Rock Foundation, Norway House, Sam Mazza Foundation, San Francisco Grants for the Arts, Zellerbach Family Foundation; Individual Giving: Jared Bhatti, Lisa Brown and Daniel Handler, Frances Dinkelspiel and Gary Wayne, Karyn DiGiorgio and Steve Sattler, Scott James and Gerald Cain, Nion McEvoy and Leslie Berriman, Greg Sarris, and Ellen Ullman Media Sponsors: San Francisco Chronicle, Publishers Weekly, 7x7, KALW, KEXP, KQED, SF Arts Monthly, Bay Area Reporter, Johnny Funcheap.
