Litquake 2018: All the Free Events
San Francisco’s legendary annual Litquake festival features hundreds of authors, poets and journalists in a myriad of separate events throughout the Bay Area.
It’s all meant to foster interest in literature for people of all ages, perpetuate a sense of literary community, and provide a vibrant forum for Bay Area writing.
Since 1999, San Francisco’s annual Litquake literary festival has drawn book lovers of all types to enjoy words and ideas, straight from the artists’ mouths.
Litquake 2018
October 11-20, 2018
All over the San Francisco Bay Area
Many events are FREE, some may have minimal fees.
Please Note: Some events require an RSVP.2018 Free Events Lineup
Thursday, 10/11
- 10 am – Kidquake: Upper Elementary
Friday, 10/12
- 10 am – Kidquake: Early Elementary
- 6: 30 pm – Literary Citizenship: Readings and Discussion
- 7 pm – In Concept: Jonathon Keats on Art, Books, and the Future, Strong Medicine: The Poetry of Addiction
Saturday, 10/13
- Noon – Words Around the World: A Sense of Place
- 1 pm – David Harris: The War Over California’s Redwoods Limited / Kristin Kaye Fresh Looks: Oakland’s First Lit & Beauty Fair
- 1:30 pm – Words Around the World: Ireland’s Stinging
- 3 pm – Family Matters: Stories of Love, Courage, and Immigration
- 3:30 pm – Marx-athon: 200 Years of Karl Marx
- 7 pm – Bodies and What to Do with Them: Virgie Tovar & Daniel Handler, Virgie Tovar / Up All Night: The Page-Turner
- 8 pm – Grace Notes: Poets at Grace Cathedral
Sunday, 10/14
- Noon – Words Around the World: Family Jack Boulware, Emer Martin, Kagiso Lesego Molope, Jaap Robben
- 1 pm – Zombies in Nature: A Conversation with Matt Simon Susan Freinkel, Matt Simon
- 1:30 pm – Words Around the World: War & Espionage
- 3 pm – Words Around the World: Belonging
- 4 pm –
North Beach Beat Walking Tour Sold Out Limited- 6 pm – Metaphors in the Mission: Poetry at Alley Cat Books
- 7 pm – Craving: Esther Gerritsen & Alice Sebold, Esther Gerritsen, Alice Sebold
Monday, 10/15
- 5:30 pm – Rags to Riches: The Bonanza King and Nevada’s Comstock Lode Limited Kevin Hunsanger, Gregory Crouch
- 6 pm – New Native Voices: A Place of Many Nations Heid E. Erdrich, Jennifer Elise Foerster, Greg Sarris
- 7 pm – Energy: A Human History with Richard Rhodes Ralph Lewin etc.
Tuesday, 10/16
- 12:30 pm – Poetic Tuesday: Yerba Buena Gardens Festival
- 6 pm – Here in Berlin: An Excavation with Cristina Garcia
- 6:30 pm – Power: John Freeman with Rebecca Solnit John Freeman, Rebecca Solnit
- 7 pm – Future Presence: Decoding Virtual Reality
- 7:30 pm – Straight, No Chaser: Writers at the Bar T.J. English, Danny Gardner, Lisa Locascio, Misha Rai, Rebecca Skloot, Alia Volz
Wednesday, 10/17
- 11 am – Elder Project All-Stars Lisa Galloway
- Noon – Wesley Yang: The Souls of Yellow FolkTom Pyun, Wesley Yang
- 7 pm – Ben Fountain & Adam Hochschild – Beautiful Country Burn Again / Lessons from a Dark Time and Other Essays Ben Fountain, Adam Hochschild 977 Days in Captivity: Michael Scott Moore’s The Desert and the Sea Jeanne Carstensen, Michael Scott Moore An Evening with Counterpoint Press Jack Shoemaker, Sylvia Brownrigg, Cristina Garcia, Margaret Wilkerson Sexton
Thursday, 10/18
- 6 pm – Teenquake: Under 21 Open Mic
- 6:30 pm – The City Is Already Speaking: The Sound of Calle 24 Josiah Luis Alderete, Simon Crafts, Flavia Elisa, E.K. Keith, Thea Matthews, Linda Noel, Raul Ruiz, Kim Shuck, Denise Sullivan, Ricardo Tavarez
- 7 pm – Word for Word: Octavio Solis Oscar Villalon, Sheila Balter, Octavio Solis
Friday, 10/19
- 6:30 pm – Lit by the Lake at the Library: Making Connections Holly Brown, Jasmine Guillory, Laleh Khadivi, Cornelia Nixon, Brontez Purnell, Dashka Slater
- 7 pm – Afterwords: Short Books About Great Books Adam Colman, Alden Jones, Stephanie Reents, Irena Yamboliev Global Fiction: The Novel and the World Judy Juanita, Michael David Lukas, Nayomi Munaweera, Ethel Rohan, Sarah Stone
- 7:30 pm – Paul Madonna and Glen David Gold Are Drunk: What Better Way to End the Festival?
- 8 pm – Queer As Us: A Night with Lambda Literary Lisa Galloway, Juliana Delgado Lopera, Annalee Newitz
Saturday, 10/20
- 12:30 pm – Lit Crawl Book Fair
- 5 pm – Lit Crawl San Francisco
Thursday, October 22
Litquake, San Francisco’s Literary Festival runs October 8-24, 2026 with satellite events running from September through January. 170+ events, 600+ authors and performers, all over the Bay Area, and almost ALL for FREE! Visit litquake.org or see the full schedule and tickets. And it’s capped by ...
