This week in San Francisco: The Rumpus Book Club meets IRL, Litquake!, art at Benders, Litquake (Ferlinghetti style), and Barely Published Authors (AKA Litquake!).
Monday 9/27: Are you a member of The Rumpus Book Club yet? Want to “audit” the class before you commit to the reading assignments? Tonight at the Booksmith, the book club meets for their monthly in-person discussion. This month: Lan Samantha Chang’s All Is Forgotten, Nothing Is Lost. If you like what you see, sign up by the end of the month to receive a copy of Adam Levin’s incredibly handsome (and equally large) The Instructions. 7:30pm @ 1644 Haight Street.
Tuesday 9/28: Are you one of the many who have regaled your friends and family with conversational asides about your wonderful idea for a novel/screenplay/scintillating tell-all memoir? Put your money where your mouth is at this year’s Litquake Pitchapalooza. Participants will each have one minute to pitch their story to judges Arielle Eckstut, David Henry Sterry, and lit-musician couple Sam Barry and Kathi Kamen Goldmark, who will evaluate the pitches based on idea, style, and marketplace potential. The winner will receive a free half-hour consultation with Eckstut and Sterry, and all proceeds will benefit Litquake 2010. $10, 7pm @ 582 Market St.
Wednesday 9/29: How did former World War II combat soldier, Howard Zinn, become one of the greatest anti-war writers of the modern age? Daniel Ellsberg discusses the life and work of the late activist tonight at City Lights. City Lights’ 2010 release of Zinn’s The Bomb marks the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and a call for the abolition of all nuclear weapons. 7pm @ 261 Columbus Avenue.
Thursday 9/30: Art! Booze! DJs! Head down to Benders Bar for the Skullz Press Art Party, a Mission-style evening of stiff drinks and graphic poster art by Mike Giant. Admission is free and the art is awesome. 21+, 10pm @ 806 South Van Ness Avenue.
Friday 10/1: Celebrate eleven years of Litquake at Night of the Living Read: Litquake’s Opening Night Cocktail Party! Party with festival authors and organizers, check out new works by California tattoo artists, and be serenaded by live music based on works by well-known authors. Admission is free, and the lit-nerd cred invaluable. 21+, 5-9pm @ 111 Minna Street.
Saturday 10/2: Propelling Litquake forward with undeniably awesome momentum is this year’s Barbary Coast Award honoring Lawrence Ferlinghetti and City Lights. Holy rock stars, Batman! Look at this lineup: Patti Smith, Winona Ryder, Michael McClure, Eric Drooker, Ishmael Reed, Jack Hirschman, devorah major, Beth Lisick, and Michelle Tea, among others, will be gathered to celebrate the father of the San Francisco literary scene. Tickets $25-100, 8pm @ the Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Avenue.
Sunday 10/3: Litquake gives you yet another reason to love The Makeout Room with Barely Published Authors. Readings by Jeremy Hatch, Mimi Lok, Caitlin Myer, Andre Perry,Paul Spinrad, Ian Tuttle, Alia Volz, and Olga Zilberbourg are like a delicious appetizer to next week’s Litcrawl extravaganza. Free! 21+, 7pm @ 3225 22nd Street.
