* Litquake is an annual literary festival started in 1999 in San Francisco that has since spread to cities throughout the country and abroad. The festival consists of readings, discussions, and themed events. Since its inception more than 10,000 authors and 250,000 attendees have participated in the festival.

* Event co-founder Jack Boulware shared the origins of the festival and how it has grown over time.

* Jack was joined by Home Baked author Alia Volz. Podcast host Matthew Felix, Jack, and Alia talked about the challenges for writers and other creatives, as well as literary organizations in an ever-changing San Francisco.

* Jack explained how Litquake had pivoted in light of the pandemic, including going all online last year, and holding both virtual and in-person events for this year’s festival.

* Jack shared some of the authors participating in the festival, whether virtually or in-person, including Dave Eggers, Isabel Allende, Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Tommy Orange, Danny Trejo, and many others.

* Alia talked about the two days of panels that she has organized, one day focused on craft, one on business.

* Matthew asked Jack about some of Litquake’s programs, including Kidquake, their Elder Project, and their most recent addition, Litquake Out Loud, which is focused on amplifying underrepresented voices.

* Alia explained Litquake’s closing night event, LitCrawl, akin to a “literary pub crawl” around San Francisco’s Mission District, and Matthew shared a few of the events that caught his attention.

* Litquake takes place October 7 – 23.