Litquake 2024

Co-presented with Mechanics' Institute Library

Join Henry Hsu in conversation with Viola Buitoni, Maria Finn, Soleil Ho, Tu David Phu, and Linda Shiue for World Food Day as they delve into the profound connections between food, culture, justice, and healing. Panelists discuss how food writing advances food justice, sustainability, and equitable access to nutrition, and how narratives can drive change. They’ll also uncover the therapeutic aspects of food, considering how storytelling fosters healing and well-being. This event offers insight into the meaning that food adds to our lives, and the impact it has on our identities, societies, and health. Reception at 6:00PM, discussion at 6:30PM. $7.18 for MI members / $17.85 for nonmembers
Book sales for this event coordinated by Book Passage.

In Percival Everett’s novel Erasure and its film adaptation American Fiction, the character Monk hopes to write novels that represent the human experience, but he is advised by his publisher to “write something ‘Blacker.’” For Monk, the push and pull of artist and audience results in a rueful depiction of familial and professional lives, but at its heart, his story asks the question: what is a writer of color permitted to write about? In this panel, Pia Chatterjee, Vanessa Hua, Dominic Lim, and Yalitza Ferreras explore the question of writing beyond race in traditional publishing. FREE, $10–15 suggested donation
Book sales for this event coordinated by Clio's.

Co-presented with City Lights Booksellers & Publishers and 48 Hills

Home to the Beats, the modern environmental movement, the Hollywood dream machine, and a population of immense cultural diversity, California has—unsurprisingly—given rise to a literary culture defined by a distinctive Left Coast sensibility. This rich writerly ferment is sustained by an array of fiercely independent literary organizations devoted to the flourishing ecosystem of ideas and art. In this panel, leading voices from the Golden State's literary landscape—Heyday publisher Steve Wasserman, City Lights chief buyer Paul Yamazaki, Alta Journal’s digital editor Beth Spotswood, and Litquake co-founder Jack Boulware—explore and celebrate the cultural work that booksellers, publishers, literary journals, book clubs, and festivals do in service of California's community of readers, writers, and thinkers. Nastia Voynovskaya of KQED will lead the conversation. FREE, $10-15 suggested donation

Book sales for this event coordinated by City Lights Bookstore.