Seattle has indie rockers. New York has jazz hounds. But here in San Francisco, our rock stars are writers—at least if the throngs of literati who descend on the Mission each fall for Litquake’s closing ceremonies are any indication. Divided into three phases, the night’s free readings pack bars and bookstores with standing-room-only crowds drunk on words (and booze). The scene can be overwhelming, so don’t wait until the last minute to plan your attack: Below, our picks for this year’s most intriguing stops.

October 11
Phase I: 6–7 p.m.
Phase II: 7:15–8:15 p.m.
Phase III: 8:30–9:30 p.m.

Clarion Alley
Phases I, II, III
Venue: An honest-to-god alley between 17th & 18th Sts. and Mission & Valencia Sts. We won’t mention what it’s usually known for.
Starring: Phase I: Tattooed poet-comic (and new self-help author) Bucky Sinis­ter hosts a roster of emerg­ing writers. Phase II: Porchlight maven Beth Lisick MCs an open mike for anyone inspired to sound off. Phase III: The editors of Not Quite What I Was Planning lead a six-word memoir slam, featuring contributors to their book—and you, if you’d like to share.
How it’ll sound: Phase I: earnest; Phase II: enthusiastic; Phase III: pithy

Celebrating history
Phase I
Venue: Muddy Waters, 521 Valencia St. (at 16th St.)
Sponsored by: Heyday Books
Starring: William E. Justice, Andrew Lam
How it’ll sound: With the recent publication of the William Saroyan anthology he edited—and his own first book due out next month—Justice should be in fine academic form. Lam, a regular NPR commentator and two-time Opium Literary Death Match winner, delivers his compelling insights with a welcome dose of humor.
 
A smorgasbord of food writers
Phase II
Venue: 18 Reasons, 593 Guerrero St. (at 18th St.)
Sponsored by: Edible San Francisco
Starring: Allison Arieff, Andy Griffin
How it’ll sound: Delicious, of course. Seasoned writer and editor Arieff (New York Times, Dwell, Sunset) knows her way around food and design, with an eco-friendly bent. Griffin, an introspective blogger with a day job running Mariquita Farms, can tell us why his Chantenay carrots and collard greens taste as good as they do.

Crafty and curious
Phase II
Venue: The Curiosity Shoppe, 855 Valencia St. (bet. 19th & 20th Sts.)
Sponsored by: ReadyMade
Starring: Sasha Cagen, Ben Green­man, Evan Ratliff
How it’ll sound: Quirkyalone movement founder and To-Do List author Cagen is saucy and creative. Greenman, an editor at the New Yorker, brings classic East Coast intellectual angst and banter to the mix. Rounding out the group is Ratliff, whose prolific writing and editing covers the holy trinity of Bay Area passions: technology, the arts, and the environment.

San Francisco’s famed writers’ collective
Phase II
Venue: Elbo Room, 647 Valencia St. (bet. 17th & 18th Sts.)
Sponsored by: The Grotto
Starring: Po Bronson, Peter Orner, Andy Raskin
How it'll sound: Hilarious Andy, gentle Peter, and thoughtful Po are first-class storytellers who spend all day in tiny South Beach offices spinning prose into magic—so they should sound relieved to have a cold drink in one hand and a mike in the other.

Rumi-thon
Phase III
Venue: Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St. (bet. Mission & Valencia Sts.)
Sponsored by: HarperOne
Starring: It’s another open mike; start prac­t­icing your breathing, diction, and meaningful eye contact now.
How it’ll sound: Like every wedding you attended in the ’90s. But there’s no shortage of local love for America’s favorite poet-philosopher import, and it’s sure to be tempered with a very San Franciscan sense of irony.

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Main photo: A typically enthusiastic Lit Crawl crowd.