a brief history
1995
Upstairs in the packed room above the bar, Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh introduced the San Francisco audience to writing that would design a new elevation for contemporary literature. The atmosphere was electric. The Castle writing scene had arrived. Playwright and motivator Paul Mendoza produced some excellent nights of local spoken word, including early Castle appearances by Beth Lisick and Bucky Sinister.
1996
Scottish writing at the time was riding on a generational and political sea change. Years of Thatcherist policies had crippled the Scottish economy, burdening communities, destroying lives. James Kelman, the Glasgow writer, had been battling the system and the coercive linguistic propriety in language and literature since the 70s. His writing, influential and revolutionary, inspired a generation of new Scottish writers. Awarded the Booker Prize in 1995 for his superb work, How Late It Was, How Late, Kelman broke the door of conformity with his powerful language hammer. He read from his landmark novel at the Castle in 1996. Also that year writer Alan Warner, (Morvern Callar, These Demented Lands) joined Rebel Inc. publisher and radical Kevin Williamson on the Castle stage. Later they floated in the pool at the Phoenix Hotel. Probably face down.
1997
The gigs featuring Irvine Welsh as the headliner were memorable for their wildness. Full-on raves set the boozer alight, as hundreds rose on the magic carpet of excitement that now surrounded the full throttle, Trainspotting phenomenon.
The Castle stage was introduced to Vietnam vet and Glasgow-born writer, John Mulligan, whose landmark novel, Shopping Cart Soldiers, highlighted the appalling neglect of veterans living on the streets.
1998
The year coincided with the trauma associated with World Cup soccer, the life and death of national self esteem. Ace midfielder and striker writer Po Bronson scored with a volley of fantastic American-Scottish laced skullduggery, in a story that held out hope for fair play. That same night, the Opening Day of the 1998 tournament, saw the first renditions of the Hooligan Tenors, a blunt choral weave from the tapestries of Scottish footballing heraldry, performed by Alan Black and Claudio Aronica.
Later that year, Patrick Mc Cabe (Butcher Boy) appeared on the stage to deliver a performance that will be remembered fondly by the witnesses.
THE NEW MILLENIUM
The Castle was the location where San Francisco's Litquake writers festival found its birth, bloomed by co-founders Jack Boulware and Jane Ganahl. The Castle continues to be at the heart of the Litquake festival. The much respected writer Peter Plate and his bobbing and weaving engine drive of narrative memory, kicked off the century on the Castle stage. 2001 was noteable for Jack Boulware's classic Rubble! Rubble!, weeks after the nightmarish September 11 disaster. Outrage, drunkeness, downright fucking madness, peppered some of the Castle gigs. The Jason Flores Williams nights were at the top of that snowy Christmas Tree.
The scene continued to thrive with a long list of great writers reading at the Castle. Michelle Tea and Lawrence Ferlinghetti read at Litquake events, as did the marvelous and absolutely fabulous, David Henry Sterry, author of Chicken and The Castle published its own anthology, Public House, featuring writers who had read at the pub, including Jarhead author Anthony Swofford, and Mary Roach, author of the best-seller Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. 2007 produced one of the best readings in many a moon, when Andrew O'Hagan read from his great novel, Be Near Me. Michael Disend is a regular feature at the Castle as he continues to develop a masterwork of literature, Penman, which will go down as one of the definitive books in San Francisco's long literary legacy.
to be continued....
