Festivals

Litquake 2018: Words Around the World

Oct 13–14, 2018

San Francisco, California

This event has already taken place.

San Francisco endures as one of America’s original international cities. Our citizens are curious about the world. We look for cultural understanding. Enjoy a wide variety of authors and translated works from throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, and North and South America at Litquake’s Words Around the World. More information about the 2018 Litquake Festival here.

A Sense of Place

Saturday, October 13 | 12:00-1:00 pm | Swedish American Hall

Geographic sense of place informs a strong and deeply felt identity, and in the case of fiction, this place is also reflected in character, narrative, atmosphere, voice, and language. Hear novelists Carol Bensimon (We All Loved Cowboys) and Ófeigur Sigurðsson (Öræfi: The Wasteland) discuss their recent works, set respectively within a road trip through Brazil, and the desolate landscape of Iceland. Moderated by author Lucy Jane Bledsoe (Lava Falls). FREE, $5-10 suggested donation

Ireland’s Stinging Fly Magazine

Saturday, October 13 |1:30-2:30 pm | Swedish American Hall

Editor Declan Meade and contributors Wendy Erskine and Jessica Traynor help celebrate 20 years of The Stinging Fly, Ireland’s long-running literary magazine and book imprint dedicated to seeking out, publishing, and promoting the very best new Irish and international writing. FREE, $5-10 suggested donation

The Abolition of Species

Saturday, October 13 | 3:00-4:00 pm | Swedish American Hall

The world as we know it is over. After mankind’s near-extermination, a kingdom of animals harnessing biotechnology wages a multi-planetary war against a new form of artificial intelligence. So begins the grandiose, horrific, scathing, and visionary novel The Abolition of Species by German author Dietmar Dath. Hear his discussion with author Eliot Peper, and judge for yourself which comparison fits best: Samuel R. Delany, George R.R. Martin, Douglas Adams, or Philip K. Dick. FREE, $5-10 suggested donation

Marx-athon: 200 Years of Karl Marx

Saturday, October 13 | 3:30-9:00 pm | Goethe-Institut

Late capitalism. The rise of the Democrat Socialists of America. The Supreme Court busting up unions. It’s 2018, folks, and Marx just turned 200. San Francisco’s Goethe-Institut commemorates his impact on Germany and the U.S with a full-day Marx-athon of film screenings, readings, lectures, and robots. Leading scholars, activists, and artists Maddy Clifford, Dietmar Dath, Alejandro Murguía, Mighty Mike McGee, and Kal Spelletich will share why Marx endures and how his ideas apply to our current cultural and social climate. FREE

3:30pm: Screenings of the films System Error (2018) and News from Ideological Antiquity (2008)

5pm: Event kick-off with birthday cake and robots

6-9pm: Marx-athon programming

Family

Sunday, October 14 | 12:00-1:00 pm | Swedish American Hall

Family is what we know best, but it’s not always comfortable. This universal theme can also yield stories of horrific crime, institutionalized children, and accidental death. Authors Emer Martin, Kagiso Lesego Molope, and Jaap Robben discuss family dynamics of their recent books set in Ireland, South Africa, and an unnamed island somewhere between Scotland and Norway. FREE, $5-10 suggested donation

War & Espionage

Sunday, October 14 | 1:30-2:30 pm | Swedish American Hall

In the 1930s, Axis governments began scurrying around the globe to spy on each other, seize control of resources, and manipulate the innocent. Bestselling Swiss novelist Christian Kracht (The Dead) and American journalist Mary Jo McConahay (The Tango War: The Struggle for the Hearts, Minds and Riches of Latin America During World War II) discuss their intercontinental stories of pre-war conspiracy, intrigue, and murder. Moderated by crime writer David Corbett. FREE, $5-10 suggested donation

Belonging

Sunday, October 14 | 3:00-4:00 pm | Swedish American Hall

Novelist Kim Sagwa (Mina) and memoirist Sisonke Msimang (Always Another Country) discuss the complexities of young girls on the path to womanhood, from South Korea to South Africa, Canada, and beyond. Moderated by Laura Goode. FREE, $5-10 suggested donation

Akwaeke Emezi: Selves Are Not Gods or Spirits

Sunday, October 14 | 6:00-7:30 pm | MoAD

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. Currently long-listed for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize and the Brooklyn Public Library Literary Prize. In conversation with Whiting Award-winning novelist Esmé Weijun Wang. $10 general / $5 students, seniors, MoAD members

Craving: Esther Gerritsen & Alice Sebold

Sunday, October 14 | 7:00-8:30 pm | SF Center for the Book

Dutch author and screenwriter Esther Gerritsen makes her first appearance at Litquake to discuss the recent novel Craving, a sparse and lucid story of a woman who moves in with her dying mother, a venture that quickly sends both parties spiraling out of control. In conversation with Alice Sebold, author of The Lovely Bones. FREE, $10 suggested donation