Arts & Entertainment

Words on the the Waves - Litquake Comes to the Houseboats

Litquake Brings Tsunami of Authors to the Houseboats of Sausalito For 2011 Festival 

Words on the Waves takes place on Saturday, Oct. 15, the last day of Litquake 2011, with a showcase of nine events on five boats featuring 23 writers—including Cyra McFadden, Rachel Lehmann-Haupt, Holly Payne, Stewart Brand, Daniel Duane, Frances Lefkowitz, Joyce Maynard and others—who either live on the boats or are from the North Bay literary scene for an afternoon of readings, films, sunshine, fresh air, food and cocktails Saturday, October 15, 1-5 pm; $30.00 in advance, $40.00 at the door; 21 and over only
 
A total of 23 authors will appear during the afternoon, including such names as Cyra McFadden (making her Litquake debut), Holly Payne, Stewart Brand, the founder of the Whole Earth Catalog, Frances Lefkowitz, Daniel Duane, Rachel Lehmann-Haupt, Joyce Maynard and others.
 
The afternoon is broken down into four phases:
 
1-2pm

  • Celebrating Rumi with Ecstatic Poetry and Prose
  • The Last Free Ride: A Colorful History of the Sausalito Houseboats in Words and Images
  • Rum, Sodomy and the Lash: Tall Tales from the Boat Dwellers
  • Out to Sea: Writers on Travel

2-3pm

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  • Turning the Tide: Coming of Age on the Water
  • Writers Ashore: Local Authors from Rebound Bookstore
  • Why Do You Do What You Do: A Literary and Photographic Social Media Meme

3-4pm

  • Sittin’ On the Dock of the Bay: Contemporary Takes on Houseboats and Bay Area Life

4-5pm

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  • Tango Me Home: music, dancing, mingling and munching

Authors in alphabetical appearance:
 
Jim Benning is co-founder and co-editor of World Hum, Gold Award winner for best Internet site from the Society of American Travel Writers. His own writing has appeared in many publications including Outside, National Geographic Adventure and The Washington Post. He lives in Los Angeles.
 
Stewart Brand is co-founder of Global Business Network and president of The Long Now Foundation. He created and edited the Whole Earth Catalog, and co-founded the Hackers Conference and The WELL. He is author of several books, and his latest is Whole Earth Discipline: Why Dense Cities, Nuclear Power, Transgenic Crops, Restored Wildlands, and Geoengineering Are Necessary.
 
Writer/editor Larry Smith founded SMITH Magazine in January 2006 with the tagline, “Everyone has a story—what’s yours?” Larry has done Six-Word Memoir project presentations and workshops at PopTech, SXSW, ESPN, Morgan Stanley, and in classrooms.
 
Peter Delevett is an award-winning travel writer and columnist for the San Jose Mercury News. His 14-month, 14-country backpacking trek through Asia and Europe formed the basis of his forthcoming travel memoir, Walking on the Moon, portions of which have appeared in Travelers Tales China and at Travelchannel.com.
 
Daniel Duane is the author of Caught Inside: A Year on the California Coast; Lighting Out: A Vision of California and the Mountains; and the novels Looking for Mo and A Mouth Like Yours. He writes frequently for Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, Sierra, and other publications.

Maria Finn is the author of the memoir Hold Me Tight and Tango Me Home (Algonquin, 2010), which has been optioned for a television series by Fox Studios.www.mariafinn.com
 
Adam Fisher is a Sausalito writer/editor, and will be reading from the transcript of the famous 1968 Great Houseboat Summit featuring Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, and Alan Watts.
 
Susan Frank is a children’s book author, and will be reading from her late husband’s book The Houseboats of Sausalito, by Phil Frank.
 
Tess Uriza Holthe is author of When the Elephants Dance, hailed by The New York Times as a “formidable first novel.” Her second book, The Five-Forty-Five to Cannes, was a Top Twelve Outstanding book pick for the American Library Association Notable Books Council.
 
Roger Housden is the author of some 20 books, including the novella Chasing Rumi, and the bestselling Ten Poems series. His most recent book is Saved by Beauty: Adventures of an American Romantic in Iran (Broadway Books, May 2011).
 
Barbara D. Hubbard is an award-winning poet, novelist, and resident of the Sausalito houseboat community since the 1970s. Her debut novel is Beyond Bitterroot. She will be reading from the poetry of the late Shel Silverstein.
 
Native San Franciscan Frances Lefkowitz is the author of To Have Not, one of five Best Memoirs of 2010 at SheKnows.com. She has been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize.
 
Rachel Lehmann-Haupt is the author of Airplane Yoga and In Her Own Sweet Time: Unexpected Adventures in Finding Love, Commitment and Motherhood. She is currently working on a children’s book called Rainbow Lemon-Head and the Purple Houseboat.
 
Kirk Lombard is a commercial fisherman, a poke-poler of the monkeyface eel, a coastal tour-guide, a former DFG fish inspector, a tuba player, singer, actor and writer. His blog, The Monkeyface News, is one of the most popular fishing blogs in California.
 
Joyce Maynard’s many novels include To Die For and Labor Day, soon to be a motion picture directed by Jason Reitman and starring Kate Winslet. Her memoir, At Home in the World, has been translated into fourteen languages.
 
Cyra McFadden is a Bay Area novelist and journalist, and author of the bestselling The Serial: A Year in the Life of Marin County, and the Pulitzer finalist, Rain or Shine, A Family Memoir. Her articles have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Nation, Smithsonian and other magazines. She currently works as a freelance writer and editor. She will be reading from The Serial.
 
Linda Watanabe McFerrin is a Bay Area author, poet, editor and travel writer. Her award-winning fiction includes her novels Namako: Sea Cucumber, The Hand of Buddha, andDead Love (Stone Bridge Press, 2010).

Richard Merz lives on Richardson Bay, literally. He has million-dollar views from his skychair on Zephora, and his dog Rocky is anchored out next to him on a 1918 Monterey fishing boat.
 
Holly Lynn Payne is a novelist, screenwriter, writing coach and founder of Skywriter Books, an independent press and publishing consultancy. Her forthcoming novel is a medieval ghost story involving Sufi mysticism. She lives in Mill Valley with her daughter and husband.
 
Peg Alford Pursell’s short stories have been widely published, and were short-listed for the Flannery O’Connor Award. She loves and teaches flash fiction.
 
Marianne Rogoff is the author of Silvie’s Life as well as numerous stories, essays, and book reviews. She teaches Writing and Literature at CCA, and leads week-long Writers Studios in exotic locales.
 
Joe Tate was leader of the Redlegs, a pirate rock and roll band from the late-‘60s houseboat scene. He still plays Sausalito regularly, including the No Name Bar every Saturday from 6-8:30 p.m.
 
Kristen Tracy is a poet who also writes novels for children and young adults, including Lost It, A Field Guide for Heartbreakers, Camille McPhee Fell Under the Bus, The Reinvention of Bessica Lefter and Sharks & Boys. She also volunteers as a gardener on Alcatraz.
 
Performers
:
 
Tango musicians Marcelo Puig and Seth Asarnow bring the Buenos Aires port origins of tango to the waterfront of Sausalito for live music and dancing.
 
In honor of Indian summer and the Sausalito “anchor-out” community, the featured cocktail here will be the Anchor Out, a modern riff on The Hemingway, mixing rum and sparkling cider with lemons and orange slices.
 
Sausalito author and WOTW committee member Maria Finn will give a brief talk on how the tango addiction can take hold, before dancing, mingling and eating take the evening away.
 
Marcelo Puig, originally from Buenos Aires, started playing classical guitar at age ten. Later, he became dedicated to the Argentine tango. www.tengotango.com
 
Seth Asarnow is a Bay area native native of the Bay Area. He is the bandoneónist and musical director of the show Tango Adamor and The Los Angeles Tango Festival.
 
Please visit litquake.org for the most up-to-date lineups and last-minute changes to this schedule.
 
Note: because this event is held on private houseboats, there is a maximum of 100 advance tickets, with another 25 available at the door. TICKETS GO ON SALE ON AUGUST 15 at brownpapertickets.com.

Exact location and transportation options will be sent after ticket purchase. For questions and more info please email wotw@litquake.org.

Website link to program information: http://www.litquake.org/words-on-the-waves


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