Litquake!

We have literary festival envy.

In our peregrinations around the interwebs, we sometimes discover things we've never heard of before. Such is the case with San Francisco's literary festival, Litquake, which has been going on since 2002. This weeklong event includes Off the Scale Readings, a literary film festival, literary walking tours, a new writers night, Litquake in the Bookstore, Kidquake, & a Literary Death Match. As the website explains, "Now grown to the largest independent literary festival on the West Coast, Litquake continues its mission as a week-long literary spectacle for booklovers, complete with cutting-edge panel discussions, unique cross-media events, and hundreds of readings. Litquake seeks 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 as a complement to the city’s music, film, and cultural festivals."

Other notable North American literary festivals include Wordstock (Ontario), the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature (New York City), the Baltimore Book Festival, the Virginia Festival of the Book, the Brattleboro Literary Festival, & the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival.

What do you think, Albuquerque? Are we ready to host a literary festival? Let's get Litquerque!