Meg Medina's Blog

Hey book lovers: A LitCrawl Comes to RVA

Sometimes, it pays off when somebody loses their mind.

That’s certainly true for Richmond, which is going to host its first LitCrawl on April 21 and 22, 2017 thanks to what founder Cheryl Pallant calls “writerly insanity.”

A LitCrawl is a city-wide event where readings and performances are led by area authors in a variety of venues, from prisons and bars to bookstores and record shops. It’s a movement that grew legs in San Francisco and is spreading far and wide (Here’s how other cities have done it.)

But how it reached us here in Richmond, VA, boils down to Cheryl, who was busy planning her wedding, writing a non fiction book and getting ready to publish both a book of poetry and a memoir about her time living in South Korea.

“I reached a point in my writing day when I needed a distraction. I too readily checked out Facebook and saw that a friend of mine was involved in a LitCrawl in Denver. I immediately recognized it as a great event and queried if anyone in Richmond was interested. Within an hour, I heard from about 50 folks saying yes.”

“Did I really need another sizeable commitment?”

Well, no, but she grabbed a few friends anyway and here we are….LitCrawl RVA

Now that authors are signing up and making plans for their contributions (website here), she’s sharpening her vision and looking forward to this becoming an annual event with sponsorship behind it.

For me, it’s exactly the right idea. Now more than ever, we want to come out strong for books as a nation. An event like this is free, fun and brings all kinds of people together. It adds to the many artful things that are defining Richmond these days and, more important, part of how we can make books part of people’s lives.

So  I grabbed a couple of friends and got busy.  I’ll be reading with my friends, Lamar Giles and Anne Blankman for our event, Criminal Minds YA. All three books (Overturned, Burn Baby Burn, and Traitor Angels) deal with murder and young people. (Why not?) We settled on reading in a former jail, in keeping with our grisly inclinations as writers. Have you been to RVA’s hostel? The HI used to be a women’s detention center, among other things. Now it is, hands down, one of the coolest places to stay, and brings young travelers from all over the world to our city.

So, if you like young adult and crime lit – if you love books and RVA and want to see more interesting bookish stuff continue – please join us.

Criminal Minds YA is free and open to the public

Where: HI Richmond Hostel, 7 N. Second Street (2nd Street, bet Franklin and Main).

Date:  Saturday, April 22.

Time: 6:30 PM (Don’t worry. We have snacks for you…)