Litquake 2010: Winona Ryder, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Patti Smith
The lineup for this year's Litquake, San Francisco's tribute to the written word, looks like a smashing one. Why? Because it vboasts a special appearance by a very special cinematic legend and infamous felons. Of course, we're talking about Winona Ryder. The actress and sometimes San Francisco resident will appear as part of a tribute to Lawrence Ferlinghetti and City Lights Bookseller. Sure, other stellar names will also help out (guitarist Lenny Kaye, Michael McClure, New Yorker cartoonist Eric Drooker, Ishmael Reed, former San Francisco Poet Luareates Jack Hirschman and devorah major, the rad Beth Lisick, Michelle Tea, and the Marcus Shelby Quart), but we are saving our pennies and holding our breath for Ryder.
This year’s list of authors is "a mix that is as both as broad and eclectic as anything Litquake has ever presented: and includes:
Jonathan Lethem
Joyce Maynard - The Good Daughters
Exene Cervenka - Telling Tales of Hollywood Hell at Porchlight
Michael Tolkin - Also telling Tales of Hollywood Hell at Porchlight
Martin Cruz Smith - Gorky Park author will also tell "Tales of Hollywood Hell at Porchlight"
Yiyun Li - Stories on Stage at Berkeley Rep
Daniel Alarcon - Center for Literary Arts All-Stars
Doug Dorst - At evening of Surf Lit
Richard Rhodes (Pulitzer Prize winner) - Nonfiction writing panel
TJ Stiles (Pulitzer Prize winner) - Nonfiction writing panel
Terry McMillan - Tribute to the author of How Stella Got Her Groove Back
Michael Krasny - Spiritual Envy: An Agnostic’s Quest at Marin Osher JCC
Michelle Tea - Litquake welcomes the Radar Reading Series
Andrew Sean Greer - Center for Literary Arts All-Stars
Daniel Handler - Stories on Stage at Berkeley Rep
Kristen Schaal (of The Daily Show) - At Cobbs Comedy Club
And many, many more. Overall, there will be more than 65 events that, in one way or another, are all about text. (Last year, SFist and SFAppeal had the pleasure of hosting the first-ever blogger reading event, which was groundbreaking and nothing short of unyielding genius. Or so we thought. Anyway.)
Litquake runs from Oct. 1 - 9. Visit litquake.org for the full schedule.