Tales From Two Cities: LA vs. SF Writing Festival | Main Library

Submitted by the Event Organizer

Tales From Two Cities: LA vs. SF Writing Festival | Main Library

Come to the San Francisco leg of Tales from Two Cities, one of two free conferences examining the literature of Alta, California, north and south — from immigration to innovation, from the desert to the coast, on October 4-5, 2013.

Poetry, fiction, non-fiction, print and digital: It’s all part of how California defines itself, going back to the earliest days. Regional distinctions are important, but most essential is the idea of California as a state with a culture and aesthetic all its own. What is our sensibility? How does the literature of California tell us who we are?

The second leg will take place in Los Angeles on February 21-22, 2013.

Photo credit: Can Balcioglu | Flickr

Friday, October 4, 2013
Friday | Tales From Two Cities: LA vs. SF Writing Festival | Main Library

Literary heavyweights such as Armistead Maupin, Dana Gioia, Bill Deverell, Luis Herrera, Will Hearst, David Ulin and others will speak and read on Friday.

Conference Schedule | Friday, October 4, 2013

• 1-1:30 pm: Welcome by Luis Herrera, Will Hearst, David Ulin, & Bill Deverell
• 1:30-2:30 pm: The New Publishing – Oscar Villalon, John Tayman, Elaine Katzenberger, & Moderator: Will Hearst
  The conference opens with a discussion, moderated by Will Hearst, which explores “new publishing” in the Bay Area and beyond. How has, and how is, publishing changing? How might the dynamism in publishing, for good or ill, effect or alter regional distinctiveness when it comes to Bay Area literary production? What works? What doesn’t? How can we think of new publishing well beyond easy caricatures of book publishing vs. digital publishing? Is the Bay Area a leader in this arena? Why, how, or why not?
• 2:45-3:15 pm: Reading by Dana Gioia
  A poetry reading by the former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, distinguished poet, and literary scholar.
• 3:30-4:15 pm: Poets’ Lives – Brenda Hillman and Robert Hass in conversation with Matthew Zapruder
  Poet Matthew Zapruder asks Robert Hass and Brenda Hillman if there is a Northern California tradition in poetry and writing? If so, what things make it distinct? And what does it have to do with physical place and geography? Or with historical setting or accident? Or with concepts of redemption, rejuvenation, spiritual or other liberation? Are there neglected and/or misunderstood Northern California poets or poetic traditions? And how might we deepen our understanding of what kind of poetry this region has produced?
• 4:30-5:30 pm: Keynote Interview – Armistead Maupin in conversation with David Ulin. Introduction: Ralph Lewin
  Introduced by the President and CEO of Cal Humanities Ralph Lewin, this free-wheeling conversation between Los Angeles Times book critic (and conference co-organizer) David Ulin and the writer Armistead Maupin will investigate Maupin’s body of work and the general landscape of writing about, in, and on San Francisco in the last several decades.

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.