Litquake, the biggest literary event in the Bay Area, returns to the streets in 2021 as a half-virtual, half-indoors amalgam of talks, readings and panels. Some of the many, many guests include Isabel Allende, Tommy Orange, Dave Eggers, Chang-rae Lee and Paul Auster.
The festival opens Oct. 7 with a “masked ball” at St. Joseph’s Arts Society, and then continues on for the next two weeks with back-to-back events. Highlights include the “Litquake Out Loud” BIPOC and LGBTQ+ author showcase, a screening of the upcoming documentary The Capote Tapes, and returning favorite “Word/Jazz,” a beatnik-inspired evening of poetry with improvised accompaniment.
The iconic Lit Crawl also returns after going virtual during the pandemic, and will take place, as customary, at various locations around San Francisco’s Mission District, with festival-goers stumbling between venues like barflies. This year’s Crawl includes events put on by literary journal ZYZZYVA, LGBTQ+ newspaper Bay Area Reporter and—full disclosure—KQED.
Events are a mix of ticketed and free of charge. All indoors events require masks and proof of vaccination.
Litquake runs Oct. 7–23. Details here.
