Last September, the New York Times published an article, A Heady Cocktail of Books and Booze, covering the latest trend among the literati - LitCrawls. As with so many entertaining concepts, the LitCrawl - an event combining food, fun, alcohol, and (I almost forgot) authors - began in San Francisco, home of Rice-A-Roni.
Gone - or nearly gone - are the days when 25 people find themselves uncomfortably seated on metal folding chairs in a dank library basement for the privilege of listening to an embittered author read from his or her latest unsuccessful novel. Of course, there are still the $35 events at the 92nd Street Y, but these are getting some serious competition from literary events that are free - and fun! After all, which would you rather do - sit in a dank basement (or part with your money), or eat, drink and be merry with people who still read books?
Two questions immediately come to mind, 1) Where are these events held, and 2) How can we get into one?
The answer to the first question is London, San Francisco, New York, and, most recently LA.
The answer to the second question is, make connections. (Just read who sponsored the LA event, and you'll see what I mean.)
________________________________________
First LitCrawl Los Angeles a Big SuccessBy Wendy Werris, Publisher's Weekly, Oct 24, 2013
Held in the burgeoning NoHo arts district in the San Fernando Valley, the organizers of LitCrawl scheduled 23 events in 12 locations around the business hub of North Hollywood. Literary salons, workshops, and periodicals such as Tongue and Groove, Black Clock, GETLIT – Words Ignite, Los Angeles Review of Books, The (In)Visible Memoirs Project, and The Rumpus featured readings in venues as varied as pizza parlors, bars, theatres, and a hair salon. Round 1 of the Crawl ran from 6:00 – 7:00 pm; Round 2 from 7:30 – 8:30 pm. A sold-out after-party and fundraiser for LitCrawl L.A. began at 9:00 pm at The Hesby restaurant, where over 200 people mingled and listened to a live jazz band.
Read the rest of the article HERE.
Sounds fabulous! I'd love to have one start up in my city!
ReplyDeleteWhere are you? If your town has bars and nearby authors, there is no reason why you can't hold one of these events locally.
ReplyDeleteI used to live in a town that had 2,000 people. We had regular literary events at local eateries that featured authors who, between courses, read from their work.
Anybody can get one of these events together! (Holiday season is an especially good time of year to get drunk with your local authors. Hey,invite a few agents while you're at it!)