HISTORY

Quiet Lightning began as a monthly, submission-based reading series on December 14, 2009, featuring all forms of writing without introductions or author banter. The series moved around to a different venue every month, appearing in bars, art galleries, a music hall and a bookstore in our first year. Since, we’ve been to night clubs, a greenhouse, a ballroom, a theater, a mansion, a sporting goods store, a pirate store, and (yes) more. We’ve produced 43 shows, and since the 3rd have published a corresponding issue of sparkle + blink… featuring, now, 541 individual readings from 300 different authors! Our books have been read over a quarter of a million times, and counting, all over the world.

We are currently in the midst of our first Tour Through Town, an initiative to collaborate with a different literary organization every month.

Quiet Lightning incorporated as a nonprofit on June 1st, 2011 and received tax exemption on January 1, 2012. We remain a submission-based series with a completely blind selection process entirely open to the public. We even accept applications to curate our shows. Should you be interested (and we hope you are), there are in fact many ways to get involved.

MISSION

The primary objective of Quiet Lightning is to foster a community based on literary expression and to provide an arena for said expression.

PRESS AND TESTIMONIALS

• Press
• Testimonials

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Evan Karp

From Savannah, GA, Evan Karp moved to the Bay Area in June 2009. Since then he’s filmed (with the help of some friends) over 6,000 readings, a few choice concerts, and a lot of fog. He started and edits Litseen, writes lit culture columns for the San Francisco Chronicle and SF Weekly, and curates the monthly top 10 literary events for SF Arts. Co-creator and –host of The Emerald Tablet’s Under the Influence series, he writes poems and bikes and is the founder and Executive Director of Quiet Lightning.

Kristen Kramer

Kristen Kramer started her profession in the nonprofit field and intends to stay in it for the duration of her career. She currently works in fundraising and administration for GreatSchools.org, the nation’s leading online guide to K-12 schools. Kristen has been an enthusiastic groupie and volunteer for Quiet Lightning since she attended the very first event in December 2009. She writes vignettes, loves the overlap of euphoria and melancholy, and she holds Bachelor’s degrees in English and psychology from the University of Michigan.

Chris Cole

Chris Cole is a father, a writer, and the NBA 6th man of the year three years running. Wait, scratch that last thing. He does run the West Coast office for a killer User Experience Agency called EffectiveUI and he coaches West Marin Little League games like nobody’s business. And, he is nice to animals. He’s also co-founder of Pints and Prose, the Fairfax-based reading series founded by the Tuesday Night Writers. That makes seventy-five words.

Meghan Thornton

Meghan Thornton is a writer and visual effects artist originally from Chicago. She first became involved in Quiet Lightning as a reader, performing at the inaugural show in December 2009, and now serves as a board member and Treasurer. She writes both poetry and fiction, and has a series of novels in the works.

Josey Lee

Josey Lee read twice at Quiet Lightning, volunteered, time passed—and here we are. She has professional experience in social media management, marketing, journalism, veterinary kennels, movie theatre concessions, and gentlemen’s clubs. She hopes to apply knowledge from all to her work for Quiet Lightning. Josey founded booze blog the Alcohol Enthusiast but also writes, like, other stuff (she is currently working on a novel). Her favorite books are Martin and Meditations on the South Valley and Jesus’ Son. She received a Bachelor’s degree in English from Reed College.

COMMITTEES

Brandon Loberg, Design

When he was younger, Brandon Loberg‘s fascination with hopeless adventurism was awakened by a series of bizarre and embarrassing events, culminating with a stint in the Argentine military as a gun-for-hire during the Falklands War. Despite his choice of sides, however, his poor understanding of Spanish earned him commendation from the late Margaret Thatcher, after he misunderstood his commanders’ orders and caused the sole incident of friendly-fire during the conflict.  Taking a vow of pacifism (and 500,000 pesos), he now indulges his curmudgeonly predilections from his hideout deep in the railway tunnels of San Francisco. He prides himself on his sincerity.

Jacqueline Norheim, Art

Jacqueline Norheim is an artist and designer based in San Francisco. She received her BFA in Art and Design from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and since has attended residencies in Vermont and New York State. Jacqueline has shown in San Francisco, New York, London, Philadelphia, and Chicago, and is currently an Artist in Residence at Brightworks School in SF. Her work is primarily in oil paint but can include installation and video work as well.

Sarah Ciston, Book

Sarah Ciston runs Bootleg Books, an editing and design studio that helps independent authors and publishers go rogue. She is publisher of the literary zine We Still Like and is currently co-authoring an interactive fictional audio tour of San Francisco’s Mission District for Invisible City Audio Tours, as well as working on at least two books.

SB Stokes, Volunteer

SB Stokes, who holds an MFA in poetry from San Francisco State University, is a former art and poetry editor for Fourteen Hills: The SFSU Review as well as a founding producer and designer for Oakland’s Beast Crawl. His poems have been published in print and on the web in publications like SEX+DESIGN, Quiet Lightning’s sPARKLE & bLINK, MUST street ‘zine, Gesture, Bare Hands, Eleven Eleven, Red Fez, and Bong Is Bard. His first chapbook is currently available for publication. sbstokes@boun.cr

Sarah Griffin, Special Ops

Sarah Griff writes a lot of different things. She is from Ireland, and while living there she was a founding volunteer of the country’s largest storytelling night. She has an MA in Writing from NUIG, and has interned with both Litseen and 826 Valencia. She currently contributes essays on emigration to The Irish Times, and performs and publishes poetry internationally. She is also the co-editor of poetry and photography journal Bare Hands.

Ceri Bevan, Special Ops

Ceri Bevan used to be in Dublin, Ireland where he ran Milk & Cookie Stories, and regularly whipped sleepy, cookie stuffed crowds into a frenzy with only some complicated segues and a lot of frantic arm-waving. Then he got on a plane and was in San Francisco, where he still is. He joined Quiet Lightning in May 2012, and has been standing at the door, putting away chairs and proposing elaborate high-concept show ideas ever since.  You can find him on Twitter making very stupid jokes @ceebels.

Katie Wheeler-Dubin, Committee Chair

Katie Wheeler-Dubin, born and raised in San Francisco, enjoys collaboration, ginger, lucid dreaming, and film projects. She has been published in Sparkle and Blink, Poets 11 2012, Carry the Light, and TheNew and has read at numerous Bay Area reading series, such as Porchlight, Quiet Lightning, Portuguese Artists Writing Colony, LitUp Writers, and UC Santa Cruz’ Literature Undergraduate Colloquium. She won the UC Santa Cruz Deans’ Undergraduate Award with her story “Inside Games” and won the acclaimed San Mateo County Fair Best of Show with her short story “Lilith.” She pays homage to all indigo children.

Nicole McFeely, Outreach

Nicole McFeely just wants to live simply in a tree. If you have any more questions, just ask her. You can find her at Club Deluxe, where she tends the bar.