Litquake Palo Alto Brings Bestselling Authors & Stimulating Salons to Oshman Family JCC

Litquake Palo Alto, a thriving local offshoot of San Francisco’s legendary literary festival, returns for its third year of celebrating books, authors and ideas. Book lovers of all ages will find literary inspiration at the free festival on Sunday, August 17 from 2-8 PMat the Oshman Family JCC on Fabian Way. This year’s expanded program includes LitquakeKids, with programs for preschoolers, kids and even a Teen Poetry Slam.

Forty-three best-selling authors (and one dog!) will participate in programs ranging from literary salons to fireside readings and a variety of workshops. The list of literary luminaries includes Edan Lepucki (California), Vikram Chandra (Geek Sublime), Lee Daniel Kravetz (Supersurvivors), Annabelle Gurwitch (I See You Made an Effort), children’s author Marcia Goldman and her canine co-contributor, Lola (Lola Goes to Work).

The closing event will feature Marcia Clark, OJ Simpson prosecutor and writer of the bestselling Rachel Knight crime novels. The $15 admission fee, charged for this session only, includes a copy of Clark’s book, Killer Ambition.

Attendees will have their choice of 10 provocative salons including Breakthrough Novelists, The Art of The New Yorker, Shrinks with Ink, LGBT Stories and Suffering and Success in Silicon Valley.

“We are proud to offer our community such a broad range of stellar literary fare and our biggest contingent of star authors to date,” said Ronit Widmann-Levy, Director of Arts and Culture at the Oshman Family JCC.

Widmann-Levy added that there will be plenty of literary fun for families and young readers as well at LitquakeKids, which will run concurrently with the main festival from 2-5 PM. “We are excited to offer readings, workshops and entertainment for children of all ages—from preschool puppetry to a young writers’ workshop to our first teen poetry slam.”

Returning this year is another popular Litquake tradition. Guests 21 and older will have the opportunity to socialize with the authors at the annual “Blues, Booze and Schmooze,” a no-host social. “This is a great opportunity to chat with the authors in a relaxed social setting. It’s one of the most popular parts of our festival each year,” said Widmann-Levy.

For the full event listing and details, visit www.paloaltojcc.org/litquake

Litquake Palo Alto is produced in cooperation with Litquake of San Francisco and is sponsored by the Moldaw Residences, the City of Palo Alto, J. Weekly and Palo Alto Weekly. Books, Inc. is the official bookseller of Litquake Palo Alto.

About Litquake

Litquake Palo Alto is produced in cooperation the San Francisco’s Litquake Foundation. The main Litquake literary festival runs October 10-18, 2014, with affiliated Lit Crawls in San Francisco, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Seattle, Miami, Los Angeles, Iowa City, Austin, London, and Helsinki. More information can be found at http://www.litquake.org.

About the Oshman Family JCC

The Oshman Family Jewish Community Center (OFJCC) on the Taube Koret Campus for Jewish Life serves the South Peninsula through educational, social, cultural, fitness, sports and other programs. The OFJCC is a multi-generational Jewish neighborhood where all are welcome and which fosters new personal and community connections through rich and rewarding experiences. The OFJCC provides a common ground for Jewish institutions, other local groups, organizations and individuals to work, learn and play together for the betterment of the whole community. The OFJCC’s registered trademark is Live Fully®. For more information, visit www.paloaltojcc.org or call(650) 223-8700.

Photo credit: Marcia Clark on Facebook.