LITERATURE

Litquake

Now in its 18th year, Litquake is a rockin' with nine days (Oct. 6-14) of scandalously bookish events. At press time, the lineup was still being finalized, but we're excited about "I Dance What I Am: Isadora Duncan in Print and Film", co-presented by San Francisco Dance Film Festival at Alamo Drafthouse; Word for Word: Slouching Toward Bethlehem, a reading of Joan Didion; Sand, Surf and Sartre; and of course the closing night LitCrawl, where 7x7 will once again be hosting a jolly lit night, this year at the Elbo Room. // At venues Bay Area–wide; for more information and schedule, go to litquake.org.

City Arts & Lectures

Four decades later, City Arts & Lectures is still churning out some of the smartest events in town. This fall, sit down for riveting chats with Michael Chabon (Sept. 19), on the utter capriciousness of writing prose and his recent collection of stories, Moonglow; Francis Ford Coppola (Sept. 26), on his legendary body of work; MTV veejay turned incredible photog Tabitha Soren (Sept. 27), on the art of photographing everyday human life; Daniel Handler(Oct. 2), on his new coming-of-age novel All The Dirty Parts; and Alice Waters (Oct. 12), along with Truthdig editor-and-chief Robert Scheer, in conversation about her scintillating new memoir, Coming to My Senses. // Nourse Theater, 275 Hayes St. (Hayes Valley); for more lecture listings and tickets, go to cityarts.net.

Bay Area Poetry Marathon

This edgy, left-of-center lit event fetes Northern California's textured take on poetry, showcasing a bevy of the Bay Area's most talented poets. This year, go for reading from the likes of May-lee Chai, Edward Foster, Caroline Goodwin, and more. // Sept. 30 at Alley Cat Bookstore, 3036 24th St. (Mission), bayareapoetrymarathon.net