Even after 20 years, there’s something excitingly unpredictable about Lit Crawl, says author and event organizer Janine Kovac. The literary pub crawl, for the uninitiated, caps off San Francisco’s renowned Litquake festival with a single evening of 60 literary-focused events, all held in the Valencia corridor. Launched five years after Litquake itself, the roving closing-night party takes place not just in pubs but in art galleries, cafes, bookstores, laundromats, tattoo parlors, barbershops, police stations, on street corners and even on BART.
“It’s an opportunity to see what we can do … What will work? There’s a thrill in that,” says Kovac. This year’s crawl takes place the evening of Oct. 26, from 5 to 9 p.m., and marks not just the 20th edition of Lit Crawl but a slew of other big anniversaries for the San Francisco writing scene, including 25 years of Litquake, 25 years of the Writing Salon, 30 years of the Writers Grotto, 40 years of Manic D Press, and 78 years of the San Francisco Writers Workshop.
“These long-standing organizations serve as a testament that writers foster community,” Kovac says, noting that organizers expect up to 3,000 attendees this year. In other words, it’s wildly popular — but it’s never too late to get on the bandwagon. If you’ve never attended Lit Crawl, here’s what you need to know.
The approach
The evening happens in three phases. There are 30 minutes between phases, so, depending on your mobility circumstances, there should be enough time to commute to another venue, should you choose.
That said, there are also three main approaches:
- Look at the schedule ahead of time and pick a couple events that interest you most.
- Check out the Lit Crawl map and venue-hop within a cluster. For example, there are major hubs around 24th, Mission, and Valencia.
- Pick a venue and stay the whole night. Some venues are hosting all three phases of programming, including Medicine for Nightmares, the Drawing Room Annex, Adobe Books, Latin American Club, the Make Out Room, the Red Poppy Art House, Et al., Gestalt, Manny’s, Noisebridge and the Chapel (also hosting the afterparty).
New this year
There are a few fresh additions to this year’s literary debauchery, including goodie-bag handouts that contain prizes like vouchers for writing classes with Page Street Writers and Stanford Continuing Studies; tickets to an upcoming Conspiracy of Beards concert; and “love spells.”
Also new: Three slices of afternoon programming for the early birds, which organizers are calling “tailgates.” For example, check out Page Street’s “So You Want to Read at Lit Crawl?” where up to 20 participants will, in fact, win the opportunity to read a few hours later at The Drawing Room.
Five picks not to miss
“Ode to Sad Girl Poetry” featuring Annalicia Aguilar, Sandy Cornejo, Anastasia Fenald, Paola Gutiérrez, and Diosa Xochiquetzalcoatl. Join this mini-workshop and performance celebrating multilingual confessional poetry. 5 p.m. at Sour Cherry Comics (3187 16th Street).
“The Afrosurreal Writers Workshop of Oakland Presents: Reexamining our Past, Exploring our Present, Dreaming our Future” featuring Wandra Williams, Coleman Conner, Ellen McBarnette, and LaMar Mitchell. Hear from a small group of Black writers creating poetry, fiction, and memoir. 5 p.m. at Bissap Baobab (2243 Mission).
“Are You There God? It’s Me, Donald: A literary relay race by The Castro Writers’ Cooperative.” Watch a classic book evolve as multiple participants rewrite sections in their own style, then pass along the narrative to the next writer for completion. 6:30 p.m. at The Drawing Room Annex (599 Valencia).
“If I Had Known: The Light and Shadow of Queer Parenting,” featuring Tijanna Eaton, Doug Henderson, Marianne Lonsdale, Samantha Rajaram, and Britta Stromeyer. LGBTQ+ writers share truths about being a queer parent or parenting a queer child. 6:30 p.m. at Blondie’s Bar (540 Valencia).
“The O.G.s of Litquake,” featuring JD Beltran, Andres Bella, Scott James, Jen Siraganian, and Oscar Villalon. Hear lore from Litquake’s co-founders, Jack Boulware and Jane Ganahl. 8 p.m. at The Chapel parking lot (777 Valencia).
Lit Crawl takes place from 5 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26, at a variety of locations around the Mission. For more info or to plan your evening, visit www.litquake.org/litcrawl.