“All writers should read at train stations”: Sound Tracks x Litquake brings music, literature to Glen Park Station

A couple dances at Glen Park Station on Oct. 7 as part of a Sound Tracks x Litquake event.

It was an evening of firsts on Friday, Oct. 7, as BART, in partnership with the San Francisco literary festival Litquake, hosted a free live music performance and literary reading.

About a hundred people gathered in Glen Park Station just after 5 p.m. to jam to MOMOTOMBO SF, a ten-piece band from the Bay Area, and listen to four BART Lines finalists read their winning short stories. Throughout September, BART hosted a series of free live music shows at stations as part of Sound Tracks, which is organized by the BART Art Program.

Katherine Briccetti reads her story “Radiant Crown” on Oct. 7 at Glen Park Station.

Writers Katherine Briccetti and FT Kola kicked off the evening with live readings of their stories, “Radiant Crown” and “A Dry Path.” As they finished, MOMOTOMBO SF took to the stage and the crowd started rocking out to their lively Latin sounds. Some attendees brought camping chairs from which to watch the performance, while others got on their feet to groove on the plaza, which served as a makeshift dancefloor for the evening.

Members of MOMOTOMBO SF rock out on the plaza of Glen Park Station on Oct. 7.

During the musicians’ break, BART Lines finalists Allison Rassmann and Henry Tran climbed onstage to read “Rooted” and “Durians, and the Monster We Face.” Tran, a software engineer by day, said he was especially nervous as this was his first time reading a story he’d written in public. (If you missed the reading, you can read the winning short stories in BART’s four Short Edition short story dispensers, currently located at Downtown Berkeley, Balboa Park, Pleasant Hill, and Fruitvale stations. You can also access the stories on the Short Edition website.)

Henry Tran smiles after reading his story, “Durians, and the Monster We Face,” on Oct. 7 at Glen Park Station.

“I practiced as much as I could and did some slow breathing,” he said joyously after his reading, which was, by all accounts, a rousing success. He was joined by his parents and a half-dozen friends, who came bearing hugs and a bouquet of flowers.

FT Kola, a professional writer and one of the finalists, said this was her first time reading fiction in a train station, but she hopes it won’t be her last.

“All writers should read at train stations,” she said. “I love the idea that passersby can hear a part of the story as they’re walking by.”

Litquake, a predominant literary festival in San Francisco, was also on-hand to celebrate the finalists’ fiction. Hunter Thomas, the Director of Lit Crawl and Operations Manager of Litquake, said he was incredibly excited to “stage an arts event in a public space.”

“San Francisco is often so hostile to using its public space, so BART welcoming Litquake is a wonderful change of pace,” he said. The literary festival runs across San Francisco through Oct. 22.

The crowd at Sound Tracks x Litquake on Oct. 7 at Glen Park Station.

After an hour-and-a-half of literature and music, it was time for the writers and band to pack up and head their separate ways. Fortunately for them, the faregates were just a few steps away.