Each year in October, my blessed role on the Litquake Executive Commitee arrives with the chilling winds. During our culminating event, the Lit Crawl, I curate a little reading series in the beautifully muraled Clarion Alley here in the Mission District of San Francisco. Muralists grace the walls expressing their hearts and minds and I bring writers and authors into the Alley to fill the space between. We set up a precarious stage made of four milk crates bolted to a wooden pallet, bring in a professional sound system and lights, and watch neighbors climb onto their roofs to sip beer as the city communes for the written words of their comrades. It's a magical evening. I feel moved that I came up with the idea four years ago, and my heart swells that San Francisco has come to enjoy it just as much.
This year a news team from NHK Japan decided to cover the Lit Crawl. They also decided that they alley was a cool place to shoot some B-roll. What I didn't learn until after the festival was that they wanted to use my story-how I came into Litquake and why I read in the alley-as the second half of their coverage. So here it is, the finished piece and all of its literary glory. The second half that covers my story and Clarion Alley comes in at the 6:00 mark, but the whole piece gives a solid glimpse into our beloved week of literary love. Beneath that, I have also included a longer mini-documentary that my good KiwiAussie friend, Adam, shot as his gift to our cause.
Lit Crawl - Litquake 2011 Mini Doco by Adam Griffiths
