Litquake kicks off tonight with Howl Redux: Allen Ginsberg's "Howl" and Other San Francisco Revolutionary Writings at 8 pm at The Herbst Theater (in the War Memorial Veterans Building, 401 Van Ness Ave. at McAllister). Tickets are $20. (Unless noted, Litquake events are free.)

It is one of many events celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Allen Ginsberg's poem, "Howl."

Tonight's reading will have Howl as a jumping-off point and include Daniel Handler reading Gertrude Stein, Armistead Maupin reading Mark Twain, Amy Tan reading Iris Chang, and James Dalessandro reading John Steinbeck.

Litquake continues in San Francisco through October 15th with 17 events and over 250 writers. A few of the highlights include Off the Richter Scale, an afternoon of readings at the SF Main Library on Sunday, and the concluding Litcrawl on Saturday, October 15th. Last year, people spilled out into the street from bookstores and other venues all along Valencia Street.

In September 826 Valencia and McSweeney's released a San Francisco literary map (which can be purchased online or at many of the Litquake events).

I'll be writing more about Litquake here and on my weblog and taking photos.
Edited: PC