Litquake's Lit Cast

Litquake is proud to co-present the monthly Poetic Tuesday series, our summertime collaboration with the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, showcasing top Bay Area poets and musicians. This episode was recorded on May 12, and features Tria Andrews, Rebecca Foust, Bill Mayer, Bruce Snider, and musical guest Naima Shalhoub. Recorded live at Jessie Square in downtown San Francisco.

Litquake is proud to host the San Francisco launch of "The Argonauts," the new genre-bending memoir by Maggie Nelson. Writing in the spirit of public intellectuals such as Susan Sontag and Roland Barthes, Nelson binds her personal experience to a rigorous exploration of what iconic theorists have said about sexuality, gender, and the vexed institutions of marriage and child-rearing. In conversation with fiction writer Lucy Corin. Recorded live at Litquake’s Epicenter in San Francisco, and co-presented by Green Apple Books.      

Litquake is proud to host the San Francisco launch of "All Ths Life," the newest novel by Joshua Mohr, which examines the dangerous intersection of reality and the imaginary, where coding and technology seek to highlight and augment our already flawed human connections. In conversation with Litquake co-founder Jack Boulware. Recorded live at Litquake’s Epicenter in San Francisco, and co-presented by Green Apple Books.

Litquake is honored to host the San Francisco launch of "Valley Fever," the newest novel by Katherine Taylor, set amid the wine country of Fresno, California. In conversation with journalist/author Frances Dinkelspiel. Recorded live at Litquake’s Epicenter in San Francisco, and co-presented by Green Apple Books.

Litquake is honored to host the comedian, writer, director and legendary Kid in the Hall Bruce McCulloch as he discusses his newest book, "Let's Start a Riot: How A Young Drunk Punk Became A Hollywood Dad," with writer/musician Paul Myers. Recorded live at Litquake’s Epicenter in San Francisco, and co-presented by Green Apple Books.

Litquake is honored to host the legendary actor/activist/author Peter Coyote as he discusses the release of his new spiritual biography, “The Rainman's Third Cure: An Irregular Education,” with Center for Investigative Reporting board chairman Phil Bronstein. Recorded live at Litquake’s Epicenter in San Francisco, and co-presented by Green Apple Books.

Litquake is honored to host the acclaimed bestselling author Joyce Carol Oates as she discusses the release of her newest psychological noir thriller “Jack of Spades,” with award-winning novelist Cornelia Nixon. Recorded live at Litquake’s Epicenter in San Francisco, and co-presented by Green Apple Books.

International bestselling author David Vann discusses the hardback release of his newest novel “Aquarium,” with acclaimed writer Tom Barbash (“Stay Up with Me”). Recorded live at Litquake’s Epicenter in San Francisco, in March 2015, and co-presented by Green Apple Books.

New York Times bestselling author Lisa See discusses the paperback release of her newest novel, “China Dolls,” set in the Asian nightlife of San Francisco’s Chinatown, with acclaimed novelist Lalita Tademy (“Cane River”). Recorded live at Litquake’s Epicenter in San Francisco, in March 2015, and co-presented by the Chinese Historical Society of America.

Launch event for DRIVEL, Litquake's first book, edited by Julia Scott. Great authors share their earliest, worst writings! Hear excerpts from this hilarious collection read aloud by everyone from Peter Orner to Andrew Sean Greer. Co-presented by the SF Writers' Grotto, and recorded live at Z Space during Litquake 2014. More book details at litquake.org/drivel.

Stephan Eirik Clark discusses his debut novel “Sweetness #9,” with essayist/author Joe Loya.  A former Fulbright Fellow to Ukraine, Clark is also author of the short story collection “Vladimir's Mustache,” and teaches English at Augsburg College in Minneapolis. Recorded live at Litquake’s Epicenter in San Francisco, 2014.

As transnational writers who both emigrated to the United States in their youth, Nigerian author Chinelo Okparanta and Zimbabwean author NoViolet Bulawayo interrogate the meaning of home and writing across continents, and redefine diaspora literature for a new generation. Conversation moderated by Sarah Ladipo Manyika, with music provided by Emmanuel Nado of KALW’s AfricaMix. Conversation recorded live at San Francisco’s Museum of the African Diaspora during Litquake 2014. 

For three decades, Marc Maron has been writing and performing raw, honest and thought-provoking comedy for print, stage, radio, online and television. His WTF podcast has become a worldwide phenomenon, regularly hitting #1 on the iTunes charts, and his most recent essay collection is the bestselling "Attempting Normal." In conversation with Litquake executive director Jack Boulware. Recorded live at Z Space during Litquake: San Francisco's Literary Festival on October 12, 2014.

Emma Donoghue, the author of Room (which sold over two million copies, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the Orange Prize, and featured on several best of the year lists), discusses Frog Music, her new murder mystery set in San Francisco. In conversation with playwright and author of seven novels, Jewelle Gomez (The Gilda Stories). Recorded live at Z Space during Litquake: San Francisco's Literary Festival on October 13, 2014.

Bestselling author Nicholson Baker discusses libraries, lawsuits, life in Maine, and his recent novels The Anthologistand Traveling Sprinkler. Baker is the author of ten novels, including Vox and The Fermata, and five works of nonfiction, including Human Smoke and Double Fold (winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award). In conversation with San Francisco writer and critic Steven Winn. Recorded live at Z Space during Litquake: San Francisco’s Literary Festival on October 15, 2014.

Litquake is proud to host the launch of Geoff Dyer’s new nonfiction book, Another Great Day at Sea, at our Epicenter. This event also marks the U.S. release of his first two novels, The Colour of Memory and The Search. In conversation with journalist Chris Colin. Recorded live at the Hotel Rex in San Francisco.

Edan Lepucki is the author of California, which became the #1 bestseller on Powells.com after being praised by Stephen Colbert. A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a staff writer for The Millions, she has had short fiction published in McSweeney’s and Narrative magazine, and she is the founder and director of Writing Workshops Los Angeles. In conversation with John McMurtrie, book editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, whose writing has appeared in the Boston Globe, Washington Post, Toronto Globe and Mail, and the International Herald Tribune. Recorded live to a sold-out audience in San Francisco on August 5, 2014.

Brad Stone is the author of The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon, winner of the 2013 Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award, and chosen as a Best Book of 2013 by The Washington Post, Forbes, The New Republic, and Gizmodo, and as one of the Top 10 Investigative Journalism Books of 2013 by Nieman Reports. Bridget Kinsella has covered book publishing for over 20 years as a Publishers Weekly editor and a contributor to Shelf Awareness. She is the author of the nonfiction book Visiting Life: Women Doing Time on the Outside. Recorded live in San Francisco on June 18, 2014.

When Grantland magazine sent Colson Whitehead to cover the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, the award-winning novelist realized it was the assignment of a lifetime, and he satirizes his experience in the latest release The Noble Hustle: Poker, Beef Jerky & Death. Whitehead is the author of the novels The Intuitionist, John Henry Days, Apex Hides the Hurt, and Sag Harbor and a collection of essays The Colossus of New York. In conversation with T. Geronimo Johnson, author of the novel Hold It ‘Til It Hurts. Recorded live at Litquake’s Epicenter at Hotel Rex in San Francisco on May 15, 2014.

Kaui Hart Hemmings’ highly anticipated new novel The Possibilities was the subject of our May Epicenter. Her first novel, The Descendants, has been published in 20 countries and was made into an Oscar-winning film directed by Alexander Payne and starring George Clooney. Hemmings discusses her writing with Michelle Richmond, bestselling author of Golden State, The Year of Fog, No One You Know, Dream of the Blue Room, and the award-winning The Girl in the Fall-Away Dress. Recorded live at Hotel Rex in San Francisco on May 13, 2014.