Litquake Out Loud

Sponsored by Yerba Buena Gardens Festival

The Litquake Out Loud series highlights the Bay Area’s BIPOC & LGBTQ+ writers and thought leaders, putting Litquake’s production resources into the hands of guest curators who in turn produce a vibrant, dynamic series of festival events. Plus live music! In conjunction with Litquake’s Small Press Book Fair! All are held outdoors at the Esplanade stage of Yerba Buena Gardens. FREE

Events curated by Sarah O’Neal, Diego Plascencia-Vega, and D’mani Thomas. Lead curation by Giovanna Lomanto. Music by TBA.

RSVP encouraged, but not necessary.

Sarah O’Neal is a queer Moroccan, Black, and Muslim artist and writer born and raised in the Bay Area. Sarah’s work grapples with the impact of colonial violence on familial memory and the way systems of oppression shape the most intimate detail of our lives.Sarah’s debut collection, Even Two Hands Pressed Together Are Split, brought together poetry, photography, and ephemera to create an immersive experience for readers to explore the way embodied trauma shapes all of our relationships. Her writing has been featured in the Institute for Palestine Studies, The Nation, and Teen Vogue. When she is not writing, you can find her scheming on the end of empire, swimming laps, or on IG and Twitter @atayqueen.

Diego Plascencia-Vega is a Mexican-American poet and artist living in San Francisco, CA. His artwork has been shown at the Milstein Gallery at Cornell University and the Houston Center for Photography. His poetry can be found in the 16th and Mission Anthology and at various open mics around the Bay Area. He is inspired by things that lurk in the night, translation and the untranslatable.

D'mani Thomas (he \ they) is a writer, and creative from Oakland, California (Ohlone territory). Their work currently explores surveillance, intimacy, and the insidious ways Black queers have been impacted by both. His work can be found in Muzzle Magazine, The Shade Journal, Oroboro Lit Journal, KALW 91.7 FM, The Auburn Avenue, and elsewhere. His debut chapbook, “Grown-up Elementary”, is now available through Black Lawrence Press. Outside of poetry, catch them studying horror movies, dancing, and eating too many fries.

Giovanna Lomanto is a Pushcart-Prize nominated poet and artist. She has published six books of various lengths and genres. A recent graduate of NYU's MFA program, her work has been supported by U.C. Berkeley, KQED, and the SFMOMA archive. In addition to working as a teaching artist and nonprofit organizer, she has also co-hosted the Living Room Poetry series and served as the lead curator for the San Francisco Literary Festival's inaugural Out Loud weekend for Queer & BIPOC writers. Currently, she serves as the co-owner of the indie press Game Over Books. She lives in Oakland with her partner and their lion head bunny Maggie.

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