Hello Litquakers,
Our festival is, first and foremost, a collaboration. We work with hundreds of people who make art happen throughout the Bay Area, because we believe that through these partnerships, we can better represent the totality of our cultural ecosystem. From pun-offs and improvised storytelling to debut book launches and discussions with Pulitzer Prize winners, these connections continue to shape us for the better.
One of our many ways of connecting with the ever-shifting literary community is through Litquake Out Loud. This free, outdoor series highlights the Bay Area’s BIPOC & LGBTQ+ writers and publishers by putting our resources into the hands of guest curators, who in turn produce a vibrant, dynamic weekend of festival events.
Find out more about this year’s Litquake Out Loud curators below, and head to litquake.org for more information on our full festival schedule. |
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Litquake Out Loud: Sistahs Taking Root Among The Stars
Saturday, October 12-1:15pm
700 Mission St, San Francisco, CA
In Earthseed—a religion introduced in the Octavia E. Butler novel Parable of the Sower—the destiny of humanity is to take root among the stars. Inspired by Butler's words, AÏMA the DRMR and Angela Dalton will guide the audience on a journey to plant their first seeds using the tools of history, multimedia, music, and interactive dialogue. This lineup was assembled by guest curator Sistah Scifi and its founder Isis Asare.
Isis Asare is the founder of Sistah Scifi, the first Black owned bookstore in the United States focused on science fiction and fantasy. She is a queer Afrofuturist, serial technology entrepreneur, and lover of community, yoga, and all things Black culture. Isis is an alum of Stanford University, Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, and Columbia Business School where they earned a bachelor's degree in psychology, masters in public policy, and MBA respectively.
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Litquake Out Loud: Jenny Qi
Saturday, October 1:45-3pm
700 Mission St, San Francisco, CA
These local writers are each deeply involved in using their literary prowess to cultivate the next generation of artists. This lineup was assembled by guest curator Jenny Qi.
Jenny Qi is the author of Focal Point, winner of the 2020 Steel Toe Books Poetry Prize. Her essays and poems have been published in The New York Times, The Atlantic, ZYZZYVA and elsewhere, and she has received support from such organizations as Tin House, Kearny Street Workshop, and the San Francisco Writers Grotto. Jenny lives in San Francisco, where she completed her Ph.D. in Cancer Biology. |
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Litquake Out Loud: Madeleine Cravens
Saturday, October 3:30-4:45pm
700 Mission St, San Francisco, CA
In their poems, novels, and short stories, these writers deftly merge lyric and narrative, a sense of playfulness with an intensity of subject matter. Reading their work is a reminder that writing, at its best, is an act of enchanting a reader, of winning someone over through a voice that is authentic and true. This lineup was assembled by guest curator Madeleine Cravens.
Madeleine Cravens is a 2022–2024 Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. Her debut collection of poetry, Pleasure Principle, is forthcoming from Scribner in June 2024. |
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| Litquake Out Loud: Full Circle With Giovanna Lomanto
Sunday, October 12-1:15pm
700 Mission St, San Francisco, CA
Full Circle is a celebration of authors who have found their way to who they are through community, care, and creativity. These poets will be reading pieces that reflect on their beginnings and find parallels with their present. This lineup was assembled by guest curator Giovanna Lomanto.
Giovanna Lomanto is a Pushcart Prize–nominated poet and visual artist. She has published two full-length poetry collections, a limited art edition, and two chapbooks. She is a recent MFA graduate at NYU, and her work has been supported by U.C. Berkeley, KQED, and the SFMOMA archive. Currently, she hosts The Living Room Series & Salon in San Francisco, and performs at various arts & culture events. She lives in Oakland with her partner and their lion head bunny Maggie. |
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| Litquake Out Loud: Black Freighter Press
Sunday, October 1:45-3pm
700 Mission St, San Francisco, CA
Black Freighter Press is committed to the exploration of liberation by using art to transform consciousness and acting as a platform for Black and Brown writers to honor ancestry and propel radical imagination. Black Freighter Press aims to create a world where the collective determines cultural reality. This lineup was assembled by guest curator Alie Jones, co-founder of Black Freighter Press.
Alie Jones is a self-care advocate, writer, artist, and Creole mermaid. She is Co-founder and Director of Black Freighter Press, as well as a founder of Bodacious Bombshells, a wellness collective in Oakland. Alie holds an MFA in Creative Writing and Literature from Mills College, as well as a MPA from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and a BA in Cinematic Arts & Technology from CSU Monterey Bay. Her work on Black Mental Health and self-care has been featured on Afropunk, xoNecole, and Medium. |
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Litquake Out Loud: El Martillo Press
Sunday, October 3:15-4:45pm
700 Mission St, San Francisco, CA
Founded in 2023 by Matt Sedillo and David A. Romero, and launched with a diverse group of writers who embody a working-class intellectual spirit, El Martillo Press publishes writers whose pens strike the page with clear intent; words with purpose to pry apart assumed norms and to hammer away at injustice. This lineup was assembled by guest curator Matt Sedillo.
Matt Sedillo has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Axios, and the Associated Press, among other publications. Sedillo has spoken at numerous conferences and forums such as the National Association of Chicana/Chicano Studies, the Left Forum, the US Social Forum, and at over a hundred universities and colleges. Matt Sedillo is the author of Mowing Leaves of Grass (2019) and City on the Second Floor (2022). Sedillo is the current literary director of The Mexican Cultural Institute of Los Angeles and a co-founder of El Martillo Press. |
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Lit Crawl returns to San Francisco’s Mission District Saturday, October 21!
Our full schedule of over 40 additional FREE events will be in your inbox and on our website next Tuesday. Stay tuned! |
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Litquake Weekly Literary news, upcoming events, and whatever else we’re looking at...
“From cooking Japanese izakaya at home with Rintaro chef Sylvan Mishima Brackett to solving mysteries with beloved SF illustrator/author Paul Madonna, here are eight Bay Area books we're reading this fall.” It’s the beginning of Fall listicle season • 7x7
“Of course, some people will freak out about seeing a book on weed for young readers. They think that by banning books about tough topics that those topics won’t enter the lives of kids, but that’s not the case.” Caitlin Donohue’s new book for young adults explores 17 diverse experiences with cannabis • KQED
“Michael Chabon and other decorated writers of books and screenplays sued Meta on Tuesday in California federal court, accusing the company of copyright infringement for harvesting mass quantities of books across the web...” What should and shouldn’t be used to teach AI? The next battle in the war between artists and AI is upon us • Esquire
“The Wright brothers had conducted their first airplane flight the year prior to when the overdue book was last in the Massachusetts library.” A book overdue by 119 years finally returns home • HuffPost
“From historical novels that sound like the modern news cycle to nonfiction research that reads like science fiction and contemporary settings that take a twist toward the speculative, these books will make you click your heels three times...” 12 uncanny books for the shifting seasons • wbur |
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