Litquake's Lit Cast

To celebrate our 100th(!) episode, we've got an extra-special recording from Litquake’s 2018 festival: an evening of freewheeling conversation between San Francisco literary legends Amy Tan and Armistead Maupin. Bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club and The Valley of Amazement, Amy Tan’s most recent novel is Where the Past Begins; Armistead Maupin, whose series Tales of the City helped change our cultural conversation about being gay in America, has just released the paperback edition of Logical Family. This event was recorded live at the Swedish American Hall on October 19, 2018. Litquake's 20th anniversary festival will take place October 10-19, 2019. For all the latest updates, follow us @litquake on Facebook and Twitter!    

Fantasy and science fiction stories have long embraced the darker themes of a dystopian future. Do these narratives speak to our fears of what the future will bring, or do they reflect the current reality in which the authors live and write? Is futuristic fiction pure escapism, or can it alter our destiny? In this episode of Lit Cast Live, Bay Area authors Charlie Jane Anders (All the Birds in the Sky; The City in the Middle of the Night), and Meg Elison (The Book of the Unnamed Midwife) explore these questions and more in a discussion moderated by Nilgun Bayraktar, a writer and professor at California College of the Arts. This Litquake event was recorded live at the San Francisco Public Library during their Night of Ideas on February 2, 2019. Note - due to technical issues at the time of recording, the audio for some parts of this this episode may appear slightly distorted. Lit Cast greatly appreciates our listeners understanding. 

A rising star in today’s Nigerian novel boom, the trans and non-binary Akwaeke Emezi has brought us Freshwater, an autobiographical debut written with stylistic brilliance, exploring the metaphysics of identity and being, plunging the reader into the mysteries of self. Emezi was named one of the National Book Foundation's '5 under 35' for 2018 and Freshwater was long-listed for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize. In convo with Whiting Award-winning novelist Esmé Weijun Wang. Recorded live at the Museum of African Diaspora during Litquake Festival 2018. Sponsored by California College of the Arts.

Back in the summer, author Melissa Broder dropped into The Bindery to read and discuss her hilarious debut novel, The Pisces, and we were there to capture it. “A modern-day mythology for women on the verge,” according to the New York Times, The Pisces is the absrud and erotic recounting of one woman’s star-crossed relationship with a folkloric beau. Broder is the author of the essay collection So Sad Today and four poetry collections, including Last Sext. She writes the "So Sad Today" column at Vice, the astrology column for Lenny Letter, and the "Beauty and Death" column on Elle.com. In conversation with The Millions editor and The Golden State novelist, Lydia Kiesling. Recorded live at The Bindery.

Litquake's "Lit Cast Live" series of events at Bay Area bookstores continues with Elaine Castillo and her debut novel, "America Is Not The Heart". In illuminating the violent political history of the Philippines in the 1980s and 1990s and the insular immigrant communities that spring up in the suburban United States, Castillo delivers an incisive and powerful story about the promise of the American dream and the unshakable power of the past. This appearance was recorded live at Green Apple Books on the Park in San Francisco. Sponsored by California College of the Arts. ww.facebook.com/litquake  https://twitter.com/Litquake

Litquake's "Lit Cast Live" series of events at Bay Area bookstores continues with Sloane Crosley, New York Times–bestselling author of "Look Alive Out There"―a brand-new collection of essays filled with her trademark hilarity, wit, and charm. The characteristic heart and punch-packing observations are back, but with a newfound coat of maturity. A thin coat. More of a blazer, really. In conversation with Daniel Mallory Ortberg. This appearance was recorded live at Green Apple Books on the Park in San Francisco.  ww.facebook.com/litquake  https://twitter.com/Litquake  

Litquake's "Lit Cast Live" series of events at Bay Area bookstores continues with the charming, witty, and always-incisive Meg Wolitzer and her new novel The Female Persuasion, which chronicles the highs and lows of power, loyalty, hero worship, womanhood and ambition.  At its heart, The Female Persuasion is about the flame we all believe is flickering inside of us, waiting to be seen and fanned by the right person at the right time. This appearance was recorded live at The Bindery in San Francisco.  ww.facebook.com/litquake  https://twitter.com/Litquake  

Litquake's "Lit Cast Live" series of events at Bay Area bookstores continues with the daring and wise, hilarious and tender, Cheston Knapp and his exhilarating collection of seven linked essays, Up Up, Down Down, which tackles the Big Questions through seemingly unlikely avenues. Taken together, the essays in Up Up, Down Down amount to a chronicle of Knapp’s coming-of-age, a young man’s journey into adulthood, late-onset as it might appear. He presents us with formative experiences from his childhood to marriage that echo throughout the collection, and ultimately tilts at what may be the Biggest Q of them all: what are the hazards of becoming who you are?This appearance was recorded live at Green Apple on the Park in San Francisco. Sponsored by California College of the Arts. https://www.facebook.com/litquake  https://twitter.com/Litquake  

Litquake's "Lit Cast Live" series of events at Bay Area bookstores continues with Samantha Irby on tour for her second essay collection, MEATY. After attracting thousands of loyal readers to her notoriously hilarious blog, bitchesgottaeat.com, Samantha Irby first exploded onto the printed page with WE ARE NEVER MEETING IN REAL LIFE, her debut collection of essays about trying to laugh her way through failed relationships, taco feasts, bouts with Crohn's disease, and more. Every essay is crafted with that distinctive voice hailed by Kirkus Reviews as "raunchy, funny, and vivid...strap in and get ready for a roller-coaster ride to remember." This appearance was recorded live at The Booksmith in San Francisco. Sponsored by California College of the Arts. https://www.facebook.com/litquake  https://twitter.com/Litquake

Litquake's "Lit Cast Live" series of events at Bay Area bookstores continues with Leslie Jamison, on tour for her new book THE RECOVERING: Intoxication and its Aftermath. Jamison has been compared to such iconic writers as Joan Didion and Susan Sontag. Yet her utterly singular voice also offers something new. With enormous empathy and wisdom, Jamison has given us nothing less than the story of addiction and recovery in America writ large, a definitive and revelatory account that will resonate for years to come. This appearance was recorded live at Green Apple Books on the Park in San Francisco. Sponsored by California College of the Arts. https://www.facebook.com/litquake  https://twitter.com/Litquake

Litquake's "Lit Cast Live" series of events at Bay Area bookstores continues with Morgan Jerkins, on tour for her new book THIS WILL BE MY UNDOING: Living at the Intersection of Black, Female, and Feminist in (White) America. This highly-anticipated collection of linked essays interweaves Jerkins' incisive commentary on pop culture, feminism, black history, misogyny, and racism with her own experiences to confront the very real challenges of being a black woman today. Jenkins is currently a contributing editor at Catapult and a Book of the Month judge. This appearance was recorded live at The Booksmith in San Francisco. Sponsored by California College of the Arts. https://www.facebook.com/litquake  https://twitter.com/Litquake

Litquake's "Lit Cast Live" series of events at Bay Area bookstores continues with Leni Zumas, on tour for her novel RED CLOCKS. The New York Times describes Zumas as having "a perfectly tuned ear for the way measures to restrict lives and enforce social confirmity are couched in the moralizing sentimentalism of children's needs" and her novel "a clear and well-constructed extrapolation of the current debate." RED CLOCKS is Zumas's second novel, following her darkly funny debut THE LISTENERS in 2012. This appearance was recorded live at The Booksmith in San Francisco.  https://www.facebook.com/litquake  https://twitter.com/Litquake

Litquake's "Lit Cast Live" series of events at Bay Area bookstores continues with Chloe Benjamin, on tour for her novel THE IMMORTALISTS, described by The Guardian as "not just a novel about grief; it conjures characters with such dimension that you mourn them too, a magic rare enough to leave one astonished." THE IMMORTALISTS is Benjamin's second novel, following her award-winning debut THE ANATOMY OF DREAMS in 2014. This appearance was recorded live at Green Apple Books on the Park in San Francisco.  https://www.facebook.com/litquake  https://twitter.com/Litquake

The science is unequivocal: Earth is getting hotter, endangering human civilization as well as myriad species of plants and animals. But individuals, businesses, cities and states can still take action to ensure a future for our children and grandchildren. Former Sierra Club president Carl Pope ("Climate of Hope: How Cities, Businesses and Citizens Can Save the Planet") and award-winning journalist Mark Hertsgaard ("Hot: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth") discuss. Recorded live as part of the Litquake festival, at the American Bookbinders Museum in San Francisco. https://www.facebook.com/litquake  https://twitter.com/Litquake

With a career spanning more than four decades, Loudon Wainwright III has established himself as one of America's most enduring singer-songwriters. His songs can be laugh-out-loud funny, but they also can cut to the bone. This past October, he discussed his memoir "Liner Notes: On Parents & Children, Exes & Excess, Death & Decay, & a Few of My Other Favorite Things," with musician Chuck Prophet. Plus, a few songs! Recorded live as part of the Litquake festival, at the Swedish American Hall in San Francisco. https://www.facebook.com/litquake  https://twitter.com/Litquake

In 2017, San Francisco's 13th Annual One City One Book committee selected "Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party," a bold, engrossing, and richly detailed examination of the revolutionary Black Panther movement, and its disastrous unraveling. This past October, co-author Waldo E. Martin, Jr. discussed the book and the Party's political dynamics with writer/curator D. Scot Miller. Recorded live as part of the Litquake festival, at the American Bookbinders Museum in San Francisco. https://www.facebook.com/litquake  https://twitter.com/Litquake

Since 1986, Houghton Mifflin's The Best American Essays has delivered an annual treasure trove of fine writing and thought-provoking essays selected from hundreds of magazines, journals, and websites. This past October, Litquake assembled a stellar gathering of some of California's leading contemporary essayists, and contributors to the anthology. With readings from Kendra Atleework, Richard M. Lange, Angela Morales, Karen Palmer, Jose Antonio Vargas, and Alia Volz. Recorded live as part of the Litquake festival, at the American Bookbinders Museum in San Francisco. https://www.facebook.com/litquake  https://twitter.com/Litquake

Never before has our commander-in-chief’s behavior been so puzzling, so laughable, so…troubled? This October the Litquake festival assembled a panel of experts to shed some light on the president's fundamental shortcomings. Senator Barbara Boxer addresses his political naiveté, linguist and NPR contributor Geoffrey Nunberg helps parse his verbal tics, psychiatrist Dr. Dee Mosbacher sheds light on his mental state, and comedian Will Durst talks about finding humor in this unfunny crisis. Moderated by journalist and author David Talbot. Recorded live as part of the Litquake festival, at the Swedish American Hall in San Francisco. https://www.facebook.com/litquake  https://twitter.com/Litquake

Litquake's "Lit Cast Live" series of events at Bay Area bookstores continues with Eugene Lim, author of the novel Dear Cyborgs. Entwining comic-book villains with cultural critiques, Lim creates a fleet-footed literary exploration of power, friendship, and creativity. Ambitious and knowing, Dear Cyborgs combines detective pulps, subversive philosophy, and Hollywood chase scenes, unfolding like the composites and revelations of a dream. In conversation with author Mauro Javier Cardenas, and recorded live at Green Apple Books on the Park in San Francisco. https://www.facebook.com/litquake  https://twitter.com/Litquake

Litquake's "Lit Cast Live" series of events at Bay Area bookstores continues with Tom Perrotta, on tour for his novel MRS. FLETCHER, described by The New York Times as "the sweetest and most charming novel about pornography addiction and the harrowing issues of sexual consent that you will probably ever read." Best known for his novels turned into film and TV -- ELECTION, LITTLE CHILDREN, and THE LEFTOVERS -- Perrotta feels most comfortable when uncomfortable, and has said, "As writers, we need to go into territory that confuses us, or scares us, or that we're conflicted about." This appearance was recorded live at Book Passage Ferry Building in San Francisco. https://www.facebook.com/litquake  https://twitter.com/Litquake