SF Station

by Rosie Levy

You know there are lots of writers who live in the Bay Area. You see them read at bookstores, you hear them on the radio. You hear about big, huge, monster book festivals … Los Angeles … New York … and think Hey! Wait a minute here! Didn’t we used to have something a little bit like that? Couldn’t we have something even better, more distinctive and please (oh please) financially sustainable — now?

And then you hear about Litquake, and you get very, very excited.

Co-produced by local author Jack Boulware and journalist Jane Ganahl, who previously joined forces to create Litstock in ‘99 and ‘00, Litquake is a whole new ballgame, of a larger scale and with a more ambitious schedule.

According to Boulware, “We liked the idea of featuring writers who read from their works, rather than the booths-and-tables tradeshow atmosphere of other festivals. We added a panel discussion that would address the unique advantages and limitations of what it means to be a writer in San Francisco. We stressed diversity across the board, in terms of authors and communities to be represented.

“As we started the wheels in motion, the volunteers who offered assistance were and are absolutely amazing. We’ve now got substantial sponsors, 65 authors from around the Bay Area and four venues, including the Commonwealth Club and the public library. It’s a tour de force — and we don’t even have an office yet!”

Friday features a panel discussion at the Commonwealth Club with local writers including Justin Chin and Beth Lisick in conversation with SF Chronicle book editor Oscar Villalon. On Saturday, lit-lovers will take in 10-minute readings from their favorite local authors at the Main Library and the Hiram W. Johnson Building. Confirmed readers include the diverse mix of Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Susie Bright, Dave Eggers, Robert Mailer Anderson, Robert Haas, Tamim Ansary, Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket), Bharati Mukherjee, JT Leroy, and many, many more. The Saturday evening “After Shock” is a coupla pints and the inimitable Irvine Welsh reading from his recently published book, Porno, at the Edinburgh Castle.

Says Boulware, “I’d like to see Litquake as an annual event that keeps Bay Area literature in the national eye. Just because we’re thousands of miles from New York doesn’t mean we don’t produce great literature. The West Coast often gets overlooked because so much of the publishing industry is based on Manhattan. We want to wave our hands in front of their faces and say, ‘Hey, there’s people over here winning Pulitzers - wake up!’ “Someday we’ll be able to release anthologies, CDs, videos. We’ll be able to hire a year-round staff and fly in writers from all over the world. And then we’ll pull away from the United States and form our own Lord of the Flies island nation on the Farallones. Literature and great white sharks.”

Amen.

For more information and event details, visit www.litquake.org