Lesbian bars have always been treasured safe spaces for their customers, providing not only a good time but a shelter from societal alienation and outright persecution. In 1987, there were 206 of them in America. Today, only a couple dozen remain. How and why did this happen? What has been lost—or possibly gained—by such a […]

with author Selby Wynn Schwartz in conversation with Professor Loretta Stec Join Selby Wynn Schwartz in conversation with Professor Loretta Stec on her debut novel After Sappho, an invigorating tale of women whose narratives converge and splinter as they forge queer identities and claim the right to their own lives.

Oldest San Francisco focuses on the institutions that have helped make San Francisco San Francisco, featuring brief histories of its oldest restaurant (Tadich), oldest bakery (Boudin), oldest scientific institution (the Cal Academy). It speaks of civic fabrics—the oldest extant blue jeans (held in a vault at Levi’s) and first rainbow flag (exhibited at the GLBT Historical […]

Join historians and authors Mike Phipps and Don Holmgren in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the cable cars in San Francisco. Phipps and Holmgren illuminate Hallidie's journey to California, his wire rope use in the gold mines, plans for the Clay St Hill cable car and subsequent involvement in the patents, and Pacific Cable […]

Join two of the Bay Area's legendary rap artists, Black C and Mac Mall, as they discuss gripping stories from their recently published memoirs. In vivid, unflinching detail, Black C's A Part of Survival and Mac Mall's My Opinion shed light on the Bay Area's street life, drug trade, and pimp culture of the 1980s and 1990s—and reveal how the resourceful artists […]

Find the full schedule at litquake.org/litcrawl Lit Crawl 2023 is the finale of all festival finales, the best literary party you’ve ever been to, something between a bar crawl and an invite-only reading on a rooftop, an introduction to the nooks and crannies of the Mission District, a presentation of the best new writers around, a […]

Dale Berry will emcee, with readings by Heather Chavez, M.M. Chouinard, Stacie Grey and Reece Hirsch.