LIVE! From City Lights: Recent Episodes
LIVE! From City Lights
The official podcast for City Lights Publishers & Booksellers in San Francisco. Featuring readings and archives. Hosted by City Lights events coordinator Peter Maravelis.
Mosab Abu Toha reading from “Forest of Noise: Poems” by Mosab Abu Toha, published by Knopf Publishing GroupYou can purchase copies of “Forest of Noise: Poems” directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/forest-of-noise-poems/ Originally broadcast via Zoom on Monday, November 4, 2024. Hosted by Peter Maravelis.This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundationFind more recent events at our YouTube channel: CityLightsBooks
Daniel Borzutzky in conversation with Ricardo Alberto Maldonado, celebrating the publication of "The Murmuring Grief of the Americas" by Daniel Borzutzky, published by Coffee House PressYou can purchase copies of "The Murmuring Grief of the Americas" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/murmuring-grief-of-the-americas/Originally broadcast via Zoom on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. Hosted by Peter Maravelis.This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
Bushra Rehman in conversation with May-lee Chai, celebrating the publication of "Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion" by Bushra Rehman, published by Flatiron Books.You can purchase copies of "Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/general-fiction/roses-in-the-mouth-of-a-lion-2/Originally broadcast via Zoom on Tuesday, July 30, 2024. Hosted by Peter Maravelis.This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
City Lights celebrates the publication of "Blessings," a novel by Chukwuebuka Ibeh, published by Doubleday.Purchase here: https://citylights.com/blessings/Obiefuna has always been the black sheep of his family—sensitive where his father, Anozie, is pragmatic, a dancer where his brother, Ekene, is a natural athlete. But when Obiefuna’s father witnesses an intimate moment between his teenage son and another boy, his deepest fears are confirmed, and Obiefuna is banished to boarding school. As he navigates his new school’s strict hierarchy and unpredictable violence, Obiefuna both finds and hides who he truly is. Back home, his mother, Uzoamaka, must contend with the absence of her beloved son, her husband’s cryptic reasons for sending him away, and the hard truths that they’ve all been hiding from. As Nigeria teeters on the brink of criminalizing same-sex relationships, Obiefuna’s identity becomes more dangerous than ever before, and the life he wants drifts further out of reach. Set in post-military Nigeria and culminating in the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act of 2013, "Blessings" is an elegant and exquisitely moving story that asks how to live freely in a country that forbids one’s truest self, and what it takes for love to flourish despite it all.Chukwuebuka Ibeh is a writer from Port Harcourt, Nigeria, born in 2000. His writing has appeared in McSweeney's, New England Review of Books and Lolwe, amongst others, and he is a staff writer at Brittle Paper. He was the runner-up for the 2021 J.F. Powers Prize for Fiction, was a finalist for the Gerald Kraak Award, and was profiled as one of the “Most Promising New Voices of Nigerian Fiction” by Electric Literature. He has studied creative writing under Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Dave Eggers, and Tash Aw, and is currently a an MFA student at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.francesca ekwuyasi is a learner, artist, and storyteller born in Lagos, Nigeria. She was awarded the Writers Trust Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ2S+ Emerging Writers in 2022 for her debut novel, "Butter Honey Pig Bread" (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2020). "Butter Honey Pig Bread" was also shortlisted for a Lambda Literary Award, the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction, the Amazon Canada First Novel Award, and longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Dublin Literary Award. "Butter Honey Pig Bread" placed second on CBC’s "Canada Reads: Canada’s Annual Battle of the Books," where it was selected as one of five contenders in 2021 for “the one book that all of Canada should read.” francesca’s writing has appeared in the Malahat Review, Transition Magazine, Room Magazine, Brittle Paper, the Ex-Puritan, C-Magazine, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, Canadian Art, Chatelain and elsewhere. Her short story, "Ọrun is Heaven" was longlisted for the 2019 Journey Prize. She co-authored, "Curious Sounds: A Dialogue in Three Movements" (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2023), a multi-genre collaborative book with Roger Mooking.Originally broadcast via Zoom on Thursday, July 11, 2024. Hosted by Peter Maravelis. Made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation. citylights.com/foundation/
Tarek El-Ariss in conversation with Peter Maravelis, celebrating the publication of "Water on Fire: A Memoir of War" by Tarek El-Ariss, published by Other Press.Purchase here: https://citylights.com/middle-east/water-on-fire-memoir-of-war/"Water on Fire" tells a story of immigration that starts in a Beirut devastated by the Lebanese Civil War (1975–90), continues with experiences of displacement in Europe and Africa, moves to northeastern American towns battered by lake-effect snow and economic woes, and ends in New York City on 9/11. A story of loss, but also of evolution, it models a kind of resilience inflected with humor, daring, and irreverence.Alternating between his perspective as a child and an adult, Tarek El-Ariss explores how we live with trauma, poignantly illustrating the profound impact of war on our perception of the world, our fears and longings. His memoir is at once historical and universal, intellectual and introspective, the outcome of a long and painful process of excavation that reveals internal turmoil and the predicament of conflict and separation. A contemporary “interpretation of dreams” dealing with monsters, invisible creatures, skin outbreaks, and the sea, it is a book about objects and elements, like water and fire, and about how encountering these elements triggers associations, connecting present and past, time and space.Tarek El-Ariss is the James Wright Professor and Chair of Middle Eastern Studies at Dartmouth College and was a Guggenheim Fellow (2021–22). Trained in philosophy, comparative literature, and visual and cultural studies at the American University of Beirut, the University of Rochester, and Cornell University, he is the author of "Trials of Arab Modernity: Literary Affects and the New Political" and "Leaks, Hacks, and Scandals: Arab Culture in the Digital Age," and editor of the MLA anthology "The Arab Renaissance: A Bilingual Anthology of the Nahda."Originally broadcast via Zoom on Friday, May 17, 2024. Special thanks to Judith Gurewich. Made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation. citylights.com/foundation/
City Lights and Melville House present Yannis Varoufakis in conversation with Peter Maravelis, discussing "Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism" by Yannis Varoufakis, published by Melville House.Purchase here: https://citylights.com/topographies/technofeudalism/Perhaps we were too distracted by the pandemic, or the endless financial crises, or the rise of TikTok. But under cover of them all, a new and more exploitative system has been taking hold. Insane sums of money that were supposed to re-float our economies after the crash of 2008 went to big tech instead. With it they funded the construction of their private cloud fiefdoms and privatized the internet.Technofeudalism says Yanis Varoufakis, is the new power that is reshaping our lives and the world, and is the greatest current threat to the liberal individual, to our efforts to avert climate catastrophe—and to democracy itself. It also lies behind the new geopolitical tensions, especially the New Cold War between the United States and China.Drawing on stories from Greek myth and pop culture, from Homer to Mad Men, Varoufakis explains this revolutionary transformation: how it enslaves our minds, how it rewrites the rules of global power, and, ultimately, what it will take overthrow it.Yanis Varoufakis is an economist and academic, a bestselling author, and the former finance minister of Greece. He is a co-founder of the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025. His books include "And the Weak Suffer What They Must?," "Talking to My Daughter About the Economy," "Adults in the Room," and "Foundations of Economics."Praise for "Technofeudalism:"“Blending intellectual memoir, history, and economic and technological history, Varoufakis creates an intimate atmosphere that is a genuine pleasure to read … It’s hard to read this book and deny its power … illuminating.” — The Washington Post“An outstanding economist and political analyst.” — Noam Chomsky"Arresting … an ambitious thinker and a lively writer … Varoufakis is right that we are in thrall to digital platforms, who hold our data hostage and prevent us from switching to 'a competing cloud fief'" ― The Times (London)Originally broadcast via Zoom on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation. https://citylights.com/foundation/
City Lights and Akashic Books celebrate the publication of "Joyce Carol Oates: Letters to a Biographer," edited by Greg Johnson, published by Akashic Books. Purchase here: https://citylights.com/new-nonfiction-in-hardcover/joyce-carol-oates-letters-to-a-biograp/This rich compilation of Joyce Carol Oates’s letters across four decades displays her warmth and generosity, her droll and sometimes wicked sense of humor, her phenomenal energy, and most of all, her mastery of the lost art of letter writing. In this generous selection of Joyce Carol Oates’s letters to her biographer and friend Greg Johnson, readers will discover a never-before-seen dimension of her phenomenal talent.Whereas her academic essays and book reviews are eloquent in a formal way, in these letters she is wholly relaxed, even when she is serious in her concerns. Like Johnson, she was always engaged in work, whether a long novel or a brief essay, and the letters give a fascinating glimpse into Oates’s writing practice.Joyce Carol Oates is the celebrated author of a number of works of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. She is the editor of "New Jersey Noir," "Prison Noir," and "Cutting Edge: New Stories of Mystery and Crime by Women Writers;" and a recipient of the National Book Award, the PEN America Lifetime Achievement Award, the National Humanities Medal, and a World Fantasy Award for Short Fiction. She lives in Princeton, New Jersey. "A Darker Shade of Noir: New Stories of Body Horror by Women Writers" is her latest work.Steve Wasserman is the publisher of Heyday Books. He is a former editor-at-large for Yale University Press and editorial director of Times Books/Random House and publisher of Hill & Wang and The Noonday Press at Farrar, Straus and Giroux. A founder of the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities at the University of Southern California, Wasserman was a principal architect of the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books during the nine years he served as editor of the Los Angeles Times Book Review (1996–2005). He has written for many publications, including "The Village Voice," "Threepenny Review," "The Nation," "The New Republic," "The American Conservative," "The Progressive," "Columbia Journalism Review," "Los Angeles Times," and the "(London) Times Literary Supplement."Originally broadcast via Zoom on Thursday, March 18, 2024. Hosted by Peter Maravelis. Made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation. citylights.com/foundation
City Lights, Fern Books, Center for the Art of Translation, & Villa Albertine San Francisco celebrate the publication of "Like a Sky Inside" by Jakuta Alikavazovic – translated from the French by Daniel Levin Becker, published by Fern Books. Purchase here: https://citylights.com/european-literature/like-a-sky-inside/In March 2020, a young woman spends the night in the Louvre. At home: her nine-month-old son. In her overnight bag: a notebook, a toiletry kit, a duvet, a cube of nougat, & something that shouldn’t be there. In her head: memories of the Venus de Milo, of land art & the American road, of romance & travel & immigration & war — & of her father, who after each of their many visits to the Louvre would ask just how she’d go about stealing the Mona Lisa.Jakuta Alikavazovic is a French writer of Bosnian & Montenegrin origins. She has received the Prix Goncourt for a first novel & the Prix Médicis for non-fiction, among other European awards & nominations. She is a columnist for the newspaper Libération & the translator into French of authors including David Foster Wallace & Toni Morrison.JiaJing Liu is a translator (English-Chinese-French), writer, & editor who lives in San Francisco. She studied translation at Université Aix-Marseille, & was a researcher at the Beijing bureau of Libération. Her writings have appeared in Popula, Civil, The Awl, LEAP, The Art Newspaper, & other publications. She recently served as assistant curator for the exhibition, Shifting Fields: Contemporary Chinese Painting, at the Stanford Art Gallery. She is the development manager at Heyday, an independent, nonprofit publisher in Berkeley, California.Originally broadcast from City Lights' Poetry Room on Thursday, May 2, 2024. Hosted by Peter Maravelis. Made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation. citylights.com/foundation
Ana Raquel Minian in conversation with Irma Herrera discussing Minian's, "In the Shadow of Liberty: The Invisible History of Immigrant Detention in the United States," published by Viking.Purchase here: https://citylights.com/new-nonfiction-in-hardcover/in-the-shadow-of-liberty-immigrant-det/In 2018, many Americans watched in horror as children were torn from their parents at the US-Mexico border under Trump’s “family separation” policy. But as historian Ana Raquel Minian reveals in "In the Shadow of Liberty," this was only the latest chapter in a saga tracing back to the 1800s—one in which immigrants to the United States have been held without recourse to their constitutional rights. Braiding together the vivid stories of four migrants seeking to escape the turmoil of their homelands for the promise of America, "In the Shadow of Liberty" gives this history a human face, telling the dramatic story of a Central American asylum seeker, a Cuban exile, a European war bride, & a Chinese refugee.As we travel alongside these indelible characters, "In the Shadow of Liberty" explores how sites of rightlessness have evolved, & what their existence has meant for our body politic. Though these “black sites” exist out of view for the average American, their reach extends into all of our lives: the explosive growth of the for-profit prison industry traces its origins to the immigrant detention system, as does the emergence of Guantanamo & the gradual unraveling of the right to bail & the presumption of innocence. Through these narratives, we see how the changing political climate surrounding immigration has played out in individual lives, & at what cost. But as these stories demonstrate, it doesn’t have to be like this, & a better way might be possible.Ana Raquel Minian is a professor of history at Stanford University & the author of the award-winning book "Undocumented Lives," published by Harvard University Press in 2018. A recipient of the Andrew Carnegie fellowship, their writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, & Foreign Affairs, among other outlets. Originally from Mexico City, they now live with their partner in the Bay Area.Irma Herrera is a writer, solo performer, & former lawyer based in the Bay Area. Her play "Why Would I Mispronounce My Own Name?" explores what it means to be American by weaving personal stories, humor, & historical events.Originally broadcast from City Lights' Poetry Room on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Hosted by Peter Maravelis. Made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation. citylights.com/foundation
City Lights, ALTA Journal, & Heyday Books celebrate the publication of "The Forgetters: Stories" by Greg Sarris (Heyday Books).Purchase books by Greg Sarris here: https://citylights.com/?search_type=author&s=Greg+SarrisCelebrated storyteller & tribal leader Greg Sarris offers a contemplative & enchanting story cycle in "The Forgetters," a collection that blends into an unsuspected harmony shimmering with waking life, human & animal forms, & eras bygone & still-to-come. Borrowing from the cadence of Native American creation stories & the enchantment of magical realism, these tales combine to reveal the foibles & folly that beset us & the lessons that recall us to ourselves & the world."The Forgetters" excavates multilayered tales of California’s Indigenous exiles, camp workers, shapeshifters, & medicine people as they interweave with the paths of settlers, migrants, & other wayfarers across the arc of recent centuries & beyond. Narrated by the enigmatic crow sisters, Question Woman & Answer Woman, this collection returns to Sonoma Mountain & traverses the homelands of the Coast Miwok & Southern Pomo. Rooted in today’s Marin & Sonoma counties, these transporting tales glimmer with an intimate connection to place & past—from ancient mythic time when all the animals were people to a speculative future when the people return as environmental refugees to the mountain from which they came.Greg Sarris is serving his sixteenth term as Chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria & his first term as board chair for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. His publications include "Keeping Slug Woman Alive" (1993), "Grand Avenue" (1994, reissued 2015), "Watermelon Nights" (1998, reissued 2021), "How a Mountain Was Made" (2017, published by Heyday), and "Becoming Story" (2022, published by Heyday). Greg lives & works in Sonoma County. Visit his website at: greg-sarris.comBlaise Zerega is Alta Journal’s editorial director. His journalism has appeared in Conde Nast Portfolio (deputy editor & part of founding team), WIRED (managing editor), the New Yorker, Forbes, & other publications. Additionally, he was the editor of Red Herring magazine, once the bible of Silicon Valley.Originally broadcast from City Lights' Poetry Room on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. Hosted by Peter Maravelis. Made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation. citylights.com/foundation
City Lights & Semiotext(e) celebrate the publication of "Stubble Archipelago" by Wayne Koestenbaum with a conversation between the author & Tausif Noor.Purchase here: https://citylights.com/stubble-archipelago/Wild new adventures in word-infatuated flânerie from a celebrated literary provocateur. This book of thirty-six poetic bulletins by the humiliation-advice-giver Wayne Koestenbaum will teach you how to cruise, dream, decode a crowded consciousness, find nuggets of satisfaction in unaccustomed corners, & sew a language glove roomy enough to contain materials gathered while meandering. Koestenbaum wrote many of these poems while walking around New York City. He’d jot down phrases in a notebook or dictate them into his phone. At home, he’d incorporate these fragmented gleanings into overflowing quasi sonnets. Thus each poem functions as a coded diary entry, including specific references to sidewalk events & peripatetic perceptions. Flirting, remembering, eavesdropping, gazing, squeezing, sequestering: Koestenbaum invents a novel way to cram dirty liberty into the tight yet commodious space of the sonnet, a fourteen-lined cruise ship that contains ample suites for behavior modification, libidinal experiment, aura-filled memory orgies, psychedelic Bildungsromane, lap dissolves, archival plunges, & other mental saunterings that conjure the unlikely marriage of Kenneth Anger & Marianne Moore. Carnal pudding, anyone? These engorged lyrics don’t rhyme; & though each builds on a carapace of fourteen lines, many of the lines spawn additional, indented tributaries, like hoop earrings dangling from the stanzas’ lobes. Koestenbaum’s poems are comic, ribald, compressed, symphonic. They take liberties with ordinary language, & open up new pockets for sensation in the sorrowing overcoat of the “now.” Stubble—a libidinal detail—matters when you’re stranded on the archipelago of your most unsanctioned yet tenaciously harbored impulses.Wayne Koestenbaum—poet, critic, novelist, artist, performer—has published nineteen books, including "The Queen’s Throat," a groundbreaking study of sexuality & the human voice which was a National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist. Additional books to his credit include: "Camp Marmalade," "Notes on Glaze," "The Pink Trance Notebooks," "My 1980s & Other Essays," "Hotel Theory," "The Anatomy of Harpo Marx," "Humiliation," "Jackie Under My Skin," & "The Cheerful Scapegoat." His essays & poems have been widely published in periodicals & anthologies, including "The Best American Poetry," "The Best American Essays," The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Paris Review, London Review of Books, The Believer, The Iowa Review, Cabinet, and Artforum. Formerly an Associate Professor of English at Yale & a Visiting Professor in the Yale School of Art’s painting department, he is a Distinguished Professor of English, French, & Comparative Literature at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City.Tausif Noor is a critic, curator, & PhD student in global modern art history at the University of California, Berkeley. His writing & essays have appeared in publications such as Artforum, the Poetry Project Newsletter, the New York Review of Books, & the New Yorker, as well as in various exhibition catalogues, artist books, & edited volumes. He lives in Oakland, CA.Originally broadcast via Zoom on Monday, March 25, 2024. Hosted by Peter Maravelis. Made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation. citylights.com/foundation
Judith Butler discusses their new book "Who’s Afraid of Gender?" published by Farrar Straus Giroux. Named a "Most Anticipated Book of 2024" by Time, Elle, Kirkus, Literary Hub, The Millions, & Electric Literature.Purchase book here: https://citylights.com/whos-afraid-of-gender/Judith Butler, the groundbreaking thinker whose iconic book "Gender Trouble" redefined how we think about gender & sexuality, confronts the attacks on “gender” that have become central to right-wing movements today. Global networks have formed “anti-gender ideology movements” that are dedicated to circulating a fantasy that gender is a dangerous, perhaps diabolical, threat to families, local cultures, civilization—& even “man” himself. Inflamed by the rhetoric of public figures, this movement has sought to nullify reproductive justice, undermine protections against sexual & gender violence, & strip trans & queer people of their rights to pursue a life without fear of violence.The aim of "Who’s Afraid of Gender?" is not to offer a new theory of gender but to examine how “gender” has become a phantasm for emerging authoritarian regimes, fascist formations, & transexclusionary feminists. In their vital, courageous new book, Butler illuminates the concrete ways that this phantasm of “gender” collects & displaces anxieties & fears of destruction. Operating in tandem with deceptive accounts of “critical race theory” & xenophobic panics about migration, the anti-gender movement demonizes struggles for equality, fuels aggressive nationalism, & leaves millions of people vulnerable to subjugation.An essential intervention into one of the most fraught issues of our moment, "Who’s Afraid of Gender?" is a bold call to refuse the alliance with authoritarian movements & to make a broad coalition with all those whose struggle for equality is linked with fighting injustice. Imagining new possibilities for both freedom & solidarity, Butler offers us a hopeful work of social and political analysis that is both timely and timeless.Judith Butler is the author of several books including "Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity," "Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of 'Sex'," "The Psychic Life of Power: Theories of Subjection, Excitable Speech, Notes Toward a Performative Theory of Assembly," & "The Force of Non-Violence." In addition to numerous academic honors & publications, Butler has published editorials & reviews in The Guardian, The New Statesman, The Nation, Time Magazine, the London Review of Books, & in a wide range of journals, newspapers, radio & podcast programs throughout Europe, Latin America, Central & South Asia, & South Africa. They live in Berkeley.Maggie Nelson is the author of several acclaimed books of poetry & prose, including "Like Love: Essays and Conversations" (2024), the national bestseller "On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and Constraint" (2021), National Book Critics Circle Award winner and international bestseller "The Argonauts" (2015), "The Art of Cruelty: A Reckoning" (2011), "Bluets" (2009; named by Bookforum as one of the top 10 best books of the past 20 years), "The Red Parts: Autobiography of a Trial" (2007), & "Women, the New York School, & Other True Abstractions" (2007), "Something Bright, Then Holes" (2007), & "Jane: A Murder" (2005; finalist, the PEN/ Martha Albrand Art of the Memoir). A recipient of a 2016 MacArthur “genius” Fellowship, she is currently a professor of English at the University of Southern California.Originally broadcast from City Lights' Poetry Room on Thursday, March 28, 2024. Hosted by Peter Maravelis. Made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation. citylights.com/foundation
Kit Schluter celebrates the publication of "Cartoons," (City Lights) & Garrett Caples celebrates the publication of "Proses: Incomparable Parables! Fabulous Fables! Cruel Tales!" (Wave Books).Purchase "Cartoons:" https://citylights.com/city-lights-published/cartoons/Purchase "Proses:" https://citylights.com/general-fiction/proses-incomparable-parables-fabulous/About "Cartoons:"Set in the uncanny valley between Bugs Bunny & Franz Kafka, "Cartoons" is an explosive series of outrageous, absurdist tales. "Cartoons" proposes itself as a genre of imaginary writing in opposition to the realism of most contemporary U.S. fiction, aligning itself with the French symbolism & Latin American fabulism its author is known to translate. A giant cricket with a tiny Kit Schluter in a jar, an umbrella who confuses the words porpoise and purpose in its quest for self-fulfillment, a pair of slugs go on a bender, these are just a few denizens of its pages, suffused with a fairy tale-like animism. A microwave oven decries microaggressions. A beer bottle is filled with regret. An escalator mechanic’s shoe conceals a terrible secret.Kit Schluter’s recent work has appeared in Boston Review, BOMB, & Brooklyn Rail. He is author of the poetry collection "Pierrot’s Fingernails" (Canarium Books) as well as numerous chapbooks & artist editions of poems & stories. Schluter is included in the latest edition of "Best American Experimental Writing" (Wesleyan UP, 2020), edited by Carmen Maria Machado, Joyelle McSweeney, Jesse Damiani & Seth Abramson. He has translated widely from French & Spanish, including works by Rafael Bernal (New Directions), Marcel Schwob (Wakefield Press), & Olivia Tapiero (Nightboat Books). He recently illustrated Sebastian Castillo’s novel "SALMON." Kit coordinates production & design for Nightboat Books and lives in Mexico City.About "Proses:"In the grand tradition of poet’s fiction, "Proses: Incomparable Parables! Fabulous Fables! Cruel Tales!" is a collection of nine phantasmagorical stories by poet & City Lights editor, Garrett Caples.Turning its back on the ethos of traditional narrative, "Proses" draws on Marcel Schwob, magical realism, & speculative fiction for inspiration, projecting worlds dominated by dream logic & impossible dimensions. Spectral nuns, xenobots, explosive phraseology, & even Ringo Starr are some of the unexpected dilemmas confronting the various protagonists. Poets such as Andrew Joron, Kit Schluter, & Claude Grind make cameo appearances. While each story is a standalone, the collection amounts to an intricate whole, as themes, objects, & characters recur, encouraging readers to enjoy the book sequentially. Regardless of how it's enjoyed, "Proses" is both a satire of the world of contemporary poetry & a celebration of that world’s fantastic, infinite imagination.Garrett Caples is the author of "Lovers of Today" (Wave Books, 2021), "Power Ballads" (Wave Books, 2016), "Complications" (2007), & "The Garrett Caples Reader" (1999), a collection of outtakes, "The Rise & Fall of Johnny Volume" (2020), & a bilingual selection, "Noches Apátridas" (Unstated Nights, 2019). He’s also written a book of essays, "Retrievals" (2014), & a pamphlet, "Quintessence of the Minor" (2010). He’s the editor of Philip Lamantia’s "Preserving Fire: Selected Prose" (2018), Samuel Greenberg’s "Poems from the Greenberg MSS" (2019), & Michael McClure’s "Mule Kick Blues and Last Poems" (2021), as well as the co-editor of "The Collected Poems of Philip Lamantia" (2013), "Particulars of Place" (2015) by Richard O. Moore, "Incidents of Travel in Poetry: New and Selected Poems" (2016) by Frank Lima, & "Arcana: A Stephen Jonas Reader" (2019). He is an editor at City Lights Books, where he curates the Spotlight Poetry Series.Originally broadcast from City Lights' Poetry Room on Thursday, May 22, 2024. Hosted by Peter Maravelis. Made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation. citylights.com/foundation
Celebrate Gil Cuadros with Kevin Martin, Rafael Pérez-Torres, & Amy Scholder. Opening by Greyson Wright & readings by Joseph Cassara & Flavia Elisa Mora.City Lights & the SF LBGT Center celebrate the publication of "My Body Is Paper: Stories and Poems" by Gil Cuadros, edited by Pablo Alvarez, Kevin Martin, Rafael Pérez-Torres, & Terry Wolverton, foreword by Justin Torres. Published by City Lights Books. Purchase "My Body Is Paper" here: https://citylights.com/my-body-is-paper-stories-poems/mPurchase "City of God" here: https://citylights.com/city-lights-published/city-of-god/Since "City of God" was published by City Lights 30 years ago, it has become an unlikely classic (an “essential book of Los Angeles” according to the LA Times). The book has touched those who find in his work a singular evocation of Chicanx life in Los Angeles around the time of the AIDS epidemic, which took his life in 1996. Little did we know, Cuadros continued writing exuberant works in the period between his one published book & his untimely death at 34. This recently discovered treasure, "My Body Is Paper," is a stunning portrait of sex, family, religion, culture of origin, & the betrayals of the body. Tender & blistering, erotic & spiritual, Cuadros dives into these complexities which we grapple with today, showing us how to survive these times & beyond.Gil Cuadros (1962–1996) was a groundbreaking gay Latino writer whose work explored the intersections of sexuality, race, & spirituality. Diagnosed with HIV in 1987, Cuadros channeled his experiences into "City of God," capturing the raw emotions of living with a life-threatening illness. His lyrical intensity & unflinching honesty shined a light on marginalized communities & familial expectations. "City of God" has gone on to become a classic of Chicanx literature.Kevin J. Martin is the executor of the Estate of Gil Cuadros, & a longtime copyeditor & writer. He serves as Senior Writer & Associate Editor for MagellanTV, where he writes on various topics related to art & culture. Rafael Pérez-Torres is professor of English & Gender Studies at UCLA & author of "Movements in Chicano Poetry and Critical Mestizaje," co-author of "Memories of an East L.A. Outlaw," & co-editor of "The Chicano Studies Reader." Amy Scholder is a literary editor & documentary filmmaker known for amplifying the stories of marginalized artists & activists. Amy began her career as an editor at City Lights. She has since served as US Publisher to Verso Books, later joining 7 Stories Press as Editor & Chief. In 2008, Scholder left 7 Stories to become the executive editor of the Feminist Press at the City University of New York. Scholder was approached by director Pratibha Parmar & producer Shaheen Haq to help finish their hybrid documentary feature, "My Name Is Andrea," about Andrea Dworkin. She became an executive producer of the film, which premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival.Joseph Cassara is the author of "The House of Impossible Beauties" (Ecco), winner of the 2019 Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction & finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction. A graduate of Columbia University & the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, he currently serves as the George & Judy Marcus Endowed Chair of Creative Writing at San Francisco State University.Flavia Elisa Mora is a queer, Mexican migrant artist, activist, & community organizer raised in occupied Ramaytush Ohlone land, in La Mission. Her main two foci are muralismo & Flor y Canto poesía. Flavia’s work delves into the exploration of her identity, relationships, migration story, family & community history. She is a published writer, performs poetry throughout the Bay, & is one of the lead artists for the mural "Alto al Fuego en la Misión," located on 24th and Capp, SF.Event originally broadcast from City Lights' Poetry Room on Thursday, May 30, 2024. Hosted by Peter Maravelis. Made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation. citylights.com/foundation
Jordan Elgrably in conversation with Sarah AlKahly-Mills, with readings from both authors. City Lights celebrates the publication of "Stories from the Center of the World: New Middle East Fiction" edited by Jordan Elgrably, published by City Lights Books.You can purchase copies directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/stories-from-the-center-of-the-world/Short stories from 25 emerging and established writers of Middle Eastern and North African origins, a unique collection of voices and viewpoints that illuminate life in the global Arab/Muslim world."Stories from the Center of the World" gathers new writing from the greater Middle East (or SWANA), a vast region that stretches from Southwest Asia, through the Middle East and Turkey, and across Northern Africa. The 25 authors included here come from a wide range of cultures and countries, including Palestine, Syria, Pakistan, Iran, Lebanon, Egypt, and Morocco, to name some.In “Asha and Haaji,” Hanif Kureishi takes up the cause of outsiders who become uprooted when war or disaster strikes and they flee for safe haven. In Nektaria Anastasiadou‘s “The Location of the Soul According to Benyamin Alhadeff,” two students in Istanbul from different classes — and religions that have often been at odds with one another — believe they can overcome all obstacles. MK Harb‘s story, “Counter Strike,” is about queer love among Beiruti adolescents; and Salar Abdoh‘s “The Long Walk of the Martyrs” invites us into the world of former militants, fighters who fought ISIS or Daesh in Iraq and Syria, who are having a hard time readjusting to civilian life. In “Eleazar,” Karim Kattan tells an unexpected Palestinian story in which the usual antagonists — Israeli occupation forces — are mostly absent, while another malevolent force seems to overtake an unsuspecting family. Omar El Akkad‘s “The Icarist” is a coming-of-age story about the underworld in which illegal immigrants are forced to live, and what happens when one dares to break away.Contributors include: Salar Abdoh, Leila Aboulela, Farah Ahamed, Omar El Akkad, Sarah AlKahly-Mills, Nektaria Anastasiadou, Amany Kamal Eldin, Jordan Elgrably, Omar Foda, May Haddad, Daniel Haghihi, Malu Halasa, MK Harb, Alireza Iranmehr, Karim Kattan, Hanif Kureishi, Ahmed Salah Al-Mahdi, Diary Marif, Tariq Mehmood, Sahar Mustafah, Mohammed Al-Naas, Ahmed Naji, Mai Al-Nakib, Abdellah Taia, and Natasha TynesJordan Elgrably is a Franco-American and Moroccan writer and translator, whose stories and creative nonfiction have appeared in numerous anthologies and reviews, including Apulée, Salmagundi, and The Paris Review. Editor-in-chief and founder of The Markaz Review, he is the cofounder and former director of the Levantine Cultural Center/The Markaz in Los Angeles (2001-2020), and producer of the stand-up comedy show “The Sultans of Satire” (2005-2017) and hundreds of other public programs. He is based in Montpellier, France and California.Sarah AlKahly-Mills is a Lebanese-American writer. Her story “The Salamander” is included in the new book Stories from the Center of the World: New Middle East Fiction, edited by Jordan Elgrably, and just published by City Lights. Her fiction, poetry, book reviews, and essays have appeared in publications including Litro Magazine, Ink and Oil, the Los Angeles Review of Books, Michigan Quarterly Review, PopMatters, Al-Fanar Media, Middle East Eye, and various university journals. Born in Burbank, CA, she now lives in Rome, Italy.Originally hosted live in City Lights' Poetry Room on Thursday, May 9, 2024. Hosted by Peter Maravelis. Made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation cosponsored with Golden Thread Productions. citylights.com/foundation
City Lights celebrates No.23 in the "Spotlight Poetry Series"Roberto Harrison reads from his work. Introduction by Garrett Caples. Julien Poirier will also be reading from his work. In person event held in City Lights' Poetry Room, hosted by Peter Maravelis. Purchase "Isthmus to Abya Yala" By Roberto Harrison here: https://citylights.com/isthmus-to-abya-yala-spotlight-23/ A conjuration of ancient consciousness aimed at rehumanizing our contemporary cyborg condition.“Abya Yala”–“land of life” or “land of vital blood”–is a Pre-Columbian term of the Guna people of Panamá and Colombia to refer to the American continent and more recently has signified the idea of a decolonized “New World” among various Indigenous movements. In Isthmus to Abya Yala, Panamanian American poet Roberto Harrison summons a mythic consciousness in response to this political and spiritual struggle.In his poems, with mystic fervor, Harrison finds phonetic unities concealing conceptual oppositions he must transcend. Invoking “mobilian” as an ur-language against racism and toward an all-inclusive humanity–in opposition to the “mobile” of phone-mediated existence–the poems of "Isthmus to Abya Yala" burn with a visionary ardor that overpowers rationality through an intensive accumulation of imagery. They even sometimes manifest as visual poems in the form of drawings he calls “Tecs,” opposing the dominance of technology to the advocacy of pan-Indian nationhood by 19th century Shawnee leader Tecumseh. “Tecumseh Republic” is the poet’s name for a new post-racial, post-national, post-binary, post-colonial, holistic and earth-oriented society with no national borders, with Panamá, the isthmus, as its only entry and exit.Roberto Harrison’s poetry books include "Tropical Lung: exi(s)t(s)" (Omnidawn, 2021), "Tropical Lung: Mitologia Panameña" (Nion Editions, 2020), "Yaviza" (Atelos, 2017), "Bridge of the World" (Litmus Press, 2017), "culebra" (Green Lantern Press, 2016), "bicycle" (Noemi Press, 2015), "Counter Daemons" (Litmus Press, 2006), "Os" (subpress, 2006), as well as many chapbooks. With Andrew Levy, Harrison edited the poetry journal "Crayon" from 1997 to 2008. He was also the editor of Bronze Skull Press which published over 20 chapbooks, including the work of many Midwestern poets. Most recently, Harrison served as a co-editor for the "Resist Much/Obey Little: Inaugural Poems to the Resistance" anthology. He was the Milwaukee Poet Laureate from 2017–2019 and is also a visual artist. He lives in Milwaukee with his wife, the poet Brenda Cárdenas.Julien Poirier teaches poetry in the San Francisco public schools and at San Quentin State Prison. His book "Out of Print" was published by City Lights in 2016. He is also the author of "El Golpe Chileño" (2010), "Stained Glass Windows of California" (2012), and "Way Too West" (2015), among other volumes. With Garrett Caples, he edited Incidents of "Travel in Poetry: New and Selected Poems" (2016) by Frank Lima for City Lights. He is also a co-founder of Ugly Duckling Presse Collective, where he edited a poetry newspaper, "New York Nights," as well as an anthology of writing by Jack Micheline, "One of a Kind" (Ugly Duckling, 2008), and a book of travel journals by Bill Berkson, "Invisible Oligarchs" (Ugly Duckling, 2016). He is currently the mastermind behind the mail art publication Night Mail.Originally broadcast on Wednesday, April 3, 2024.Made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
City Lights LIVE, Beacon Press, and Refugee Immigrant Transitions celebrate the publication of “Humanizing Immigration: How to Transform Our Racist and Unjust System” by Bill Ong Hing, published by Beacon Press. “Humanizing Immigration” is the first book to argue that immigrant and refugee rights are part of the fight for racial justice; and offers a humanitarian approach to reform and abolition. Representing non-citizens caught up in what he calls the immigration and enforcement “meat grinder”, Bill Ong Hing witnessed their trauma, arriving at this conclusion: migrants should have the right to free movement across borders—and the right to live free of harassment over immigration status. He cites examples of racial injustices endemic in immigration law and enforcement, from historic courtroom cases to the recent treatment of Haitian migrants. Hing includes histories of Mexican immigration, African migration and the Asian exclusion era, all of which reveal ICE abuse and a history of often forgotten racist immigration laws. While ultimately arguing for the abolishment of ICE, Hing advocates for change now. With 50 years of law practice and litigation experience, Hing has represented non-citizens—from gang members to asylum seekers fleeing violence, and from individuals in ICE detention to families at the U.S. southern border seeking refuge. Bill Ong Hing is Professor of Law and Migration Studies at the University of San Francisco, and Professor of Law and Asian American Studies Emeritus, at UC Davis. Previously on the law faculties at Stanford University and Golden Gate University, he founded the Immigrant Legal Resource Center in San Francisco and directs their Immigration & Deportation Defense Clinic. Professor Hing teaches Immigration Law & Policy, Migration Studies, Rebellious Lawyering, and Evidence, is the author of 6 books, and was co-counsel in the U.S. Supreme Court asylum precedent-setting case "INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca" (1987). Jane Pak is Co-Executive Director at Refugee and Immigrant Transitions and Adjunct Professor in the Masters in Migration Studies program at the University of San Francisco (USF). Her scholarship and praxis are informed by Critical Refugee Studies; liberatory education; and transnational solidarity. Jane is most energized when engaging with diverse communities and knowledge in collective contexts. Her background is in strategy, development, and research in education and refugee contexts. She has worked in community, nonprofit, government, and business sectors. Jane’s work for justice is motivated by a multi-generational family history of forced migration, resistance, and service. You can purchase copies of “Humanizing Immigration: How to Transform Our Racist and Unjust System” at https://citylights.com/humanizing-immigration-ht-transfor/. This event is made possible with the support of the City Lights Foundation. To learn more visit: https://citylights.com/foundation/.
City Lights LIVE! presents Myriam Gurba in conversation with visual artist MariNaomi to celebrate the release of Gurba’s new book “Creep: Accusations and Confessions,” published by Simon and Schuster. A ruthless and razor-sharp essay collection that tackles the pervasive, creeping oppression and toxicity that has wormed its way into society—in our books, schools, and homes, as well as the systems that perpetuate them—from the acclaimed author of “Mean,” and one of our fiercest, foremost explorers of intersectional Latinx identity. A creep can be a singular figure, a villain who makes things go bump in the night. Yet “creep" is also what the fog does—it lurks into place to do its dirty work, muffling screams, obscuring the truth, and providing cover for those prowling within it. “Creep” is Myriam Gurba’s informal sociology of creeps, a deep dive into the dark recesses of the toxic traditions that plague the United States and create the abusers who haunt our books, schools, and homes. Through cultural criticism disguised as personal essay, Gurba studies the ways in which oppression is collectively enacted, sustaining ecosystems that unfairly distribute suffering and premature death to our most vulnerable. Yet identifying individual creeps, creepy social groups, and creepy cultures is only half of this book’s project—the other half is examining how we as individuals, communities, and institutions can challenge creeps and rid ourselves of the fog that seeks to blind us. With her ruthless mind, wry humor, and adventurous style, Gurba implicates everyone from Joan Didion to her former abuser, everything from Mexican stereotypes to the carceral state. Braiding her own history and identity throughout, she argues for a new way of conceptualizing oppression, and she does it with her signature blend of bravado and humility. Myriam Gurba is a writer and artist. She is the author of the true crime memoir “Mean,” a New York Times Editors’ Choice. O, The Oprah Magazine, ranked “Mean” as one of the best LGBTQ books of all time. Publishers Weekly describes Gurba as having a voice like no other. Her essays and criticism have appeared in The Paris Review, Time, and 4Columns. She has shown art in galleries, museums, and community centers. She lives in Pasadena, California. MariNaomi (they/them) is the award-winning author and illustrator of “Kiss & Tell: A Romantic Resume,” “Ages 0 to 22,” “Dragon’s Breath and Other True Stories,” "Turning Japanese," “I Thought YOU Hated ME,” the “Life on Earth” trilogy, “Dirty Produce,” and “I Thought You Loved Me.” Their work has appeared in nearly 100 print publications, and has been featured on websites such as The New Yorker’s Daily Shouts, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, The Rumpus, the Los Angeles Review of Books, Midnight Breakfast, SF Examiner, and BuzzFeed. Their comics have been translated into French (Devenir Japonaise, Editions IMHO, 2021), German, and Russian. You can purchase copies of “Creep” at https://citylights.com/new-nonfiction-in-hardcover/creep-accusations-confessions/. This event is made possible with the support of the City Lights Foundation. To learn more visit: https://citylights.com/foundation/.
City Lights LIVE, The New Press, and Princeton University Press celebrate the publication of two new books: “America Purgatory: Prison Imperialism and the Rise of Mass Incarceration” by Benjamin Weber, published by The New Press, and "To Build a Black Future: The Radical Politics of Joy, Pain, and Care” by Christopher Paul Harris, published by Princeton University Press. “American Purgatory” is a vivid work of hidden history that spans the wars to subjugate Native Americans in the mid-nineteenth century, the conquest of the western territories, and the creation of an American empire in Panama, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. "American Purgatory" reveals how “prison imperialism”—the deliberate use of prisons to control restive, subject populations—is written into our national DNA, extending through to our modern era of mass incarceration. Weber also uncovers a surprisingly rich history of prison resistance, from the Seminole Chief Osceola to Assata Shakur—one that invites us to rethink the scope of America’s long freedom struggle. To “Build a Black Future” examines the spirit and significance of this insurgency, offering a revelatory account of a new political culture—responsive to pain, suffused with joy, and premised on care—emerging from the centuries-long arc of Black rebellion, a tradition that traces back to the Black slave. Drawing on his own experiences as an activist and organizer, Christopher Paul Harris takes readers inside the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) to chart the propulsive trajectory of Black politics and thought from the Middle Passage to the present historical moment. Carefully attending to the social forces that produce Black struggle and the contradictions that arise within it, Harris illustrates how M4BL gives voice to an abolitionist praxis that bridges the past, present, and future, outlining a political project at once directed inward to the Black community while issuing an outward challenge to the world. Benjamin Weber is an assistant professor of African American and African Studies at the University of California, Davis. He has worked at the Vera Institute of Justice, Alternate ROOTS, the Marcus Garvey and UNIA Papers Project, and as a public high school teacher in East Los Angeles. He makes his home in Davis, California. Christopher Paul Harris is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Global and International Studies at University of California, Irvine. His research interests range from Black political thought, culture, aesthetics, and social movements to broader questions concerning the possibility of revolutionary transformation in the 21st century. Advancing an abolitionist critique of the capitalist world-system, his work aims to understand the political lives, thought, and cultures of the Black diaspora and the underlying social forces that shape them. You can purchase copies of “America Purgatory: Prison Imperialism and the Rise of Mass Incarceration” at https://citylights.com/new-nonfiction-in-hardcover/amer-purgatory-prison-imperialism/. You can purchase copies of “To Build a Black Future: The Radical Politics of Joy, Pain, and Care” at https://citylights.com/new-nonfiction-in-hardcover/to-build-a-black-future-radical-politi/. This event is made possible with the support of the City Lights Foundation. To learn more visit: https://citylights.com/foundation/.
City Lights LIVE! presents "Found in Translation: Adventures in Language." As part of its 70th Anniversary programming, City Lights celebrates literature in translation with a discussion moderated by Olivia E. Sears, featuring Gabriela Alemán, Dick Cluster, Gillian Conoloy, Elaine Katzenberger, Emilie Moorehouse, and Mark Schafer. City Lights was conceived as an international project. From the very beginning, from Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s own translations of Jacques Prévert , and on to some of the exciting authors City Lights publishes today, the world in translation has been at the core of the City Lights mission. Spend an evening with the editors and translators who have helped shape the translation program at City Lights. Dick Cluster is a writer and translator living in Oakland, California. He translated Gabriela Alemán’s “Poso Wells” and “Family Album: Stories.” Gillian Conoloy is a poet, editor, and translator. Her new collection is “Notes from the Passenger,” released from Nightboat Books in May 2023. Conoley’s translations of three books by Henri Michaux, including “Thousand Times Broken,” appeared in English for the first time, with City Lights Books. Elaine Katzenberger is the executive director of City Lights and the publisher of City Lights Books. Emilie Moorehouse is a teacher, writer, translator, and environmentalist. She translated “Emerald Wounds: Selected Poems” by Joyce Mansour for City Lights Books. Mark Schafer is a literary translator, a visual artist, and a senior lecturer at the University of Massachusetts Boston, where he teaches Spanish. City Lights recently published his translations of Belén Gopegui’s “Stay This Day and Night with Me” (2023) and “The Scale of Maps “(2010), a novel by Alberto Ruy Sánchez entitled “Mogador: The Names of the Air” (2004), and “Dawn of the Senses: Selected Poems,” an anthology of poems by Alberto Blanco. This event was made possible with the support of the Center for the Art of Translation/Two Lines Press and the City Lights Foundation. To learn more about Center for the Art of Translation visit: https://www.catranslation.org/. To learn more visit: https://citylights.com/foundation/.
City Lights LIVE! celebrates the publication of “Women Who Change the World: Stories from the Fight for Social Justice” from City Lights Books, edited by Lynn Lewis, with a conversation between the editor and contributors Hilary Moore and Malkia Devich-Cyril. – Edited by Lynn Lewis – published by City Lights Books “Women Who Change the World” examines the inspiring oral histories of women fighting for justice and radical social change at community, state, and national levels. Award-winning oral historian Lynn Lewis brings together the stories of nine exceptional women, from their earliest formative experiences to their current strategies as movement leaders, organizers, and cultural workers. Each chapter is dedicated to one activist–Malkia Devich-Cyril, Priscilla Gonzalez, Terese Howard, Hilary Moore, Vanessa Nosie, Roz Pelles, Loretta Ross, Yomara Velez, and Betty Yu. Reflecting on the paths their lives have taken, they talk about their struggles and aspirations, insights and victories, and what keeps them in the fight for a better world. The life stories of these inspiring women reveal the many ways the experience of injustice can catalyze resistance and a commitment to making change. They demonstrate how the relationships and bonds of collective struggle for the common good not only win justice, but create hope, love, and joy. Lynn Lewis is an oral historian, educator, and community organizer. She is the author of “Love and Collective Resistance: Lessons from the Picture the Homeless Oral History Project” and is the former executive director and past civil rights organizer at “Picture the Homeless.” Lewis is the recipient of many honors and awards, including a 2022/2023 National Endowment for the Humanities Oral History Fellowship. She makes her home in New York City. Malkia Devich-Cyril is an organizer, activist, movement builder, writer, poet, educator, public speaker, and social justice leader in the areas of Black liberation and digital rights in expansive and profound ways that connect racialized capitalism to the digital economy. In her “Women Who Change the World” oral history, Malkia reflects on the responsibility of lineage, conferred by her mother, a leader of the Harlem Chapter of the Black Panther Party. Related to this is the theme of belonging: to family, community, and movement and the importance of narrative struggle to make meaning and build power to change material conditions. At the time of this interview, Malkia was formulating an analysis around the relationship between grief, grievance, and governance as a critical strategy to win freedom. Malkia, who also goes by Mac, was born and raised in New York City, and lives in Oakland, California. Hilary Moore is an organizer, educator and author who works within an anti-racist framework that links movements to abolish the police and the military with environmental justice, racial justice, and anti-imperialist struggles in the U.S. and internationally. She draws connections between eco-fascism, white supremacy, policing, the military, and surveillance that forecasts many of the dynamics we see today. In her “Women Who Change the World” oral history, she reflects on the process of her own political development and explores the meaning of belonging, creating community and connection. She describes the importance of mentorship and the role of storytelling as a way to build connection, leadership, and movement. Born in Sacramento, California, and raised in rural northern California, Hilary now lives in Louisville, Kentucky. You can purchase copies of “Women Who Change the World: Stories from the Fight for Social Justice” at https://citylights.com/city-lights-published/women-who-change-the-world-stories-from/. This event is made possible with the support of the City Lights Foundation. To learn more visit: https://citylights.com/foundation/.
City Lights LIVE! presents "Insurgent Beatitudes: The History of a Cultural Center,” a conversation between Elaine Katzenberger, Amy Scholder, and Paul Yamazaki, moderated by David L. Ulin. Continuing its 70th anniversary celebratory programming, City Lights Books brings together those who are at the heart of its core. City Lights was founded as a cultural hub, providing space and encouragement for a creative cross-pollination across the arts, as well as the realms of politics, philosophy, and social change. Here’s a chance to hear about our history from some of the folks who’ve made significant contributions over the years, working alongside Lawrence Ferlinghetti and beyond, guiding City Lights into its present and future. David L. Ulin is the author or editor of nearly twenty books, including "Sidewalking: Coming to Terms with Los Angeles,” shortlisted for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay, and the novel "Ear to the Ground." His fiction has appeared in Black Clock, The Santa Monica Review, Scoundrel Time, and Zyzzyva, among other publications. Elaine Katzenberger is the executive director of City Lights and the publisher of City Lights Books. Amy Scholder is a literary editor, documentary filmmaker, and a former editor at City Lights Books where she began her career. Paul Yamazaki has been a bookseller since 1970. He has been the principal buyer at City Lights Booksellers for more than thirty years.
City Lights LIVE celebrates the publication of “the delicacy of embracing spirals” by mimi tempestt, published by City Lights, with a conversation between the poet and Truong Tran. Incendiary, lyrical poems of liberations from the phantasm of Black womanhood. Wedding fierce, jagged lines to an uncompromisingly lyrical flow honed over years of performance, mimi tempestt writes poems that are by turns cerebral, profane, revolutionary, comedic, erotic, and sentimental. “the delicacy of embracing spirals” is her second book, an investigation of the ways in which the personal narrative of Black womanhood can be expressed through a radically human lens. With a visual sensibility that eventually explodes across the page, the collection begins with microcosmic poems of personal struggle and spirals out to macrocosmic texts of social and political critique. The book culminates in a fantastic account of the impossible staging of a play where the lives of the characters and the audience are at stake. A blend of theatre and melodrama, narrative and lyricism, the delicacy of embracing spirals ranges from a confrontation with abusive lovers and predatory promoters, to an excoriation of police brutality and gender oppression, to a critique of the commodification of Black artists for white consumption. mimi tempestt expresses an ongoing dialectical consciousness about being Black, being woman, being queer, being radical, and most essentially, being complicatedly human. The poems engage with the “performance” of oppression that can deter the possibilities of selfhood, liberation, and autonomy, asking three central questions: “What haunts you? What hunts you? Who and what are you hunting?” mimi tempestt (she/they) is a multidisciplinary artist, writer, and daughter of California. She has a M.A. in Literature from Mills College, and is currently a doctoral candidate in the Creative/Critical Ph.D. in Literature at UC Santa Cruz. Her first book, “the monumental misrememberings,” was published with Co-Conspirator Press/The Feminist Center for Creative Work in 2020. In 2021, she was selected for participation in the Lambda Literary Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices & Writers, and was a Creative Fellow at The Ruby in San Francisco. Her works can be found in Foglifter, Interim Poetics, and at the Studio Museum in Harlem. A native of Los Angeles, she currently resides in Berkeley, CA. Truong Tran is a Vietnamese-American poet, visual artist, and teacher. He is an author of five collections of poetry and a children’s book. As a visual artist, Tran is best known for mixed-media pieces, though he has worked in multiple mediums.You can purchase copies of “the delicacy of embracing spirals” at https://citylights.com/delicacy-of-emracing-spirals/. This event is made possible with the support of the City Lights Foundation. To learn more visit: https://citylights.com/foundation/.
City Lights LIVE and Litquake celebrate the final issue of John Freeman’s distinguished journal “Freeman’s: Conclusions,” published by Grove Atlantic, with John Freeman, joined by Jaime Cortez, Elaine Castillo, and Oscar Villaon.Over the course of ten years, “Freeman’s" has introduced the English-speaking world to countless writers of international import and acclaim, from Olga Tokarczuk to Valeria Luiselli, while also spotlighting brilliant writers working in English, from Tommy Orange to Tess Gunty. Now, in its last issue, this unique literary project ponders all the ways of reaching a fitting conclusion.For Sayaka Murata, keeping up with the comings and goings of fashion and its changing emotional landscapes can mean being left behind, and in her poem “Amenorrhea,” Julia Alvarez experiences the end of the line as menopause takes hold. Yet sometimes an end is merely a beginning, as Barry Lopez meditates while walking through the snowy Oregonian landscapes. While Chinelo Okparanta’s story “Fatu” confronts the end of a relationship under the specter of new life, other writers look towards aging as an opportunity for rebirth, such as Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, who takes on the role of being her own elder, comforting herself in the ways that her grandmother used to. Finally, in his comic story “Everyone at Dinner Has a Max von Sydow Story,” Dave Eggers suggests that sometimes stories don’t have neat or clean endings—that sometimes the middle is enough.John Freeman is the founder of the literary annual “Freeman’s” and the author and editor of ten books, including “Dictionary of the Undoing,” “The Park,” “Tales of Two Planets,” “The Penguin Book of the Modern American Short Story,” and, with Tracy K. Smith, “There’s a Revolution Outside,” “My Love”. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and Orion, and been translated into over twenty languages. The former editor of Granta, he lives in New York City, where he teaches writing at NYU and is an executive editor at Alfred A. Knopf.Jaime Cortez is a writer and visual artist based in Watsonville, California. His fiction, essays, and drawings have appeared in diverse publications that include “Kindergarde: Experimental Writing For Children,” “No Straight Lines,” a 40-year compendium of LGBT comics, “Street Art San Francisco,” and “Infinite Cities,” an experimental atlas of San Francisco. He wrote and illustrated the graphic novel “Sexile” for AIDS Project Los Angeles in 2003. “Gordo” is Jaime’s debut collection of short stories, and was published by Grove Atlantic to national acclaim in 2021. Jaime received his BA in Communications from the University of Pennsylvania, and his MFA from UC Berkeley. Elaine Castillo, named one of “30 of the planet’s most exciting young people” by the Financial Times, was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her debut novel “America Is Not the Heart” was named one of the best books of 2018 and has been nominated for the Elle Award, the Center for Fiction Prize, the Aspen Words Prize, the Northern California Independent Booksellers Book Award, and the California Book Award. Her essay collection “How To Read Now” was published to wide acclaim in July 2022, and was chosen as the September pick for Roxane Gay’s Audacious Book Club, among others. Her latest longform essay on grief, dog rescue and the politics of dog training is forthcoming this fall from Scribd. She is currently working on her second novel, to be published in late 2024/early 2025.Oscar Villalon is the editor of “ZYZZYVA." His work has been published in The Believer, Freeman’s, VQR, Stranger’s Guide, Alta, and many other publications. He lives with his wife and son in San Francisco.You can purchase copies of “Freeman’s: Conclusions” at https://citylights.com/freemans-conclusions/ This event is made possible with the support of the City Lights Foundation. To learn more visit: https://citylights.com/foundation/
City Lights LIVE celebrates the publication of “The Unsettled” by Ayana Mathis, published by Alfred A Knopf, with a discussion between Ayana and Angela Flournoy.From the best-selling author of “The Twelve Tribes of Hattie,” a searing multi-generational novel—set in the 1980s in racially and politically turbulent Philadelphia and in the tiny town of Bonaparte, Alabama. This is a story about a mother fighting for her sanity and survival.From the moment Ava Carson and her ten-year-old son, Toussaint, arrive at the Glenn Avenue family shelter in Philadelphia in 1985, Ava is already plotting a way out. She is repulsed by the shelter’s squalid conditions: their cockroach-infested room, the barely edible food, and the shifty night security guard. She is determined to rescue her son from the perils and indignities of that place, and to save herself from the complicated past that led them there.A brilliant, explosive, vitally important new work from one of America’s most fiercely talented storytellers.Ayana Mathis' first novel, “The Twelve Tribes of Hattie” was a New York Times bestseller, an NPR Best Book of 2013, the second selection for Oprah’s Book Club 2.0. and has been translated into sixteen languages. Her nonfiction has been published in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Guernica and Rolling Stone. Mathis is a graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop. She was born in Philadelphia, and currently lives in New York City, where she teaches writing in Hunter College’s MFA Program.Angela Flournoy is the author of “The Turner House,” which was a finalist for the National Book Award. The novel won the VCU Cabell First Novel Prize and was also a finalist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and an NAACP Image Award. She is a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine, and her nonfiction has appeared in many publications, including The Nation, The Los Angeles Times and The New Yorker.You can purchase copies of “The Unsettled” at https://citylights.com/unsettled-2/.This event is made possible with the support of the City Lights Foundation. To learn more visit: https://citylights.com/foundation/.
City Lights LIVE and Liveright Books celebrate the publication of “Before the Movement: The Hidden History of Black Civil Rights” by Dylan C Penningroth, published by Liveright Books, with a discussion between Dylan and Richard Thompson Ford.A prize-winning scholar draws on astonishing new research to demonstrate how Black people used the law to their advantage long before the Civil Rights Movement.The familiar story of civil rights goes something like this: Once, the American legal system was dominated by racist officials who shut Black people out and refused to recognize their basic human dignity. Then, starting in the 1940s, a few brave lawyers ventured south, bent on changing the law—and soon, everyday African Americans joined with them to launch the Civil Rights Movement. In "Before the Movement," historian Dylan C. Penningroth overturns this story, demonstrating that Black people had long exercised “the rights of everyday use,” and that this lesser-known private-law tradition paved the way for the modern vision of civil rights. Well-versed in the law, Black people had used it to their advantage for nearly a century to shape how they worked, worshipped, learned, and loved. Based on long-forgotten sources found in the basements of county courthouses, "Before the Movement" recovers a vision of Black life allied with, yet distinct from, “the freedom struggle.”Dylan C. Penningroth is a professor of law and history at the University of California, Berkeley. Recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship and author of the award winning "The Claims of Kinfolk," he lives in Kensington, California. Richard Thompson Ford is the George E. Osborne Professor of Law at Stanford Law School. He writes for both scholarly and popular audiences and has published in newspapers and journals such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, the San Francisco Chronicle, and many others. He is the author of the critically acclaimed book “Dress Codes: How the Laws of Fashion Made History.” You can purchase copies of “Before the Movement: The Hidden History of Black Civil Rights” at https://citylights.com/before-the-movement-hidden-hist-of-bla/. This event is made possible with the support of the City Lights Foundation. To learn more visit: https://citylights.com/foundation/.
City Lights LIVE and Beacon Press celebrate the publication of “An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States (the 10th Anniversary Edition)” by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, published by Beacon Press, with a conversation between Roxanne and Manu Karuka Vimalassery.Today in the United States, there are more than five hundred federally recognized Indigenous nations comprising nearly three million people, descendants of the fifteen million Native people who once inhabited this land. The centuries-long genocidal program of the US settler-colonial regimen has largely been omitted from history. Now, for the first time, acclaimed historian and activist Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz offers a history of the United States told from the perspective of Indigenous peoples and reveals how Native Americans, for centuries, actively resisted expansion of the US empire.With growing support for movements, such as the campaign to abolish Columbus Day and replace it with Indigenous Peoples’ Day, and the Dakota Access Pipeline protest led by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, “An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States” is an essential resource providing historical threads that are crucial for understanding the present.Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, a New York Times bestselling author, grew up in rural Oklahoma in a tenant farming family. She has been active in the international Indigenous movement for more than four decades and is known for her lifelong commitment to national and international social justice issues. Dunbar-Ortiz is the winner of the 2017 Lannan Cultural Freedom Prize, and is the author or editor of many books, including “Not a Nation of Immigrants, Blood on the Border,” and “Loaded” (published by City Lights), amongst other titles. She lives in San Francisco. Manu Karuka Vimalassery is the author of “Empire’s Tracks: Indigenous Nations, Chinese Workers, and the Transcontinental Railroad” (2019). He is a co-editor, with Juliana Hu Pegues and Alyosha Goldstein, of “On Colonial Unknowing,” a special issue of “Theory & Event,” and with Vivek Bald, Miabi Chatterji, and Sujani Reddy, he is a co-editor of “The Sun Never Sets: South Asian Migrants in an Age of U.S. Power” (2013). He is a member of the Council for Collaborative Inquiry, and an assistant professor of American Studies at Barnard College.You can purchase copies of “An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States (the 10th Anniversary Edition)” at https://citylights.com/indigenous-peoples-hist-of-the-u-s/. This event is made possible with the support of the City Lights Foundation. To learn more visit: https://citylights.com/foundation/.
City Lights LIVE presents investigative journalist Justine Barron, in conversation with Rabia Chaudry, Alex Vitale, Kim Brown and Sierria Warren, to celebrate the release of "They Killed Freddie Gray: The Anatomy of a Police Brutality Cover-Up Hardcover," published by Arcade Books. "They Killed Freddie Gray" exposes a conspiracy among Baltimore leaders to cover up what actually happened to Freddie Gray, who was fatally injured in police custody in April 2015. A viral video showed an officer leaning on Gray’s back while he cried out in pain. But the autopsy concluded he was fatally injured later that morning while the van was in motion—during a multi-stop “rough ride”—from sudden impact to his head. None of the officers were convicted of any crimes based on this theory."They Killed Freddie Gray" solves the mystery of Gray’s death by uncovering new evidence of how he was killed by police and how his cause of death was covered up. This book includes a detailed map with annotations by the author, photographs, and a foreword by Rabia Chaudry. Justine Barron is an investigative journalist whose work focuses on crime, corruption, and media criticism, with a special emphasis on Baltimore. She is also an acclaimed storyteller and four-time winner of the Moth storytelling competition. In 2017, she co-investigated and co-hosted Undisclosed: The Killing of Freddie Gray. Justine grew up in Maryland and attended Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in English. She holds a master’s degree in English Literature from Duke University. She now lives in Miami, Florida. Kim Brown has been covering national and international politics for over 10 years and has been a sought-after voice on issues on race and culture. She is the host of the Real News show Stir Crazy.Rabia Chaudry is an attorney, advocate, and author of the New York Times bestselling "Adnan’s Story" and the critically acclaimed "Fatty Fatty Boom Boom: A Memoir of Food, Fat, and Family". Rabia received her Juris Doctorate from the George Mason School of Law. Alex S. Vitale is a professor of sociology at Brooklyn College. He is also the coordinator of the Policing and Social Justice Project at Brooklyn College. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, The Nation, The Appeal, USA Today, Vice News, and other media outlets. Sierria Warren is a mother, activist, podcaster, and comedian. She witnessed the police van’s stop at Mount and Baker streets during Freddie Gray’s fatal encounter with Baltimore City police. You can purchase copies of “They Killed Freddie Gray: The Anatomy of a Police Brutality Cover-Up Hardcover” at https://citylights.com/they-killed-freddie-gray/ This event is made possible with the support of the City Lights Foundation. To learn more visit: https://citylights.com/foundation/
City Lights LIVE presents John Szwed in conversation with Raymond Foye celebrating the publication of “Cosmic Scholar: The Life and Times of Harry Smith,” published by Farrar, Straus, Giroux. “Cosmic Scholar" follows the life and legacy of Harry Smith, the brilliant eccentric who transformed twentieth century art and culture. He was an anthropologist, filmmaker, painter, folklorist, mystic, and walking encyclopedia. He taught Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe about the occult, swapped drugs with Timothy Leary, sat at the piano with Thelonious Monk, lived with (and tortured) Allen Ginsberg, argued film with Susan Sontag, and received one of the first Guggenheim grants. He was always broke, always intoxicated, compulsively irascible, and unimpeachably authentic. Harry Smith was, in the words of Robert Frank, “the only person I met in my life that transcended everything.” In “Cosmic Scholar”, John Szwed patches together, for the first time, the life of one of the twentieth century’s most overlooked cultural figures. John Szwed is the author or editor of many books, including biographies of Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Sun Ra, and Alan Lomax. He has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation, and in 2005 was awarded a Grammy for “Doctor Jazz”, a book included with the album Jelly Roll Morton: The Complete Library of Congress Recordings by Alan Lomax. A former Professor of Anthropology, African American Studies, and Film Studies for 26 years at Yale University, he was also a Professor of Music and Jazz Studies at Columbia University, and served as the Chair of the Department of Folklore and Folklife at the University of Pennsylvania. He lives in Philadelphia with his family. Raymond Foye is a writer, curator, editor and publisher. From 1978-80 he worked as a literary editor with City Lights Books where he edited “The Unknown Poe” (1980). He also edited two issues (Nos 29 & 30) of Beatitude magazine. His show The Heavenly Tree Grows Downward (James Cohan Gallery, New York) was the first exhibition to feature the artworks of Harry Smith, and was named one of the ten best exhibitions of 2002 by the New York Times (Holland Cotter). He is also currently preparing an edition of “Cosmologies: The Naropa Lectures of Harry Smith”, to be published in October 2023. You can purchase copies of “Cosmic Scholar: The Life and Times of Harry Smith” at https://citylights.com/cosmic-scholar-life-times-harry-smit/ This event is made possible with the support of the City Lights Foundation. To learn more visit: https://citylights.com/foundation/
City Lights LIVE in conjunction with Princeton University Press presents Joanna Moorhead in conversation with Wendi Norris celebrating the newly published book “Surreal Spaces: The Life and Art of Leonora Carrington” from Princeton University Press. An illustrated biography of the pioneering British artist and writer, Leonara Carrington, tracing her life and work through the many places around the world where she lived. The British-born artist and writer Leonora Carrington (1917–2011) is one of the vanguards in the history of women artists and the history of Surrealism. The interests of this visionary—feminism, ecology, the arcane and the mystical, the interconnectedness of everything—are now shared by many. Challenging the conventions of her time, Carrington abandoned family, society, and England to embrace new experiences and forge a unique artistic style in Europe and the Americas. In this evocative illustrated biography, writer and journalist Joanna Moorhead traces her cousin’s footsteps, exploring the artist’s life, loves, friendships, and work. Joanna Moorhead is a British journalist and author whose critically acclaimed memoir, “The Surreal Life of Leonora Carrington,” chronicles her relationship with Carrington, her cousin. Moorhead writes for the Guardian, the Observer, the Times (London), and many other publications. Wendi Norris is the founder and head of Gallery Wendi Norris, a leading international art gallery based in San Francisco. She champions critically acclaimed modern and contemporary artists and artists’ estates, including several associated with the Surrealist movement. Gallery Wendi Norris fosters their artists’ legacies by placing their work in museum exhibitions, building dynamic institutional and private collections, participating in top-tier biennials and art fairs, and educating the public. Since establishing the gallery in 2002, Wendi Norris has curated over 150 solo and thematic exhibitions. You can purchase copies of “Surreal Spaces: The Life and Art of Leonora Carrington” at https://citylights.com/surreal-spaces/ This event is made possible with the support of the City Lights Foundation. To learn more visit: https://citylights.com/foundation/
City Lights LIVE and Verso Books celebrate the publication of “Writers and Missionaries: Essays on the Radical Imagination” by Adam Shatz, published by Verso Books. “Writers and Missionaries: Essays on the Radical Imagination” dives into the question of what it means to be a politically committed writer. Shatz asks: do writers have an ethical imperative to question justice? Shatz’s work demand that we interrogate the relation of thought and action in the struggle for a more just world. Adam Shatz is the U.S. editor of the London Review of Books and a contributor to The New York Times Magazine, The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, and other publications. He is also the host of the podcast “Myself with Others.” E. Tammy Kim is a contributing writer at The New Yorker and a co-host of the podcast “Time to Say Goodbye.” You can purchase copies of "Writers and Missionaries: Essays on the Radical Imagination” at https://citylights.com/commodity-aesthetics/writers-missionaries-essays-on-the-r/.This event is made possible with the support of the City Lights Foundation. To learn more visit: https://citylights.com/foundation/.
City Lights LIVE and The New Press celebrate the publication of “War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine” by Norman Solomon, published by The New Press. Solomon is joined in conversation with Kris Welch. “War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine” exposes the dynamics between media and politics and how the American Military conceals perpetual war. More than twenty years ago, 9/11 and the war in Afghanistan set into motion a hugely consequential shift in America’s foreign policy: a perpetual state of war that is almost entirely invisible to the American public. "War Made Invisible" is an eloquent moral call for counting the true costs of war. Norman Solomon is co-founder of RootsAction.org and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. His books include “War Made Easy,” “Made Love,” “Got War,” and "War Made Invisible" (The New Press). He lives in the San Francisco area. Kris Welch is a producer/host at KPFA-FM radio in Berkeley, California. You can purchase copies of “War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine” at https://citylights.com/muckraking/war-made-visible/.This event is made possible with the support of the City Lights Foundation. To learn more visit: https://citylights.com/foundation/.
City Lights LIVE and Dalkey Archive Press celebrate the publication of “small pieces” by Micheline Aharonian Marcom and Fowzia Karimi, published by Dalkey Archive Press. “small pieces” is a collaboration between novelist Micheline Aharonian Marcom and writer and visual artist Fowzia Karimi, pairing Marcom’s short stories with watercolors done by Karimi. The work is a conversation between two artists in text and image, side by side.Micheline Aharonian Marcom is the author of seven novels. Her novels include "The New American," "The Brick House," and "A Brief History of Yes." She has received fellowships and awards from the Lannan Foundation, the Whiting Foundation, and the US Artists’ Foundation. She is a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Virginia. Fowzia Karimi has a background in Visual Arts and Biology. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College, California. Her work explores the correspondence on the page between the written and the visual arts. She is a recipient of The Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Awards (2011). She is the author of "Above Us the Milky Way" (Deep Vellum, 2020). She lives in Denton, Texas. You can purchase copies of “small pieces” at https://citylights.com/new-fiction-in-hardcover/small-pieces/ This event is made possible with the support of the City Lights Foundation. To learn more visit: https://citylights.com/foundation/
City Lights LIVE and Duke University Press celebrate the publication of “The Williamsburg Avant-Garde: Experimental Music and Sound on the Brooklyn Waterfront” by Cisco Bradley, published by Duke University Press. In “The Williamsburg Avant-Garde” Cisco Bradley documents the rise and fall of the underground music and art scene in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn between the late 1980s and the early 2010s. Drawing on interviews, archival collections, musical recordings, videos, photos, and other ephemera, Bradley explores the scene’s social, cultural, and economic dynamics. Bradley not only documents some of the most vital music of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries; he helps readers better understand the formation, vibrancy, and life span of experimental music and art scenes everywhere. Cisco Bradley is Associate Professor of History at the Pratt Institute and author of “Universal Tonality: The Life and Music of William Parker,” also published by Duke University Press. Lee Ranaldo is a Grammy nominated musician, composer, visual artist, writer, and producer. He is a founding member of Sonic Youth and continues to work on numerous solo projects. His artwork and videos have been on view in galleries and museums across the globe. He is the author of the books “Some Writings on Music and Musicians,” “Against Refusing,” and “How Not To Get Played On The Radio." He makes his home in New York State. You can purchase copies of “The Williamsburg Avant-Garde: Experimental Music and Sound on the Brooklyn Waterfront” at https://citylights.com/williamsburg-avant-garde-experimental/ This event is made possible with the support of the City Lights Foundation. To learn more visit: https://citylights.com/foundation/
City Lights LIVE presents Brandon Shimoda and Emily Luan reading from their books,“Hydra Medusa” and “In 回 / Return,” published by Nightboat Books.“Hydra Medusa” by Brandon Simoda takes us through the poet's day-to-day life as he works five jobs and raises his child. His collection of poems and essays touches on the realities of living on the US-Mexico border. Shimoda documents the realities and oftentimes horrors of living in the desert as he encounters his own past and ancestry as a Japanese American individual. Brandon Shimoda is a poet and author of eight books of poetry and prose. He teaches at Colorado College. “In 回 / Return” by Emily Luan is rooted in the classical tradition of the Chinese “reversible” poem. "In 回 / Return” is engaged in the act of looking back—toward an imagined homeland and a childhood of suburban longing, through migratory passages, departures, and etymologies, and into the various holes and voids that appear in the telling and retelling of history. Emily Luan is a former Margins Fellow at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop. You can purchase copies of "Hydra Medusa” and “In 回 / Return” at https://citylights.com/.
City Lights LIVE celebrates the publication of Emerald Wounds: Selected Poems by Joyce Mansour (Translator: Emilie Moorhouse), published by City Lights Books.
Join us as we dive into the works of iconic Surrealist poet, Joyce Mansour, who emerged from Paris in the 1950s. Mansour is best known for her unfiltered poetry and her participation in the post World War II circle of Surrealist poets.
“Emerald Wounds: Selected Poems” by Joyce Mansour is a bilingual anthology of her striking works. In this episode, Emilie Moorhouse, translator and author of the book's introduction, discusses Mansour's unwavering voice with Garrett Caples, American poet and City Lights editor. Mansour, through her work, expresses her frustration with a patriarchal society that views women as objects rather than multidimensional individuals. Mansour's poetry is as necessary as ever.
You can purchase copies of "Emerald Wounds: Selected Poems" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/emerald-wounds-sel-poems/.
City Lights, in conjunction with Heyday Books, presents Jane Smiley in conversation with Steve Wasserman to celebrate the publication of "The Questions that Matter Most: Reading, Writing, and the Exercise of Freedom" by Jane Smiley, published by Heyday Books.
Smiley’s new book offers essays on some of the aesthetic and cultural issues that mark any serious engagement with reading and writing. She dives into the complexities of character and history and how she is inspired by literature of all kinds in her own writing. She shares her analysis and research on the works of classic authors such as Charles Dickens, Louisa May Alcott, Mark Twain, and many others. Smiley shares her personal journey as a writer moving from Iowa to California and reflects on her findings within the diverse literature of the state, which often highlights issues of race, class, and sex.
Jane Smiley is a novelist and essayist. She has won various awards for her work, including the Pulitzer Prize for her novel "A Thousand Acres." She has written for numerous magazines and newspapers such as The New Yorker, The New York Times, Harper’s, and the Nation. Her most recent novel, "A Dangerous Business," was published in 2022.
Steve Wasserman is the publisher of Heyday Books. He is a former editor-at-large for Yale University Press, editorial director of Times Books/Random House and publisher of Hill & Wang and The Noonday Press at Farrar, Straus & Giroux. He has written for numerous publications, including The Village Voice, Threepenny Review, The Progressive, and many others.
You can purchase copies of "The Questions that Matter Most: Reading, Writing, and the Exercise of Freedom" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/new-nonfiction-in-hardcover/questions-that-matter-most-reading-wr/.
This was a virtual event hosted by Peter Maravelis and made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation.
City Lights LIVE presents Kirsten R. Ghodsee discussing her new book "Everyday Utopia: What 2,000 years of Wild Experiments Can Teach Us About the Good Life," published by Simon and Schuster.
"Everyday Utopia" is an exploration throughout the world and history where varying communities challenge the conventional ways in which we live our lives, raise our families, and interact with those around us. Ghodsee introduces readers to these communities who reimagine life as we know it. From Danish cohousing communities that nourish neighborly bonds to Colombian ecovillages who grow their own food, Ghodsee takes readers through the worlds of those who live in their own utopia. "Everyday Utopia" offers radical hope for what our future could look like if community and connectedness is prioritized.
Kristen R. Ghodsee is a Professor of Russian and East European Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and the critically acclaimed author of "Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism: And Other Arguments for Economic Independence." Her writing has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Republic, Le Monde Diplomatique, and Jacobin, among other publications. She lives outside of Philadelphia.
You can purchase copies of "Everyday Utopia: What 2,000 years of Wild Experiments Can Teach Us About the Good Life" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/new-nonfiction-in-hardcover/everyday-utopia/.
This was a virtual event hosted by Peter Maravelis and made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation.
LIVE! From City Lights celebrates author Mircea Cărtărescu and his latest publication, “Solenoid.”
Grounded in the reality of late 1970s/early 1980s Communist Romania, Solenoid ruminates on the exchange possible between the alternate dimensions of life and art, as various, monstrous dimensions erupt within the Communist present.
Mircea Cărtărescu is a Romanian novelist, poet, short-story writer, literary critic, and essayist. He has published more than twenty-five books. His work has received the Formentor Prize (2018), the Thomas Mann Prize (2018), the Austrian State Prize for Literature (2015), and the Vilenica Prize (2011), among many others. His work has been translated in twenty-three languages. His novels include “Blinding” (published by Archipelago Books,) “Nostalgia” (published by New Directions) and “Solenoid” (published by Deep Vellum.)
You can purchase copies of “Solenoid” directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/solenoid-tr-sean-cotter/
This was a virtual event hosted by Peter Maravelis, in conjunction with Deep Vellum and the Romanian Cultural Institute, and made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation.
LIVE! From City Lights celebrates author Yxta Maya Murray’s publication of “God Went Like That: A Novel.”
“God Went Like That” follows the EPA report of federal agent Reyna Rodriguez who examines the ramifications of nuclear reactor meltdowns that occurred across three years. Drawing on an actual 2011 Department of Energy dossier that details the catastrophes and their ensuing public health fallout, Murray examines the human cost of governmental wrongdoing and environmental racism.
Yxta Maya Murray is a novelist, art critic, playwright, social practice artist, and law professor. The author of nine books, her most recent are the story collection, “The World Doesn’t Work That Way, but It Could” (University of Nevada Press, 2020), and the novel, “Art Is Everything” (TriQuarterly Press, 2021). Her next work of nonfiction, “Artivism and the Law,” is in progress and will be published by Cornell University Press. She has won a Whiting Award, an Art Writer’s Grant, a grant from the Barbara Deming Memorial Foundation/Money For Women, and was a 2021 New York City Arts Corps Grants co-grantee. She’s also been named a fellow at the Huntington Library for her work on radionuclide contamination in Simi Valley, California.
You can purchase copies of “God Went Like That: A Novel” directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/god-went-like-that/
This was a virtual event hosted by Peter Maravelis and made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation.
LIVE! From City Lights celebrates author adrienne marie brown on her latest novel “Maroons: A Grievers Novel.”
The second installment of the Grievers trilogy, “Maroons” is a tale of survival that bears brown’s background as an activist in Detroit. Amidst the Syndrome H-8 pandemic, she learns the importance of community and connection through an abandoned urban landscape.
adrienne marie brown grows healing ideas in public through her multi-genre writing, her music and her podcasts. Informed by 25 years of movement facilitation, somatics, Octavia E Butler scholarship and her work as a doula, brown has nurtured Emergent Strategy, Pleasure Activism, Radical Imagination and Transformative Justice as ideas and practices for transformation. She is the author/editor of seven published texts and the founder of the Emergent Strategy Ideation Institute, where she is now the writer-in-residence. Her published work includes “Fables and Spells Collected and New Short Fiction and Poetry,” “Octavia’s Brood,” “Emergent Strategy,” “Pleasure Activism,” and “We Will Not Cancel Us.” “Maroons” is her second novel. Her visionary fiction has appeared in The Funambulist, Harvard Design Review, and Dark Mountain.
You can purchase copies of “Maroons: A Grievers Novel” directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/maroons/
This was a virtual event hosted by Peter Maravelis and made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation.
LIVE! From City Lights celebrates author David Mas Masumoto and his new publication, “SECRET HARVESTS: A Hidden Story of Separation and the Resilience of a Family Farm.” This event was hosted in conjunction with Red Hen Press and Wasabi Press.
With linoleum block and letterpress artist Patirica Miye Wakida, Masumoto unravels the mysteries surrounding the reappearance of his “lost” aunt Shizuko. In his new memoir, Masumoto is haunted by family lore and driven to explore his own identity and the meaning of family, uncovering stories that bind him to a sense of history buried in the earth that he works and a sense of place that defines his community.
David Mas Masumoto is an organic farmer, author, and activist. His book EPITAPH FOR A PEACH won the Julia Child Cookbook award and was a finalist for a James Beard award. His writing has been awarded a Commonwealth Club of California silver medal and the Independent Publisher Books bronze medal. He has been honored by Rodale Institute as an “Organic Pioneer.” He has served on the boards of the James Irvine Foundation, Public Policy Institute of California, Cal Humanities, and the National Council on the Arts with nomination by President Obama. He farms with his wife Marcy and two adult children, Nikiko and Koro. They reside in a hundred-year-old farmhouse surrounded by their eighty-acre organic peach, nectarine, apricot, and raisin farm outside of Fresno, California.
You can purchase copies of “SECRET HARVESTS: A Hidden Story of Separation and the Resilience of a Family Farm” directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/new-nonfiction-in-hardcover/secret-harvests/
This was a virtual event hosted by Peter Maravelis and made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation.
LIVE! From City Lights celebrates author Robert Greenfield and his latest publication “True West: Sam Shepard’s Life, Work, and Times.”
Much like Greenfield’s previous biographies, “True West” delves deeply into the life of world-famous playwright and actor Sam Shepard, whose work was matched by his equally dramatic life and relationships. Greenfield interviewed dozens of people who knew Shepard well, and makes the case for Shepard as not just a great American writer but a unique figure who first brought the sensibility of rock ‘n’ roll to theater.
Robert Greenfield is an award-winning novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and the author of “Bill Graham Presents: My Life Inside Rock and Out.” He lives in California.
You can purchase copies of “True West: Sam Shepard’s Life, Work, and Times” directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/true-west-sam-shepards-life-work/
This was a virtual event hosted by Peter Maravelis, in conjunction with Crown Books, and made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation.
LIVE! From City Lights welcomes poet, critic, theorist and McArthur fellow Fred Moten in celebration of his latest poetry collection, “perennial fashion presence falling.”
In conversation with award-winning poet Douglas Kearney, Moten shares some pieces from his book, which hold an innate quantum curiosity about the infinitude of the present and the ways in which one could observe the history of the future. Moten approaches the sublime, relishing the intermediary space of microtonal thought.
Fred Moten works in the Departments of Performance Studies and Comparative Literature at New York University. He is concerned with social movement ,aesthetic experiment and black study and has written a number of books of poetry and criticism, including National Book Award finalist “The Feel Trio.” Moten is a MacArthur Fellow, a Guggenheim Fellow and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
You can purchase copies of “perennial fashion presence falling” directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/266548/
This was a virtual event hosted by Douglas Kearney and made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation.
LIVE! From City Lights welcomes Ada Zhang, recognized as one of the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 for her debut book, “The Sorrows of Others.”
In conversation with author and Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduate Belinda Huijuan Tang, Zhang touches on her inspirations to write growing up and the Chinese-American experience in her ten short stories exploring personhood, place, loneliness, love and home.
Ada Zhang is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her short stories have appeared in A Public Space, McSweeney’s, Alaska Quarterly Review, and elsewhere. She grew up in Austin, Texas, and now lives in New York City, where she is an associate editor of adult’s and children’s books at Running Press, an imprint of Hachette Book Group.
You can purchase copies of “The Sorrows of Others” directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/general-fiction/sorrows-of-others/
This was a virtual event hosted by Belinda Huijuan Tang and made in conjunction with A Public Space. This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation.
LIVE! From City Lights welcomes award-winning author Gina Apostol in celebration of her book “La Tercera” for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. In conversation with novelist and poet R. Zamora Linmark, Apostol discusses the role of “La Tercera” as a vision of Philippine history and a narration of how the culture has changed through the newfound understandings of protagonist, Rosario Delgado. The novel is Gina Apostol’s most ambitious, personal and encompassing work yet––a story about the impossibility of capturing the truth of the past and the terrible cost to a family, or a country, that fails to try.
Gina Apostol won the 2012 PEN/Open Book Award and was shortlisted for the William Saroyan International Prize with her book, “Gun Dealers’ Daughter.” Her first two novels, “Bibliolepsy” and “The Revolution According to Raymundo Mata,” both won the Juan Laya Prize for the Novel (Philippine National Book Award). She was writer-in-residence at Phillips Exeter Academy and a fellow at Civitella Ranieri in Umbria, Italy, among other fellowships. Her essays and stories have appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Review of Books, Foreign Policy, Gettysburg Review, Massachusetts Review and others. She lives in New York City and western Massachusetts and grew up in Tacloban, Philippines. She teaches at the Fieldston School in New York City.
You can purchase copies of “La Tercera” directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/staff-picks-archive/la-tercera/
This was an in-person event hosted by R. Zamora Linmark and was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
City Lights presents Gillian Conoley in conversation with Norma Cole, celebrating the publication of "Notes from the Passenger" by Gillian Conoley, published by Nightboat Books. This live event was held in the Poetry room and simultaneously broadcasted via Zoom. This event was hosted by Peter Maravelis of City Lights.
You can purchase copies of "Notes from the Passenger" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/general-poetry/notes-from-the-passenger/
Gillian Conoley is a poet, editor, and translator. Her collection, A LITTLE MORE RED SUN ON THE HUMAN: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS, with Nightboat Books, won the 39th annual Northern California Book Award in 2020. Conoley received the Shelley Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America, and was also awarded the Jerome J. Shestack Poetry Prize, a National Endowment for the Arts grant, and a Fund for Poetry Award. Conoley’s translations of three books by Henri Michaux, THOUSAND TIMES BROKEN, is with City Lights. Conoley has taught as a Visiting Poet at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, the University of Denver, Vermont College, and Tulane University. A long–time resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, Conoley is currently Professor of English and Poet–in–Residence at Sonoma State University where she edits VOLT. Conoley has collaborated with installation artist Jenny Holzer, composer Jamie Leigh Sampson, and Buhto dancer Judith Kajuwara.
Norma Cole is a member of the circle of poets around Robert Duncan in the ’80s, and a fellow traveler of San Francisco’s language poets, Cole is also allied with contemporary French poets like Jacques Roubaud, Claude Royet-Journoud, and Emmanuel Hocquard. Her translations from the French include Hocquard’s "This Story Is Mine" (Instress, 1999), "Crosscut Universe: Writing on Writing from France" (Burning Deck, 2000), Danielle Collobert’s Notebooks 1956-1978 (Litmus, 2003), and Fouad Gabriel Naffah’s "The Spirit God and the Properties of Nitrogen" (Post-Apollo, 2004). She has taught at many schools, including the University of San Francisco and San Francisco State. During winter 2004/05, Cole could be seen inhabiting a 1950s living room as part of the California Historical Society’s Collective Memory installation series. More recently, she curated a show by Marina Adams at the Cue Arts Foundation in NYC.
This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
LIVE! From City Lights welcomes Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and novelist Héctor Tobar as he celebrates the release of his new book "Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of ‘Latino’".
In conversation with John McMurtire, senior editor at Zyzzyva, Tobar discusses the inspiration for his book and how the characterization of ‘Latino’ has changed over the years. "Our Migrant Souls" decodes the meaning of ‘Latino’ as a racial and ethnic identity in the modern United States, and seeks to give voice to the angst and anger of young Latino people who have seen latinidad transformed into hateful tropes.
Héctor Tobar is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and novelist. He is the author of the critically acclaimed, New York Times bestseller, "Deep Down Dark", as well as "The Barbarian Nurseries", "Translation Nation", and "The Tattooed Soldier". Tobar is also a contributing writer for the New York Times opinion pages and an associate professor at the University of California, Irvine. He’s written for The New Yorker, The Los Angeles Times and other publications. His short fiction has appeared in Best American Short Stories, L.A. Noir, Zyzzyva and Slate. The son of Guatemalan immigrants, he is a native of Los Angeles, where he lives with his family.
You can purchase copies of "Our Migrant Souls" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/new-nonfiction-in-hardcover/our-migrant-souls-a-meditation-on-race-and-the-meanings-and-myths-of-latino-2/
This was an in-person event hosted by John McCurtrie and was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
City Lights presents Meredith Broussard. She celebrates the publication of her book “More than a Glitch: Confronting Race, Gender, and Ability Bias in Tech” published by City Lights Books. This was a virtual event hosted by Peter Maravelis.You can purchase copies of “More Than a Glitch” directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/more-than-a-glitch-race-gender-abi/Meredith Broussard is Associate Professor at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute of New York University and Research Director at the NYU Alliance for Public Interest Technology. She is the author of “Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World” (MIT Press). Her work has been featured in the New Yorker, the New York Times, the Atlantic, BBC, Wired, the Economist, and more. She appears in the 2020 documentary “Coded Bias” and serves on the advisory board for the Center for Critical Race & Digital Studies. More information at @merbroussard or meredithbroussard.com.This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
City Lights presents LaTasha N. Nevada-Diggs, Eleni Sikelianos, and Anne Waldman reading new poetry and celebrating their three new books of poetry from Coffee House Press: "Village" by LaTasha N. Nevada-Diggs – "Your Kingdom" by Eleni Sikelianos – "Bard, Kinetic" by Anne Waldman. This event was originally broadcast via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.You can purchase copies of "Village" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/general-poetry/village-4/"Your Kingdom" here: https://citylights.com/general-poetry/your-kingdom/And "Bard, Kinetic" here: https://citylights.com/general-poetry/bard-kinetic/To learn more about the authors, visit: https://citylights.com/events/coffee-house-press-extravaganza-with-latasha-nevada-diggs-eleni-sykelianos-and-anne-waldman/Coffee House Press creates new spaces for audiences and artists to interact, inspiring readers and enriching communities by expanding the definition of what literature is, what it can do, and who it belongs to. They are one of the nation’s leading independent literary publisher, and demonstrate a vision for the future of literature through innovative off-the-page programming that broadens and deepens literature’s relevance to the world. Visit https://coffeehousepress.org/This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
City Lights presents Evan Kennedy in conversation with Sophie Dahlin. Evan Kennedy celebrates the publication of his book “Metamorphoses: City Lights Spotlight No. 22” published by City Lights Books. This event took place in the City Lights Poetry Room and was moderated by Garrett Caples.You can purchase copies of “Metamorphoses” directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/metamorphoses-2/Evan Kennedy is a poet and bicyclist. He is the author of “I Am, Am I, to Trust the Joy That Joy Is No More or Less There Now Than Before” (Roof Books), “Jerusalem Notebook” (O’clock Press), “The Sissies” (Futurepoem), “Terra Firmament” (Krupskaya), “Shoo-Ins to Ruin” (Gold Wake Press), and “Us Them Poems” (Book*hug). He runs the occasional press, Dirty Swan Projects, and was born in Beacon, New York, in 1983. He lives in San Francisco, California.Sophia Dahlin is a poet in Berkeley. She leads generative poetry workshops and teaches youth creative writing. With Jacob Kahn, she edits a small chapbook press called Eyelet. Her first book, “Natch,” was released in 2020 by City Lights Books.Garrett Caples is the poetry editor at City Lights and the curator of the Spotlight Poetry Series. He is also an acclaimed poet in his own right and has had numerous books published. Wave Books published his most recent book titled “Lovers of Today.”This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
City Lights presents Tim Z. Hernandez in conversation with Peter Maravelis, the City Lights events manager. Tim Z. Hernandez reads from his new collection “Some of the Light: New and Selected Poems,” published by Beacon Press/Raised Voices Series. This was a virtual event.You can purchase copies of “Some of the Light: New and Selected Poems” directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/some-of-the-light-new-sel-poems/Tim Z. Hernandez is an award-winning author, research scholar, and performer. His work includes poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and screenplays. He is the recipient of numerous awards, most notably the American Book Award, the Colorado Book Award, and the International Latino Book Award. His work has been featured in the “Los Angeles Times,” “The New York Times,” “C-Span,” and NPR’s “All Things Considered.” “Public Radio International” hailed his book, “Mañana Means Heaven,” as one of their 2013 Books of the Year. In 2011, he was named one of sixteen New American Poets by the Poetry Society of America, and most recently he was recognized for his research on locating the victims of the 1948 plane wreck at Los Gatos Canyon, the incident made famous by Woody Guthrie’s song of the same name, which is chronicled in his documentary novel, “All They Will Call You.” Hernandez holds a BA from Naropa University and an MFA from Bennington College, and is an associate professor with the University of Texas El Paso’s bilingual MFA in creative writing. He lives in El Paso, Texas, with his two children.This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
City Lights presents Robert Lopez in conversation with Sarah Rose Etter. Robert Lopez discusses his new book “Dispatches from Puerto Nowhere: An American Story of Assimilation and Erasure”, published by Two Dollar Radio. This virtual event was hosted by Peter Maravelis.You can purchase copies of “Dispatches from Puerto Nowhere” directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/dispatches-from-puerto-nowhere/Robert Lopez is the author of the novels, “Part of the World” and “Kamby Bolongo Mean River,” named one of 25 important books of the decade by HTML Giant, and All Back Full; two story collections, “Asunder” and “Good People,” and a novel-in-stories titled “A Better Class of People.” His fiction, nonfiction, and poetry has appeared in dozens of publications, including “Bomb,” “The Threepenny Review,” “Vice Magazine,” “New England Review,” “The Sun,” and the “Norton Anthology of Sudden Fiction – Latino.” He teaches at Stony Brook University and has previously taught at Columbia University, The New School, Pratt Institute, and Syracuse University. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. Find out more about the author here: robertlopez.netSarah Rose Etter is the author of “Tongue Party” (Caketrain Press). Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in “The Cut,” “Electric Literature,” “VICE,” “Guernica,” “Philadelphia Weekly,” and more. She is the recipient of writing residencies at the Disquiet International Program in Portugal, and the Gullkistan Creative Program in Iceland. She earned her MFA from Rosemont College. She lives in San Francisco.This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
City Lights presents Priya Guns in conversation with Sarah Thankam Mathews. Priya Guns discusses and reads from her new book “Your Driver is Waiting,” published by Doubleday. This virtual event was hosted by Peter Maravelis.You can purchase copies of “Your Driver is Waiting” directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/your-driver-is-waiting/Priya Guns is an actor and writer previously published in short story anthologies, "gal-dem", "Spring" magazine, and anonymously in "The Guardian". She is a Creative Writing graduate from Kingston University. “Your Driver Is Waiting” is her debut novel.Sarah Thankam Mathews is the author of “All This Could Be Different.” The novel, Mathews’ first, was named an NYT Editor’s Choice, highlighted on multiple Best of 2022 lists, and shortlisted for the National Book Award.This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
City Lights in conjunction with Asian American Writers’ Workshop and University of California Press present a tribute to the life and work of Theresa Hak Kyung Cha. Moderated by Linda Norton with appearances by Brandon Shimoda, Min Sun Jeon, and Christina Yang celebrating the publication of two new books from University of California Press: "Dictee" and "Exilee and Temps Morts: Selected Works." This event was originally broadcast via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.You can purchase copies of "Dictee" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/general-fiction/dictee-2/And "Exilee and Temps Morts: Selected Works" here:https://citylights.com/general-poetry/exilee-temps-morts-sel-works/Theresa Hak Kyung Cha (1951–1982) was a poet, filmmaker, and artist who earned her BA and MA in comparative literature and her BA and MFA in art from the University of California, Berkeley. During her brief yet brilliant career, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha explored a variety of media, including handmade books, video, film, sculpture, performance, and sound. Her work is distinctive for its somber, unforgettable beauty, its innovative treatment of texts and images, and its ongoing, rigorous exploration of the phenomena of physical, cultural, and linguistic displacement. One element linking much of her work is an abiding concern with film and film theory. Cha’s aesthetic influences are to be found much less among contemporary artists than among the works of filmmakers such as Chris Marker, Yasujiro Ozu, Jean-Luc Goddard, Marguerite Duras, Michael Snow, and above all, Carl Th. Dreyer. She was especially influenced by their innovative treatments of narrative and their concern for problems of memory, communication, and consciousness. Cha was also influenced by her studies of French film theory, particularly the scholarship of Christian Metz, Jean-Louis Baudry, Thierry Kuntzel, and Bertrand Augst. From these theorists, Cha developed an awareness of the artwork as an extended “apparatus,” the meaning of which was inscribed between its psychological origin in the artist, its material and temporal existence, and its destination in the viewer’s consciousness. While Cha developed her response to these ideas particularly in her live performances, they can be seen to have considerably influenced her work in other media as well. Cha, who died tragically in New York City in 1982, received her MFA from the University of California at Berkeley in 1978, and was an employee of the University Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (Special thanks to BAMPFA for the use of this biography).The Asian American Writers’ Workshop (AAWW) is a national literary nonprofit dedicated to publishing and incubating work by Asian and Asian diasporic writers, poets, and artists. Since their founding in 1991, they have provided a countercultural literary arts space at the intersection of migration, race, and social justice. Find out more at aaww.org.To learn more about the speakers in this tribute, visit: https://citylights.com/events/dreaming-of-theresa-hak-kyung-cha-an-appreciation/ And if you would like to see any of the visuals shared during this event, you can check out the video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBZ_-hEqC3cThis event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
City Lights presents Lakiesha Carr in conversation with Dawnie Walton. Lakiesha Carr discusses her new book “An Autobiography of Skin: A Novel”, published by Pantheon Books. This virtual event was hosted by Peter Maravelis.You can purchase copies of “An Autobiography of Skin” directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/autobio-of-skin/Lakiesha Carr graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and received her MFA at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she was awarded a Maytag Fellowship for Excellence in Fiction and a Jeff and Vicki Edwards Post-graduate Fellowship in Fiction. A journalist and writer from East Texas, she has held various editorial and production positions with CNN, The New York Times, and other media. Her writing has received support from the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Callaloo Creative Writing Workshop, the DC Commission on Arts & Humanities for nonfiction writing, and the Kimbilio Fellowship for fiction writing.Dawnie Walton is the author of “The Final Revival of Opal & Nev”, winner of the 2022 Aspen Words Literary Prize, the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award, the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award, and the Audie Award for Fiction. Her debut novel was also longlisted for the 2022 Women’s Prize for Fiction, and was named one of the best books of 2021 by “The Washington Post”, “NPR”, “Esquire”, and former U.S. President Barack Obama. She is the cofounder and editorial director of Ursa, an audio production company celebrating short fiction from underrepresented voices, and is the cohost of its accompanying podcast. Formerly an editor at “Essence” and “Entertainment Weekly”, she has received fellowships from MacDowell and Tin House, and an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop (where she has taught a fiction seminar). Born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, she lives in Brooklyn with her husband.This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
City Lights presents Ayize Jama-Everett in conversation with Tân Khánh Cao. Ayize Jama-Everett discusses his new book “Heroes of an Unknown World”, published by Small Beer Press. This in-person event was hosted by Peter Maravelis and co-sponsored by Medicine for Nightmares.You can purchase copies of “Heroes of an Unknown World” directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/sci-fi-fantasy/heroes-of-an-unknown-world/Ayize Jama-Everett calls the Bay Area his home despite being born in New York City. He holds a Masters degrees in Divinity, Clinical Psychology, in Fine Arts, Creative Writing. He has worked as a bartender, a translator, a drug and alcohol counselor, a stand-up comedian, a script doctor, a ghostwriter, a high school dean, a college professor, and for a brief time, a distiller of spirits. Jama-Everett’s Liminal series began with “The Liminal People” and continued with “The Liminal War” and “The Entropy of Bones”. He has also written a graphic novel, “Box of Bones” with two-time Eisner Award winner John Jennings and has written for “The Believer” and the “LA Review of Books”, among others.Tân Khánh Cao is an artist who works in a variety of media. She is co-owner of Medicine for Nightmares Bookstore and Gallery.This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
City Lights presents Belén Gopegui in conversation with Mark Schafer, moderated by Katherine Silver. Belén Gopegui discusses her new book “Stay This Day and Night with Me”, published by City Lights Books and translated by Mark Schafer. This virtual event was hosted by Peter Maravelis.You can purchase copies of “Stay This Day and Night with Me” directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/stay-this-day-night-with-me/Belén Gopegui burst onto the Spanish literary scene in 1993, bowling over critics with her debut, “La escala de los mapas” [“The Scale of Maps,” City Lights, 2011], which was hailed as a masterpiece. She has since published six more novels, stories, young people’s fiction, and screenplays, and several of her books have been adapted for cinema. Gopegui was born, and lives in, Madrid, Spain.Mark Schafer has translated poetry, fiction, and essays by authors from across the Spanish-speaking world into English, with a focus on contemporary Mexican poetry and fiction. He has led and co-led workshops on literary translation and has spoken on panels, locally, nationally, and internationally, about literary translation and in honor of various Latin American authors. His awards include a translation grant from the Spanish Ministry of Culture (2009, through City Lights Publishers,) two translation fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts (1993, 2005,) a translation grant from the Fund for Culture Mexico-USA (1993,) and the Robert Fitzgerald Prize for Translation (1995.)Katherine Silver’s most recent and forthcoming translations include works by María Sonia Cristoff, César Aira, Julio Cortázar, Juan Carlos Onetti, and Julio Ramón Ribeyro (winner of the Premio Valle-Inclán 2020). She is the former director of the Banff International Literary Translation Centre (BILTC), and the author of “Echo Under Story.” She does volunteer interpreting for asylum seekers.This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
City Lights in conjunction with Naropa University and Nightboat Books present Anne Waldman with Emma Gomis, joined by Alan Gilbert, Cedar Sigo, and Eleni Sikelianos, celebrating the publication of "New Weathers: Poetics from the Naropa Archive," edited by Anne Waldman with Emma Gomis and published by Nightboat Books. This event was originally broadcast via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.You can purchase copies of "New Weathers: Poetics from the Naropa Archive" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/story-anthologies/new-weathers-poetics-from-the-naropa-a/Anne Waldman is a poet, performer, professor, literary curator, cultural activist, has been a prolific and active poet and performer many years, creating radical hybrid forms for the long poem, both serial and narrative, as with "Marriage: A Sentence," "Structure of the World Compared to a Bubble," "Manatee/Humanity," and "Gossamurmur," all published by Penguin Poets. She is also the author of the magnum opus "The Lovis Trilogy: Colors in the Mechanism of Concealment" (Coffee House Press 2011), a feminist “cultural intervention” taking on war and patriarchy which won the PEN Center 2012 Award for Poetry. Recent books include: "Voice’s Daughter of a Heart Yet To Born" (Coffee House 2016) and "Trickster Feminism" (Penguin, 2018). She has been deemed a “counter-cultural giant” by Publishers Weekly for her ethos as a poetic investigator and cultural activist, and was awarded the American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation for Lifetime Achievement in 2015. She has also been a recipient of numerous honors for her work including The Shelley Award for Poetry (from the Poetry Society of America), a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Elizabeth Kray Award from Poets House, NYC in 2019. She was one of the founders of the Poetry Project at St Mark’s Church In-the-Bowery, and its Director a number of years and then went on to found The Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University with Allen Ginsberg and Diana di Prima in1974 and went on to create its celebrated MFA Program. She has continued to work with the Kerouac School as a Distinguished Professor of Poetics and Artistic Director of its Summer Writing Program. During the global pandemic she and co-curator Jeffrey Pethybridge have created the online “Carrier Waves” iteration of the famed Summer Writing Program. She is the editor of "The Beat Book" and co-editor of "Civil Disobediences: Poetics and Politics in Action," and "Beats at Naropa" and most recently, "Cross Worlds: Transcultural Poetics." She is a Chancellor Emeritus of the Academy of American Poets.Emma Gomis is a Catalan American poet, essayist, editor and researcher. She is the cofounder of Manifold Press. Her texts have been published in Denver Quarterly, The Berkeley Poetry Review, The Brooklyn Rail, Entropy, and Asymptote among others and her chapbook "Canxona" is forthcoming from b l u s h lit. She was selected by Patricia Spears Jones as The Poetry Project’s 2020 Brannan Poetry Prize winner. She holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing & Poetics from Naropa’s Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, where she was also the Anne Waldman fellowship recipient, and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in criticism and culture at the University of Cambridge.To learn more about the other participants, visit: https://citylights.com/events/on-new-weathers-poetics-from-the-naropa-archive/This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
City Lights presents Peter Turchi in conversation with Austin Kleon. Peter Turchi discusses his new book “(Don’t) Stop Me if You’ve Heard This Before (and Other Essays on Writing Fiction)”, published by Trinity University Press. This virtual event was hosted by Peter Maravelis.You can purchase copies of “(Don’t) Stop Me if You’ve Heard This Before (and Other Essays on Writing Fiction)” directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/dont-stop-me-if-youve-heard-this-befor/Peter Turchi has written and coedited several books on writing fiction, including “Maps of the Imagination: The Writer as Cartographer”, “A Muse and a Maze: Writing as Puzzle, Mystery, and Magic”, “A Kite in the Wind: Fiction Writers on Their Craft”, and “(Don’t) Stop Me if You’ve Heard This Before (and Other Essays on Writing Fiction)”. His stories have appeared in “Ploughshares”, “Story”, the “Alaska Quarterly Review”, “Puerto del Sol”, and the “Colorado Review”, among other journals. He has received numerous accolades, including fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. He is a professor of creative writing at the University of Houston. Austin Kleon is a New York Times bestselling author. His books include “Steal Like an Artist”; “Show Your Work!”; “Keep Going”; “Steal Like An Artist Journal”; and “Newspaper Blackout”. His works focus on creativity in today’s world. He has spoken at organizations such as Pixar, Google, and TEDx, and at conferences such as The Economist’s Human Potential Summit and SXSW. This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
City Lights presents Eileen Myles, joined by Fanny Howe, Maggie Nelson, Camille Roy, Laurie Weeks, Simone White, Frank Wilderson, and Jillian Weise, celebrating the publication of "Pathetic Literature," edited by Eileen Myles and published by Grove Atlantic. This event was originally broadcast via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.You can purchase copies of "Pathetic Literature" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/pathetic-lit/“Literature is pathetic.” So claims Eileen Myles in their bold and bracing introduction to "Pathetic Literature," an exuberant collection of pieces ranging from poetry to drama to prose to something in between, all of which explore those so-called “pathetic” or sensitive feelings around which lives are built and revolutions are incited.From confrontations with suffering, embarrassment, and disquiet, to the comforts and consolations of finding one’s familiar double in a poem, "Pathetic Literature" is a swarming taxonomy of ways to think differently and live pathetically on a polarized and fearful planet.To learn more about Eileen Myles and the other participants, visit: https://citylights.com/events/eileen-myles/This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
City Lights presents Sam Woolley in conversation with Jeff Horwitz. Sam Woolley celebrates the publication of his new book “Manufacturing Consensus: Understanding Propaganda in the Era of Automation and Anonymity”, published by Yale University Press. This virtual event was hosted by Peter Maravelis.You can purchase copies of "Manufacturing Consensus" directly from City Lights here: citylights.com/manufacturing-consensus-propaganda-in/Samuel Woolley is assistant professor of journalism and media, program director of the Propaganda Research Lab, and Knight Faculty Fellow at the Center for Media Engagement at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of “The Reality Game: How the Next Wave of Technology Will Break the Truth”.Jeff Horwitz is an award-winning technology reporter for The Wall Street Journal based in San Francisco. His reporting has won repeated recognition, including a Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing award and a Gerald Loeb Awards finalist citation for articles he produced with two colleagues about Facebook’s struggle to police hate in India. Previously he was a financial and enterprise reporter for the Associated Press in Washington, D.C., where his work earned him the Christopher J. Welles Memorial Prize from the Knight-Bagehot Fellowship.This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
City Lights presents Thomas Crow in conversation with Carrie Lambert-Beatty celebrating the launch of “The Artist in the Counterculture: Bruce Conner to Mike Kelley and Other Tales from the Edge” by Thomas Crow, published by Princeton University Press. This virtual event took place over Zoom and was hosted by Peter Maravelis.You can purchase copies of "The Artist in the Counterculture: Bruce Conner to Mike Kelley and Other Tales from the Edge” directly from City Lights here: citylights.com/art-hardcover/artist-in-the-counterculture/Thomas Crow is the Rosalie Solow Professor of Modern Art at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. His many books include “The Long March of Pop: Art, Music, and Design, 1930–1995” and “The Hidden Mod in Modern Art: London, 1957–1969”.Carrie Lambert-Beatty is an art historian with a focus on contemporary art and interests in spectatorship, art and knowledge, and performance in an expanded sense. She teaches at Harvard University.This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
City Lights presents Curtis White in conversation with Cheston Knapp celebrating the launch of “Transcendent: Art and Dharma in a Time of Collapse” by Curtis White, published by Melville House. This virtual event took place over Zoom and was hosted by Peter Maravelis.You can purchase copies of "Transcendent: Art and Dharma in a Time of Collapse” directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/general/trancendent/Curtis White is a novelist and social critic whose works include “Memories of My Father Watching TV”, “The Middle Mind”, and, more recently, “The Science Delusion”, “We Robots”, and “Lacking Character”. His essays have appeared in Harpers and Tricycle. He taught English at Illinois State University. He is the founder (with Ronald Sukenick) of FC2, a publisher of innovative fiction run collectively by its authors. He lives in Port Townsend, WA.Cheston Knapp is a writer, editor, and photographer. He is the author of “Up Up, Down Down,” a collection of essays. He was the managing editor of Tin House magazine and the executive director of The Tin House Summer Workshop. Exhibits of his photography have appeared at Blue Moon Camera & Machine and Blue Sky Gallery in Portland OR. He makes his home with his wife and son in Portland, OR.This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
City Lights presents Aidan Levy in conversation with Ammiel Alcalay celebrating the publication of “SAXOPHONE COLOSSUS: The Life and Music of Sonny Rollins” by Aiden Levy, published by Hachette Books. This virtual event took place over Zoom and was hosted by Peter Maravelis.You can purchase copies of "SAXOPHONE COLOSSUS” directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/saxophone-colossus-sonny-rollins/Aidan Levy is the author of “Dirty Blvd.: The Life and Music of Lou Reed” and editor of “Patti Smith on Patti Smith: Interviews and Encounters”. A former Leon Levy Center for Biography Fellow, his writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Village Voice, JazzTimes, The Nation and other publications. He has served as co-convener of the African American Studies Colloquium and works with the Center for Jazz Studies at at Columbia University. For ten years, he was the baritone saxophonist in the Stan Rubin Orchestra.Ammiel Alcalay is a poet, novelist, translator, critic, and scholar. His books include “a little history”, “from the warring factions”, “Memories of Our Future”, and “After Jews and Arabs”. “Ghost Talk”, A Bibliography for “After Jews & Arabs” and “A Dove in Flight”, by Syrian poet and former political prisoner Faraj Bayrakdar, co-edited with Shareah Taleghani, all came out in 2021. "Follow the Person: Archival Encounters, and Controlled Demolition", a poem in four books, are due out in 2023. Alcalay is the founder and general editor of Lost & Found: The CUNY Poetics Document Initiative (http://centerforthehumanities.org/lost-and-found), for which he was recognized in 2017 with a Before Columbus Foundation American Book Award.This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
City Lights presents Zein El-Amine in conversation with James Tracy and Aimee Suzara, celebrating the publication of "Is This How You Eat a Watermelon?" by Zein El-Amine, published by Radix Media. This live event took place in the main room of City Lights and was hosted by Peter Maravelis.You can purchase copies of "Is This How You Eat a Watermelon?" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/general-fiction/is-this-how-you-eat-a-watermelon-2/Zein El-Amine is a Lebanese-born poet and writer. He has an MFA in Poetry from the University of Maryland. His poems have appeared in Wild River Review, Folio, Beltway Quarterly, Foreign Policy In Focus, CityLit, and others. His latest poetry manuscript “A Travel Guide for the Exiled” was recently shortlisted for the Bergman Prize, judged by Louise Glück. His short stories have appeared in the Uno Mas, Jadaliyya, Middle East Report, Wild River Review, About Place Journal, and in Bound Off.James Tracy is an author, organizer, and an Instructor of Labor and Community Studies at City College of San Francisco. He is the co-author of "Hillbilly Nationalists, Urban Race Rebels and Black Power: Community Organizing in Radical Times" and the author of "Dispatches Against Displacement: Field Notes From San Francisco’s Housing Wars."Aimee Suzara is a Filipino-American poet, playwright, and performer based in Oakland, CA. Her poetry and plays have been produced, adapted, and published widely, and she has collaborated with a variety of choreographers, musicians and dance companies for multidisciplinary productions. A cultural worker and professional educator for the past twenty years, she tailors and offers lectures, performances and workshops to organizations, universities, and classrooms. She’s been featured as a spoken word artist nationally, and her poems appear in numerous journals and anthologies such as Kartika Review, 580 Split, Lantern Review and Walang Hiya: Literature Taking Risks Toward Liberatory Practice, Check the Rhyme: An Anthology of Female Poets and Emcees and Poets (Lit Noire Press) and her chapbooks, "the space between" and "Finding the Bones" (Finishing Line Press). An advocate for the intersection of arts and literacy, she teaches at San Francisco State University and other universities and colleges and leads workshops in poetry and performance for youth and adults.This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
City Lights presents Sam Lipsyte reading from his new novel and in conversation with Sloane Crosley. Sam Lipsyte celebrates the publication of his novel “No One Left to Come Looking for You” by Simon & Schuster. This was a virtual event and was hosted by Peter Maravelis.You can purchase copies of "No One Left to Come Looking for You" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/no-1-left-to-come-looking-for-you/Sam Lipsyte is the author of the story collections “Venus Drive” and “The Fun Parts” and four novels: “Hark”, “The Ask” (a New York Times Notable Book), “The Subject Steve”, and “Home Land”, which was a New York Times Notable Book and received the Believer Book Award. His fiction has appeared in “The New Yorker”, “The Paris Review”, and “Best American Short Stories”, among other places. The recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship, he lives in New York City and teaches at Columbia University.Sloane Crosley is the author of The New York Times bestselling essay collections, “I Was Told There’d Be Cake” (a 2009 finalist for The Thurber Prize for American Humor) and “How Did You Get This Number”, as well as “Look Alive Out There” (a 2019 finalist for The Thurber Prize for American Humor) and the bestselling novel, “The Clasp”. She served as editor of The Best American Travel Writing series and is featured in The Library of America’s 50 Funniest American Writers, The Best American Nonrequired Reading, Phillip Lopate’s "The Contemporary American Essay" and others. She is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. Her new novel, “Cult Classic”, is out now. Her next nonfiction book, “Grief Is for People”, will be published in 2024.This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
City Lights presents Douglas Kearney reading from his new book and in conversation with Tisa Bryant. Douglas Kearney celebrates his collection of lectures "Optic Subwoof" published by Wave Books. This virtual event was hosted by Peter Maravelis.You can purchase copies of "Optic Subwoof" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/optic-subwoof/Douglas Kearney has published seven poetry collections, including "Sho" (Wave 2021), which was a finalist for the National Book Award, PEN Award, and the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, and "Buck Studies" (Fence Books, 2016), winner of the Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Award, the CLMP Firecracker Award for Poetry, and the California Book Award silver medal for poetry. M. NourbeSe Philip calls Kearney’s collection of libretti, "Someone Took They Tongues" (Subito, 2016), “a seismic, polyphonic mash-up.” Kearney’s "Mess and Mess and" (Noemi Press, 2015), was a Small Press Distribution Handpicked Selection that Publisher’s Weekly called “an extraordinary book.” He has received a Whiting Writer’s Award, a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Cy Twombly Award for Poetry, residencies/fellowships from Cave Canem, The Rauschenberg Foundation, and others. Kearney teaches Creative Writing at the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities and lives in St. Paul with his family.Tisa Bryant teaches fiction and non-fiction, mythologies, cross-cultural/cross-genre/hybrid writing, and much more at Calarts. She is the author of the book "Unexplained Presence" (Leon Works, 2007), her first full-length book, is a collection of original, hybrid essays that remix narratives from film, literature and visual arts and zoom in on the black presences operating within them. An excerpt from her novella, "[the curator]", was published by Belladonna Books in 2009, in a companion volume with writer Chris Kraus. She is also the author of the chapbook, "Tzimmes" (A+Bend Press, 2000), a prose poem collage of narratives including a Barbados genealogy, a Passover seder and a film by Yvonne Rainer. She is interested in archives, hybrid forms, mythologies, ethnicity and innovation, the interdependence of experimental and conventional fiction, cinematic novels and ekphrastic writing. Bryant’s writing has appeared in "Evening Will Come", "Mandorla", "Mixed Blood", "in the ‘zine", "Universal Remote: Meditations on the Absence of Michael Jackson" and in the catalogues and solo shows of visual artists Laylah Ali, Jaime Cortez, Wura-Natasha Ogunji and Cauleen Smith. She is co-editor, with Ernest Hardy, of "War Diaries", an anthology of black gay male desire and survival, from AIDS Project Los Angeles, which was nominated Best LGBTQ anthology by the LAMBDA Literary Awards. She is also co-editor/publisher of the hardcover cross-referenced literary/arts series, "The Encyclopedia Project", which recently released Encyclopedia Vol. 2 F-K.This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
In conjunction with ALTA Journal, City Lights presents John Freeman with Forrest Gander reading from new poetry. John Freeman celebrates his new collection of poetry "Wind, Trees" published by Copper Canyon Press. This live event took place in Kerouac Alley, between City Lights and Vesuvio Cafe, and was hosted by Peter Maravelis with an opening statement by Blaise Zerega.You can purchase copies of "Wind, Trees" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/wind-trees/John Freeman is the founder of the literary annual Freeman’s, and an executive editor at Alfred A. Knopf. His books include "How To Read a Novelist" and "Dictionary of the Undoing", as well as a trilogy of anthologies about inequality, including "Tales of Two Americas: Stories of Inequality in a Divided Nation," and "Tales of Two Planets," which features dispatches from around the world, where the climate crisis has unfolded at crucially different rates. His poetry collections include "Maps" and "The Park." His work has been translated into more than twenty languages and appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Orion and Zyzzyva. He is a former editor of Granta and a Writer in Residence at New York University.Forrest Gander is a Pulitzer Prize Winning poet, author, translator, and essayist. He is the author of numerous books of poetry, fiction, and essays. "Twice Alive" is his latest collection of poetry. His translations include the work of Gozo Yoshimasu, Pablo Neruda, Alfonso D’Aquino, and Raúl Zurita. He has received numerous honors for his work, including the Pulitzer Prize for "Be With," and the Best Translated Book Award, as well as fellowships from the Library of Congress, the Guggenheim Foundation, and United States Artists. He makes his home in Northern California.Alta Journal is a quarterly publication for anyone seeking an insider’s take on this most forward-thinking region. From arts and culture, to technology and the environment, to food and fashion—what happens in California and the West happens everywhere. Each large-format issue (the West demands a wide lens) demystifies the region with provocative essays, cultural commentary, deeply reported investigations, original fiction and poetry, sumptuous photos, topical cartoons, and more. Founded in 2017 by William R. Hearst III, Alta Journal provides an exciting—and much-needed—literary perspective on the West, sparking conversations that are as diverse and vibrant as the place itself. In this era of rapid change, the award-winning Alta Journal offers an immersive reading experience like no other. To learn more visit: https://www.altaonline.com/This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
Tayi Tibble in conversation with Tommy Orange, celebrating the publication of "Poukahangatus: Poems" by Tayi Tibble, published by Alfred Knopf. This live event took place in Kerouac Alley, between City Lights and Vesuvio Cafe, and was hosted by Peter Maravelis with an opening statement by John Freeman.You can purchase copies of "Poukahangatus: Poems" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/poukahangatus-poems/Tayi Tibble (Te Whānau ā Apanui/Ngāti Porou) was born in 1995 and lives in Wellington, New Zealand. In 2017, she completed a master’s degree in creative writing from the International Institute of Modern Letters, Victoria University of Wellington, where she was the recipient of the Adam Foundation Prize in Creative Writing. Her second book of poetry, Rangikura, will be published in the United States in 2023.Tommy Orange is the PEN/HEMINGWAY AWARD WINNER and best selling author of the novel There,There. He is a graduate of the MFA program at the Institute of American Indian Arts. An enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, he was born and raised in Oakland, California.John Freeman is the editor of Freeman’s, a literary annual of new writing, and executive editor at Alfred A. Knopf. His books include "How to Read a Novelist" and "Dictionary of the Undoing," as well as "Tales of Two Americas," an anthology about income inequality in America, and "Tales of Two Planets," an anthology of new writing about inequality and the climate crisis globally. He is also the author of two poetry collections, "Maps" and "The Park." His work is translated into more than twenty languages, and has appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and The New York Times. The former editor of Granta, he teaches writing at New York University. He has a new collection of poetry, published by Copper Canyon Press, being released in the fall titled "Wind, Trees."This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
City Lights joins Ericka Huggins and Stephen Shames with Katherine Campbell and Judy Juanita Hart in celebrating the launch for the publication of "Comrade Sisters: Women of the Black Panther Party" with photographs by Stephen Shames , text by Ericka Huggins, and published by ACC Art Books. This live event took place in Kerouac Alley, between City Lights and Vesuvio Cafe, and was hosted by Peter Maravelis.You can purchase copies of "Comrade Sisters: Women of the Black Panther Party" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/art-hardcover/sister-comrade/Ericka Huggins is an educator, Black Panther Party member, former political prisoner, human rights advocate, and poet. For 50 years, Ericka has used her life experiences in service to community. From 1973-1981, she was director of the Black Panther Party’s Oakland Community School. From 1990-2004 Ericka managed HIV/AIDS Volunteer and Education programs. She also supported innovative mindfulness programs for women and youth in schools, jails and prisons. Ericka was professor of Sociology and African American Studies from 2008 through 2015 in the Peralta Community College District. From 2003 to 2011 she was professor of Women and Gender Studies at California State Universities- East Bay and San Francisco. Ericka is a Racial Equity Learning Lab facilitator for WORLD TRUST Educational Services. She curates conversations focused on the individual and collective work of becoming equitable in all areas of our daily lives. Additionally, she facilitates workshops on the benefit of self care in sustaining social change.Stephen Shames has authored over 10 monographs, and his images are in the permanent collections of 40 museums and foundations. His work is dedicated to promoting social change, and sharing the stories of those who are frequently overlooked by society. His previous monographs include "Power to the People: The World of the Black Panthers" coauthored with Bobby Seale (Abrams, 2016) and "The Black Panthers" (Aperture, 2006). With the complete trust of the Black Panther Party, Shames took intimate, behind-the-scenes photographs that fully portrayed Party members’ lives. This marks his third photo book about the Black Panthers and includes many never before published images.Katherine Campbell was born in Sacramento, California, and grew up with a strong foundation of Christianity and a belief in serving the people. She joined the Black Panther Party because it had the same commitment to serve the people. She started by working in the Free Breakfast Program and, later, with the BPP newspaper and other programs. Campbell served as a nutritionist at the Oakland Community School and she still serves the people through community leadership building as a community specialist and through creating breakfast for schoolchildren programs in the San Francisco Bay Area.Judy Juanita is a novelist, poet, and essayist. Her poetry collection, "Manhattan my ass, you’re in Oakland," won the American Book Award in 2021. Her semi-autobiographical novel, "Virgin Soul," was published by Viking (2013;) its protagonist joins the Black Panther Party in the sixties in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her collection of short stories, "The High Price of Freeways," won the 2021 Tartt Fiction Award is published in 2022. Her poem “Bling” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2012. Her essay, “The Gun as Performance Poem,” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2014. She teaches writing at University of California, Berkeley.This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
Dr. Clarence Lusane in conversation with Justin Desmangles, celebrating the publication of "Twenty Dollars and Change: Harriet Tubman and the Ongoing Fight for Racial Justice and Democracy" by Clarence Lusane with a foreword by: Kali Holloway, published by City Lights Books. This event was originally broadcast via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.You can purchase copies of "Twenty Dollars and Change: Harriet Tubman and the Ongoing Fight for Racial Justice and Democracy" directly from City Lights at a 30% discount here: https://citylights.com/20-dollars-change-harriet-tubman-vs/Dr. Clarence Lusane is an author, activist, scholar, and journalist. He is a Professor and former Chairman of Howard University’s Department of Political Science. Lusane earned his B.A. in Communications from Wayne State University and both his Masters and Ph.D. from Howard University in Political Science. He’s been a political consultant to the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and a former Commissioner for the DC Commission on African American Affairs. He frequently appears on MSNBC and CSPAN, and was invited by the Obama’s to speak at the White House. Author of many books, including "The Black History of the White House," published by City Lights Books. Dr. Lusane lives and works in the Washington, DC area.Justin Desmangles is chairman of the Before Columbus Foundation, administrator of the American Book Award, and host of the radio broadcast New Day Jazz. A member of the board of directors of the Oakland Book Festival, Mr. Desmangles is also a program producer at the African-American Center of the San Francisco Public Library.This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
City Lights and the California Film Institute present Joyce Chopra in conversation with Elizabeth Weitzman, celebrating the publication of "Lady Director: Adventures in Hollywood, Television and Beyond" by Joyce Chopra, published by City Lights Books. This event was originally broadcast via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.You can purchase copies of "Lady Director: Adventures in Hollywood, Television and Beyond" directly from City Lights at a 30% discount here: https://citylights.com/lady-director/Joyce Chopra has produced and directed a wide range of award-winning films, ranging from "Smooth Talk," winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Dramatic Feature at the Sundance Film Festival, to the A&E thriller "The Lady in Question" with Gene Wilder. She has received American Film Festival Blue Ribbon and Cine Golden Eagle Awards for her numerous documentaries, including "That Our Children Will Not Die," about primary health care in Nigeria, and the autobiographical Joyce at 34, which is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. She lives in Charlottesville, VA.Elizabeth Weitzman is the author of "Renegade Women in Film & TV," which chronicles the remarkable hidden history of Hollywood pioneers onscreen and behind the scenes. She was a film critic for the New York Daily News from 2000-2015, has contributed to several books on film, and currently covers movies for The Wrap. She has interviewed hundreds of actors and filmmakers, and written about entertainment for publications like the New York Times, Interview, Marie Claire, and Harper’s Bazaar. She speaks regularly on women’s issues at academic, cultural, and professional organizations around the world. To learn more about the California Film Institute visit: https://www.cafilm.org/This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
Jonathan Escoffery in conversation with Yohanca Delgado, celebrating the publication of "If I Survive You" by Jonathan Escoffery, published by Farrar Straus Giroux. This live event took place in Kerouac Alley, between City Lights and Vesuvio Cafe, and was hosted by Peter Maravelis.You can purchase copies of "If I Survive You" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/if-i-survive-you/Jonathan Escoffery is the recipient of the 2020 Plimpton Prize for Fiction, a 2020 National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship, and the 2020 ASME Award for Fiction. His fiction has appeared in The Paris Review, American Short Fiction, Prairie Schooner, AGNI, Passages North, Zyzzyva, and Electric Literature, and has been anthologized in The Best American Magazine Writing. He received his MFA from the University of Minnesota, is a PhD fellow in the University of Southern California’s PhD in Creative Writing and Literature Program, and in 2021 was awarded a Wallace Stegner Fellowship in the Creative Writing Program at Stanford University. "If I Survive You" is his debut book.Yohanca Delgado is a 2021-2023 Wallace Stegner fellow at Stanford University and a 2022 National Endowment for the Arts recipient. Her fiction appears in The O. Henry Prize Stories 2022, The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2021, The Paris Review, One Story, A Public Space, Story, and elsewhere. Her essays appear in TIME, The Believer, and New York Times Magazine. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from American University and is a graduate of the 2019 Clarion workshop. She is an assistant fiction editor at Barrelhouse, a 2021 Emerging Critic at the National Book Critics Circle, and a member of the inaugural Periplus Collective mentorship program.This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
Julian Aguon in conversation with Rebecca Solnit, celebrating the publication of "No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies: A Lyric Essay" by Julian Aguon, published by Astra Publishing. This live event took place in Kerouac Alley, between City Lights and Vesuvio Cafe, and was hosted by Peter Maravelis.You can purchase copies of "No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies: A Lyric Essay" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/no-country-for-8-spot-butterflies/Julian Aguon is a Chamorro human rights lawyer and defender from Guam. He is the founder of Blue Ocean Law, a progressive firm that works at the intersection of Indigenous rights and environmental justice; and serves on the council of Progressive International—a global collective with the mission of mobilizing progressive forces around the world behind a shared vision of social justice. He lives in the village of Yona. Visit julianaguon.comRebecca Solnit is a writer, historian, and activist. She is the author of more than twenty books on feminism, western and indigenous history, popular power, social change and insurrection, wandering and walking, hope and disaster, including "Whose Story Is This?, Call Them By Their True Names" (Winner of the 2018 Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction), "Cinderella Liberator," "Men Explain Things to Me," "The Mother of All Questions," and "Hope in the Dark," and co-creator of the "City of Women" map, all published by Haymarket Books; a trilogy of atlases of American cities, "The Faraway Nearby," "A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster," "A Field Guide to Getting Lost," "Wanderlust: A History of Walking," and "River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West" (for which she received a Guggenheim, the National Book Critics Circle Award in criticism, and the Lannan Literary Award). Her memoir, "Recollections of My Nonexistence," was released in March, 2020. A product of the California public education system from kindergarten to graduate school, she is a columnist at the Guardian and a regular contributor to Literary Hub.This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
City Lights celebrates the publication of "Get the Money!: Collected Prose (1961-1983)" by Ted Berrigan, published by City Lights Books. With Edmund Berrigan, Anselm Berrigan, Erica Kaufman, Hoa Nguyen, and Nick Sturm. This event was originally broadcast via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis and moderated by Garrett Caples.You can purchase copies of "Get the Money!: Collected Prose (1961-1983)" directly from City Lights at a 30% discount here: https://citylights.com/get-the-money/“Get the Money!” was Ted Berrigan’s mantra for the paid writing gigs he took on in support of his career as a poet. This long-awaited collection of his essential prose draws upon the many essays, reviews, introductions, and other texts he produced for hire, as well as material from his journals, travelogues, and assorted, unclassifiable creative texts. "Get the Money!" documents Berrigan’s innovative poetics and techniques, as well as the creative milieu of poets–centered around New York’s Poetry Project–for whom he served as both nurturer and catalyst. Highlights include his journals from the ’60s, depicting his early poetic discoveries and bohemian activities in New York; the previously unpublished “Some Notes About ‘C, ‘” an account of his mimeo magazine that serves as a de facto memoir of the early days of the second-generation New York School; a moving and prescient obituary, “Frank O’Hara Dead at 40”; book “reviews” consisting of poems entirely collaged from lines in the book; art reviews of friends and collaborators like Joe Brainard, George Schneeman, and Jane Freilicher; and his notorious “Interviews” with John Cage and John Ashbery, both of which were completely fabricated. "Get the Money!" provides a view into the development of Berrigan’s aesthetics in real time, as he captures the heady excitement of the era and champions the poets and artists he loves.Among the most significant American poets of the later 20th century, Ted Berrigan (1934–1983) was a leading force behind the second-generation New York School. Born in Providence, RI, Berrigan attended various local schools, then enlisted in the Army and was stationed in Korea in the aftermath of the Korean War. In the late ’50s on the G.I. Bill, he enrolled in the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma, where he earned a B.A. and M.A. During this period he met his younger poetic and artistic comrades Ron Padgett, Dick Gallup, and Joe Brainard, all four of whom moved to New York City. In the early ’60s, he was married to the poet Sandy Berrigan, with whom he had two children, David and Kate. He later married the poet Alice Notley and, after periods in Buffalo, Chicago, New York, Bolinas, London, and Essex, settled with her and their sons, Anselm and Edmund, in New York City, where they eventually all became fixtures of the scene around St. Mark’s Poetry Project. Berrigan published a magazine, C, in the 60s, and individual volumes by poets under the imprint C Press. His books of poetry include "The Sonnets (1964, 1967, 1982, 2000)", now published by Penguin, "Collected Poems (2007)" and "Selected Poems (2011)," both published by the University of California.This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
City Lights and Deep Vellum Books present Ali Kinsella and Zenia Tompkins celebrating the publication of "Love in Defiance of Pain: Ukrainian Stories," edited by Ali Kinsella, Zenia Tompkins, and Ross Ufberg, published by Deep Vellum. This event was originally broadcast via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.You can purchase copies of "Love in Defiance of Pain: Ukrainian Stories" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/story-anthologies/love-in-defiance-of-pain-ukrainian-sto/Proceeds from the sale of this collection will be donated to humanitarian efforts in Ukraine."Love in Defiance of Pain: Ukrainian Stories" aims to bring the riches of contemporary Ukrainian literature—and of contemporary Ukraine, too—to the world.While Ukraine is under sustained attack, many in the West have marveled at the nation’s strength in the face of a barbaric invasion. Who are these people, what is this nation, which has captivated the world with their courage? By showcasing some of the finest Ukrainian writers working today, this book aims to help answer that question.Authors include:Sophia Andrukhovych, Yuri Andrukhovych, Stanislav Aseyev, Kateryna Babkina, Artem Chapeye, Liubko Deresh, Kateryna Kalytko, Oksana Lutsyshyna, Vasyl Makhno, Tanja Maljartschuk, Taras Prokhasko, Oleg Sentsov, Natalka Sniadanko, Olena Stiazhkina, Sashko Ushkalov, Oksana Zabuzhko, and Serhiy ZhadanAli Kinsella has been translating from Ukrainian for ten years. Her published works include essays, poetry, monographs, and subtitles to various films. She won the 2019 Kovaliv Fund Prize for her translation of Taras Prokhasko’s Anna’s Other Days. She received a 2021 Peterson Literary Fund grant to translate Vasyl Makhno’s Eternal Calendar. She holds an MA in Slavic studies from Columbia University, where she focused on Eastern European history and literature. A former Peace Corps volunteer, Ali lived in both western and central Ukraine for nearly five years. Her co-translations with Dzvinia Orlowsky from the Ukrainian of Natalka Bilotserkivets’s poems, "Eccentric Days of Hope and Sorrow" (Lost Horse Press, 2021) was a finalist for the 2022 Griffin Poetry Prize. It has been shortlisted for the Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry and longlisted for the 2022 National Translation Award in Poetry. Her next volume with Orlowsky, a collection of Halyna Kruk’s poetry, will be out in 2024.Zenia Topkins, an American of Ukrainian descent, began translating Ukrainian literature in 2015, after fifteen years’ experience in education, academia, and the private sector. She holds graduate degrees in Middle Eastern Languages and Literatures from Columbia University and Islamic Studies from the University of Virginia. A past recipient of fellowships from the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Education, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, among others, Zenia has varying levels of proficiency in nine languages. Her translations have been supported by grants from the Ukrainian Book Institute, the House of Europe, and the Peterson Literary Fund, among others, and include Tanja Maljartschuk’s "A Biography of a Chance Miracle," Olesya Yaremchuk’s "Our Others: Stories of Ukrainian Diversity," Vakhtang Kipiani’s "WWII, Uncontrived and Unredacted: Testimonies from Ukraine," and Oleksandr Shatokin’s "The Happiest Lion Cub" (forthcoming). She lives in exurban Virginia with her husband and three kiddos. Zenia is currently translating books by Stanislav Aseyev, Oleksandr Mykhed, and Tanja Maljartschuk, scheduled for publication in late 2022 and early 2023. She has served as the lead English translator for The Old Lion Publishing House, Ukraine’s premier literary press, since 2019.This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
Elif Batuman in conversation with Lucy Corin, celebrating the publication of "Either/Or: a novel" by Elif Batuman, published by Penguin Press. This event was originally broadcast via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.You can purchase copies of "Either/Or: a novel" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/new-fiction-in-hardcover/either-or/Elif Batuman’s first novel, "The Idiot," was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize, and was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction in the UK. She is also the author of "The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them," which was a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award in criticism. She has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 2010 and holds a PhD in comparative literature from Stanford University.Lucy Corin is the author of the novel "The Swank Hotel," as well as the story collections "One Hundred Apocalypses and Other Apocalypses" and "The Entire Predicament," and the novel "Everyday Psychokillers: A History for Girls." Her work has appeared in American Short Fiction, Conjunctions, Harper’s Magazine, Ploughshares, Bomb, Tin House Magazine, and the New American Stories anthology from Vintage Contemporaries. She is the recipient of an American Academy of Arts and Letters Rome Prize and a literature fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. She teaches at the University of California at Davis and lives in Berkeley.This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
Jamil Jan Kochai in conversation with Brandon Taylor, celebrating the publication of "The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories," by Jamil Jan Kochai, published by Viking Books. This event was originally broadcast via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.
You can purchase copies of "The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/haunting-of-hajji-hotak-other-storie/
Jamil Jan Kochai is the author of "99 Nights in Logar," a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel and the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature. He was born in an Afghan refugee camp in Peshawar, Pakistan, but he originally hails from Logar, Afghanistan. His short stories and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Ploughshares, and The O. Henry Prize Stories 2018. Currently, he is a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University.
Brandon Taylor is the author of "Filthy Animals," a national bestseller, and "Real Life," which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and named a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice. He holds graduate degrees from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of Iowa, where he was an Iowa Arts Fellow at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in fiction.
This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
City Lights in conjunction with Mother Jones (https://www.motherjones.com) present "Defending Choice: Roe vs. Wade and the Battle to Preserve Women’s Reproductive Rights." This event was originally broadcast via Zoom, hosted by Peter Maravelis, and moderated by Becca Andrews of Mother Jones Magazine with Jenny Brown, Dr. Katherine Brown, Joshua Prager, and Mary Ziegler.
You can purchase copies of the panelists' books directly from City Lights here:
"Dollars for Life: The Anti-Abortion Movement and the Fall of the Republican Establishment" - by Mary Ziegler: https://citylights.com/dollars-for-life-anti-abortion-movemen/
"Without Apology: The Abortion Struggle Now" - by Jenny Brown: https://citylights.com/praxis/without-apology-abortion-struggle-now/
"The Family Roe: An American Story" - by Joshua Prager: https://citylights.com/north-america/family-roe-amer-story/
Becca Andrews is a reporter at Mother Jones. A Southerner, she most often writes about the Southeast, gender, and culture. Before joining Mother Jones as an editorial fellow, she wrote for newspapers in Tennessee. Her work has also appeared in Slate, The New Republic, Wired, and Jezebel, among others. Her first book, "No Choice," on the dwindling access to abortion in the United States, is due out in October 2022 from Hachette’s Public Affairs imprint.
Jenny Brown was a leader in the fight to get the morning-after pill over the counter in the US and a plaintiff in the winning lawsuit. She is co-author of the Redstockings book "Women’s Liberation and National Health Care: Confronting the Myth of America." While editor at Labor Notes magazine, she coauthored "How to Jump-Start Your Union: Lessons from the Chicago Teachers." She writes, teaches, and organizes with the feminist group National Women’s Liberation and is the author of "Birth Strike: The Hidden Fight over Women’s Work." Verso Books published her book "WITHOUT APOLOGY: The Abortion Struggle Now."
Dr. Katherine Brown is a general obstetrician-gynecologist and is fellowship-trained in family planning at UCSF. She provides full-scope reproductive healthcare. She is a passionate advocate for reproductive health, choice, and justice. Her research focuses on exploring and improving the reproductive health experiences of Black women.
Joshua Prager, a former senior writer for The Wall Street Journal, has written about historical secrets—revealing all from the hidden scheme that led to baseball’s most famous moment (Bobby Thomson’s “Shot Heard Round the World”) to the only-ever anonymous recipient of a Pulitzer Prize (a photographer he tracked down in Iran). His work, described by George Will as “exemplary journalistic sleuthing,” has shed new light on our cultural touchstones. So does his new book, "The Family Roe," illuminating unknown stories and people behind Roe v. Wade, and enabling the public, for the first time, to see the abortion debate in America in its full social and personal context. The book was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
Mary Ziegler is the Stearns Weaver Miller Professor at Florida State University College of Law. She specializes in the legal history of reproduction, the family, sexuality, and the Constitution. In the spring of 2022, she is visiting at Harvard Law School. Her most recent book, "Abortion and the Law in America: A Legal History, Roe v. Wade to the Present," was published by Cambridge University Press in 2020, and received positive reviews in outlets from the Washington Post to the Christian Science Monitor. Her new book, "Dollars for Life: The Antiabortion Movement and the Fall of the Republican Establishment," was published by Yale University Press in June of 2022. She also has a forthcoming book with "Routledge, Reproduction and the Constitution." Her next project, What Roe Means: A History, will be published by Yale in 2023.
This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
An evening of writers talking about writing and celebrating the publication of "Refuse To Be Done: How to Write and Rewrite a Novel in Three Drafts," by Matt Bell, published by Soho Press. This event was originally broadcast via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.
You can purchase copies of "Refuse To Be Done: How to Write and Rewrite a Novel in Three Drafts" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/refuse-to-be-done-ht-write-rewrite-a/
Matt Bell is the author most recently of the novels "Appleseed"(a New York Times Notable Book of 2021), "Scrapper" (a Michigan Notable Book), and "In the House upon the Dirt Between the Lake and the Woods"(a finalist for the Young Lions Fiction Award). His stories have appeared in Best American Mystery Stories, Esquire, Tin House, Conjunctions, Fairy Tale Review, Gulf Coast, and many other publications. A native of Michigan, he now teaches creative writing at Arizona State University.
Kirstin Chen is the author of "Soy Sauce for Beginners" and "Bury What We Cannot Take." Her new novel, "Counterfeit," is forthcoming from William Morrow/HarperCollins in June 2022. She has received fellowships and awards from the Steinbeck Fellows Program, Sewanee, Hedgebrook, Djerassi, the Napa Valley Writers’ Conference, the Toji Cultural Foundation, and the National Arts Council of Singapore. She teaches creative writing at the University of San Francisco and in Ashland University’s Low-Residency MFA Program. Born and raised in Singapore, she currently lives in San Francisco.
Jac Jemc is the author of "False Bingo," "The Grip of It," "My Only Wife," and "A Different Bed Every Time." "My Only Wife" was a finalist for the 2013 PEN / Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction and winner of the Paula Anderson Book Award, and her story collection "False Bingo" won the Chicago Review of Books Award for fiction, was a Lambda Award finalist, and was longlisted for The Story Prize. Jemc has been the recipient of two Illinois Arts Council Professional Development Grants and currently teaches creative writing at UC San Diego.
This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
City Lights in conjunction with the Mechanics’ Institute Library and Alfred Knopf present Leila Mottley in conversation with Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, celebrating her fiction debut "Nightcrawling," published by Alfred A. Knopf. This live event took place at the Mechanics’ Institute Library in San Francisco and was hosted by Laura Sheppard and Peter Maravelis.
You can purchase copies of "Nightcrawling" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/nightcrawling/
Leila Mottley is the 2018 Oakland Youth Poet Laureate. Her work has been featured in The New York Times and Oprah Daily. She was born and raised in Oakland, where she continues to live. "Nightcrawling" is her first novel.
Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, born and raised in New Orleans, studied creative writing at Dartmouth College and law at UC Berkeley. Her most recent novel, "The Revisioners," won a 2020 Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize, an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work and a George Garrett New Writing Award; was a California and Northern California Book Award finalist, a 2020 Hurston/Wright Foundation Legacy Award Finalist and a Willie Morris Award for Southern Writing finalist; was nominated for the 2020 Simpson/Joyce Carol Oates Prize; and was a national bestseller as well as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her debut novel, "A Kind of Freedom," was long-listed for the National Book Award and the Northern California Book Award, won the Crook’s Corner Book Prize, and was the recipient of the First Novelist Award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in Zyzzyva, The Paris Review; O, The Oprah Magazine; The New York Times Book Review; and other publications. She lives in Oakland with her family.
This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
Nadifa Mohamed in conversation with Tommy Orange, celebrating the release of her new novel "The Fortune Men," published by Alfred Knopf. This event was originally broadcast via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.
You can purchase copies of "The Fortune Men" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/fortune-men/
Nadifa Mohamed was born in 1981 in Hargeisa, Somaliland. At the age of four she moved with her family to London. She is the author of "Black Mamba Boy" and "The Orchard of Lost Souls." She has received both The Betty Trask Award and the Somerset Maugham Award, and in 2013, she was named as one of Granta‘s Best of Young British Novelists. Her work appears regularly in The Guardian and the BBC. A fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, she lives in London.
Tommy Orange is a novelist and writer from Oakland, California. His first book "There There" was one of the finalists for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize and received the 2019 American Book Award. Orange is a citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma. He attended Institute of American Indian Arts and earned the Masters in Fine Arts. He was born and raised in Oakland, California, and makes his home in Angels Camp, California.
This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
City Lights in conjunction with the Asian American Writers’ Workshop present K-Ming Chang in conversation with Lily Philpott, celebrating her new collection "Gods of Want: Stories," published by One World Books. This event was originally broadcast via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.
You can purchase copies of "Gods of Want: Stories" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/new-fiction-in-hardcover/gods-of-want-stories/
K-Ming Chang is a Kundiman fellow, a Lambda Literary Award finalist, and a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree. She is the author of the novel "Bestiary," which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, the PEN/Faulkner Award, and the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award.
Lily Philpott runs and manages AAWW events, fellowships, and workshops. She has many years of experience curating literary programs in New York City. Previously, she served as the Public Programs Manager at PEN America, where she launched the PEN Out Loud event series with the Strand Book Store, co-curated a summer event series with the Brooklyn Museum, and coordinated Lit Crawl NYC. She has also worked on public programs and development events at the Guggenheim Museum and the New York Public Library, respectively, and is a member of the Brooklyn Book Festival’s International Literature Committee and an Advisory Board Member of the U.K. based publisher And Other Stories.
The Asian American Writers’ Workshop (AAWW) is a national literary nonprofit dedicated to publishing and incubating work by Asian and Asian diasporic writers, poets, and artists. Since their founding in 1991, they have provided a countercultural literary arts space at the intersection of migration, race, and social justice. Find out more at: https://aaww.org
This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
Ingrid Rojas Contreras in conversation with Esmé Weijun Wang, celebrating the launch of "The Man Who Could Move Clouds: A Memoir," published by Doubleday. This live event took place in Kerouac Alley, between City Lights and Vesuvio Cafe, and was hosted by Peter Maravelis.
You can purchase copies of "The Man Who Could Move Clouds: A Memoir" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/new-nonfiction-in-hardcover/man-who-could-move-clouds/
Ingrid Rojas Contreras was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia. Her first novel "Fruit of the Drunken Tree" was the silver medal winner in First Fiction from the California Book Awards, and a New York Times editor’s choice. Her essays and short stories have appeared in the New York Times Magazine, The Believer, and Zyzzyva, among others. She lives in California.
Esmé Weijun Wang is a novelist and essayist. She is the author of the New York Times-bestselling essay collection, "The Collected Schizophrenias"(2019), and a debut novel, "The Border of Paradise," which was called a Best Book of 2016 by NPR. She was named by Granta as one of the “Best of Young American Novelists” in 2017 and won the Whiting Award in 2018. Born in the Midwest to Taiwanese parents, she is the founder of The Unexpected Shape™ Writing Academy for ambitious writers living with limitations. She can be found at esmewang.com and on Twitter @esmewang.
This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
John Nichols in conversation with Congressman Ro Khanna, discussing Nichol’s new book "Coronavirus Criminals and Pandemic Profiteers: Accountability for Those Who Caused the Crisis," published by Nation Books. This event was originally broadcast via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.
You can purchase copies of "Coronavirus Criminals and Pandemic Profiteers: Accountability for Those Who Caused the Crisis" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/coronavirus-criminals-pandemic-profi/
John Nichols is the national affairs correspondent for The Nation magazine, and the author or co-author of more than a dozen books on media and democracy. He is a regular guest on radio and television programs, and has been featured in a number of documentaries based on his writing and reporting. A co-founder of the media reform group Free Press, he has twice keynoted world congresses of the International Federation of Journalists. Of Nichols, author Gore Vidal said, “Of all the giant slayers now afoot in the great American desert, John Nichols’s sword is the sharpest.”
Ro Khanna is a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California’s 17th congressional district since 2017. He has also served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary in the United States Department of Commerce under President Barack Obama from August 8, 2009, to August 2011. He is one of only six members of the U.S. House of Representatives, and ten members of Congress, who do not take campaign contributions from political action committees (PACs).
This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
Dodie Bellamy in conversation with Chris Kraus, celebrating Dodie Bellamy's two new books; "Bee Reaved" and "The Letters of Mina Harker," published by Semiotext(e)/Native Agents. This event was originally broadcast via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.
You can purchase copies of "Bee Reaved" & "The Letters of Mina Harker" directly from City Lights here: "Bee Reaved" - https://citylights.com/staff-picks/bee-reaved/ "The Letters of Mina Harker" - https://citylights.com/general-fiction/letters-of-mina-harker/
Dodie Bellamy's writing focuses on sexuality, politics and narrative experimentation, challenging the distinctions between fiction, the essay and poetry. In 2018–19 she was the subject of "On Our Mind", a yearlong series of public events, commissioned essays and reading group meetings organized by CCA Wattis ICA. With Kevin Killian, she coedited "Writers Who Love Too Much: New Narrative 1977–1997." A compendium of essays on Bellamy's work, "Dodie Bellamy Is on Our Mind", was published in 2020 by Wattis ICA/Semiotext(e).
Chris Kraus is a filmmaker and the author of "I Love Dick" and "Aliens & Anorexia", and coeditor of "Hatred of Capitalism: A Semiotext(e) Reader". "Index" called her "one of the most subversive voices in American fiction." Her work has been praised for its damning intelligence, vulnerability and dazzling speed.
This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
Amitava Kumar in conversation with Aleksandar Hemon, discussing Amitava Kumar's new novel "A Time Outside This Time" published by Alfred Knopf. This event was originally broadcast via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.
You can purchase copies of "A Time Outside This Time" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/new-fiction-in-hardcover/time-outside-this-time/
Amitava Kumar is a writer and journalist. He was born in Ara, India, and grew up in the nearby town of Patna, famous for its corruption, crushing poverty, and delicious mangoes. Kumar is the author of the novel "Immigrant, Montana," as well as several other books of nonfiction and fiction. He lives in Poughkeepsie, New York, where he is Professor of English on the Helen D. Lockwood Chair at Vassar College.
Aleksandar Hemon is the author of "The Lazarus Project," which was a finalist for the 2008 National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, and three books of short stories: "The Question of Bruno;" "Nowhere Man," which was also a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award; and "Love and Obstacles." He was the recipient of a 2003 Guggenheim Fellowship and a "genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation, and the 2020 Dos Passos Prize. He lives in Princeton, New Jersey.
This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
Farah Jasmine Griffin in conversation with Robin D.G. Kelley, discussing her new book "Read Until You Understand: The Profound Wisdom of Black Life and Literature," published by W.W. Norton & Co. This event was originally broadcast via Zoom and hosted by Josiah Luis Alderete.
You can purchase copies of "Read Until You Understand: The Profound Wisdom of Black Life and Literature" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/new-nonfiction-in-hardcover/read-until-you-understand/
Farah Jasmine Griffin is a professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of "Who Set You Flowin'?": The African-American Migration Narrative, and the coeditor of "A Stranger in the Village: Two Centuries of African-American Travel Writing." She has been the recipient of fellowships from the Ford Foundation and the Bunting Institute at Radcliffe College. She lives in Philadelphia.
Robin D.G. Kelley is a scholar history of social movements in the U.S., the African Diaspora, and Africa; black intellectuals; music and visual culture; Surrealism, Marxism, among other things. His essays have appeared in a wide variety of professional journals as well as general publications, including the Journal of American History, American Historical Review, The Nation, Monthly Review, New York Times, Color Lines, Counterpunch, Souls, Black Renaissance/Renaissance Noir, Social Text ,The Black Scholar, Journal of Palestine Studies, and Boston Review, for which he serves as Contributing Editor. He is the author of "Africa Speaks, America Answers: Modern Jazz in Revolutionary Times" (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2012); "Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original" (The Free Press, 2009); "Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination" (Beacon Press, 2002); with Howard Zinn and Dana Frank, "Three Strikes: The Fighting Spirit of Labor's Last Century" (Beacon Press, 2001); "Yo’ Mama’s Disfunktional!: Fighting the Culture Wars in Urban America"(Boston: Beacon Press, 1997); "Race Rebels: Culture, Politics, and the Black Working Class" (New York: The Free Press, 1994); "Into the Fire: African Americans Since 1970" (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996) [Vol. 10 of the Young Oxford History of African Americans series]; "Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists During the Great Depression" (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1990).
This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
In conjunction with Zyzzyva, City Lights presents Gabriela Alemán and Dick Cluster in conversation with Oscar Villalon, celebrating the publication of "Family Album: Stories," published by City Lights Books. "Family Album" is Ecuadorian author Gabriela Alemán’s rollicking follow-up to her acclaimed English-language debut, "Poso Wells." This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.
You can purchase copies of "Family Album: Stories" directly from City Lights at a 30% discount here: https://citylights.com/family-album-stories/
Gabriela Alemán was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She received a PhD at Tulane University and holds a Master’s degree in Latin American Literature from Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar. She currently resides in Quito, Ecuador. Her literary honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2006; member of Bogotá 39, a 2007 selection of the most important up-and-coming writers in Latin America in the post-Boom generation; one of five finalists for the 2015 Premio Hispanoamericano de Cuento Gabriel García Márquez (Colombia) for her short story collection "La muerte silba un blues;" and winner of several prizes for critical essays on literature and film. Her novel "Poso Wells" was published in English translation by City Lights in 2018.
Oscar Villalon is the managing editor at the literary journal ZYZZYVA. His writing has appeared in Freeman’s, the Virginia Quarterly Review, The Believer, Stranger’s Guide, Literary Hub, and other publications, and in the anthology There’s a Revolution Outside, My Love: Letters from a Crisis (Vintage). A former board member of the National Book Critics Circle, and a former book editor at the San Francisco Chronicle, he lives in San Francisco.
Dick Cluster is a writer and translator based in Oakland, California. His original work includes three novels and two books of history, most recently "The History of Havana" (with Rafael Hernández). Other Cuban writers he has translated include Aida Bahr, Pedro de Jesús, and Abel Prieto.
This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
City Lights in conjunction with the Middle Eastern Children’s Alliance and The Markaz Review present Mosab Abu Toha in conversation with Mary Karr, celebrating the publication of "Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza," published by City Lights Books. This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.
You can purchase copies of "Things You May Find in My Ear" directly from City Lights at a 30% discount here: https://citylights.com/general-poetry/things-you-may-find-hidden-in-my-ear/
Mosab Abu Toha is a Palestinian poet, scholar, and librarian who was born in Gaza and has spent his life there. A graduate in English language teaching and literature, he taught English at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) schools in Gaza from 2016 until 2019, and is the founder of the Edward Said Library, Gaza’s first English-language library. In 2019-2020, Abu Toha was a Visiting Poet in the Department of Comparative Literature at Harvard University; a Visiting Librarian at Harvard’s Houghton Library; and a Religion, Conflict, and Peace Initiative Fellow in the Harvard Divinity School. In 2020, Abu Toha gave talks and readings at the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, and the University of Arizona. He also spoke at the American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting held in Philadelphia in January 2020. In October 2021, University of Notre Dame’s Literatures, Annihilation, Exile, and Resistance lecture series hosted Abu Toha to speak about his poetry and work in Gaza. Abu Toha is a columnist for Arrowsmith Press, and his writings from Gaza have appeared in The Nation, Arrowsmith Press, and Literary Hub. His poems have been published on the Poetry Foundation’s website, in Poetry Magazine, Banipal, Solstice, The Markaz Review, The New Arab, Peripheries, and other journals.
Mary Karr is an award-winning poet and best-selling memoirist. She is the author of the critically-acclaimed and New York Times best-selling memoirs "The Liars’ Club," "Cherry," and "Lit," as well as "The Art of Memoir," and five poetry collections, most recently "Tropic of Squalor." Karr is also a songwriter, having collaborated with Rodney Crowell, Norah Jones, Lucinda Williams and others on a country album called KIN.
The Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) works to protect the rights and improve the lives of children in the Middle East through aid, empowerment and education. In the Middle East, MECA provides humanitarian aid, partners with community organizations to run projects for children, and supports income-generation projects. In the US and internationally, MECA raises awareness about the lives of children in the region and encourages meaningful action. Since 1988, MECA has delivered $29 million in aid to Palestine, Iraq and Lebanon.
The Markaz Review is a literary arts publication and cultural institution that curates content and programs on the greater Middle East and our communities in diaspora. The Markaz signifies “the center” in Arabic, as well as Persian, Turkish, Hebrew and Urdu. Visit https://themarkaz.org/
This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
D. S. Marriott in conversation with Frank B. Wilderson III, celebrating the publication of D. S. Marriott’s "Before Whiteness: City Lights Spotlight No. 21," published by City Lights Books. This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom and was hosted by Peter Maravelis with an opening statement by Garrett Caples.
Poet and scholar D.S. Marriott was born in Nottingham and educated at the University of Sussex, UK. He is the author of the poetry collections "Incognegro"(Salt, 2006), "Hoodoo Voodoo" (Shearsman, 2008), "The Bloods" (Shearsman, 2011), and "Duppies" (Commune Editions, 2019). His chapbooks include "In Neuter" (Equipage, 2012) and "Lative" (Equipage, 1992). His work is sometimes associated with the Cambridge school of poetry. In his critical and creative work, Marriott, of Jamaican heritage, draws on postcolonial thought and thinkers such as Frantz Fanon and is a leading theorist of Afro-pessimism. His critical books include "On Black Men" (Edinburgh University Press and Columbia University Press, 2000), "Haunted Life" (Rutgers University Press, 2007), and "Whither Fanon? Studies in the Blackness of Being" (Stanford University Press, 2018). He has taught at many universities and is currently based in Oakland, CA.
Frank B. Wilderson III is a writer, dramatist, filmmaker and critic. He is a full professor of drama and African American studies at the University of California, Irvine. He is the author of "Red, White & Black: Cinema and the Structure of US Antagonisms" (Duke University Press, 2010), "Incognegro: A Memoir of Exile & Apartheid" (South End Press, 2008), "Gramsci’s black marx: Whither the slave in civil society?" (Social Identities 9.2 , 2003) and "Afropessimism" (Liveright, 2020). He has received numerous honors for his work including The Eisner Prize for Creative Achievement of the Highest Order, The Maya Angelou Award for Best Fiction Portraying the Black Experience in America, an American book Award, amongst others. Wilderson has been described as one of the first writers in the tradition of Afro-pessimism.
This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
An appreciation of Jack Kerouac’s unique contribution to American literature with talks by Ann Charters, Jean-Christophe Cloutier, Ann Douglas, Tim Hunt, Joyce Johnson, Hassan Melehy, and Regina Weinreich, with readings by Tony Torn, and a birthday greeting by David Amram. This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.
On Thursday, March 10, 2022, City Lights, at the birthplace of the San Francisco Renaissance and the Beat movement, celebrated Jack Kerouac’s centenary, with an illuminating exploration of his writing. Moving beyond the hype and fetishization of his personality, some of the country's leading Kerouac scholars take a deep dive into his work. Learn about books you haven’t yet read, his innovations in prose, the influence of his Franco-American background and how he discovered his unique voice.
City Light features one of the largest selection of Jack Kerouac books in the world. Check out our stock at this link: https://citylights.com/author/jack-kerouac/
This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation/
Daniel Shank Cruz in conversation with Samuel R. Delany, celebrating the U.S. launch of the publication of "Dangerous Visions and New Worlds: Radical Science Fiction, 1950 to 1985," edited by Andrew Nette & Iain McIntyre, published by PM Press. This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.
This session was part of a weekend-long symposium exploring the radical currents of Science Fiction. It was presented by City Lights in conjunction with PM Press.
Born into a distinguished Harlem family, Samuel R. Delany was a success at nineteen, changing the tone, the content, and the very shape of modern science fiction with his acclaimed novels and stories that bridged the apparent gap between science and fantasy to explore gay sexuality, racial and class consciousness, and the limits of imagination and memory. His vast body of work includes memoir, comics, space adventure, mainstream novels, homosexual erotica, and literary criticism of a high order. He has received numerous honors for his work including numerous Nebula and Hugo Awards, the J. Lloyd Eaton Lifetime Achievement Award in Science Fiction, the Kessler Award, and the Anisfield-Wolf Lifetime Achievement Award amongst others. His fiction includes Babel-17, The Einstein Intersection (winners of the Nebula Award for 1966 and 1967 respectively), Nova, Dhalgren, the Return to Nevèrÿon series, and Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders. Until his recent retirement he was a professor of English and creative writing at Temple University.
Daniel Shank Cruz is an author and educator. Cruz is the author of "Queering Mennonite Literature: Archives, Activism, and the Search for Community" (Penn State University Press, 2019. Their research has merged queer theory with Mennonite studies producing illuminating and original work that explores the intersection of critical theory with gender studies and religion.
This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation/
Mike Stax in conversation with Michael Moorcock, celebrating the US launch of the publication of "Dangerous Visions and New Worlds: Radical Science Fiction, 1950 to 1985," edited by Andrew Nette & Iain McIntyre, published by PM Press. This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.
This session was part of a weekend-long symposium exploring the radical currents of Science Fiction, presented by City Lights in conjunction with PM Press.
Michael Moorcock is a writer, best-known for his work in science fiction and fantasy. He is considered one of the leading voices of the genre. He has also published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has worked as an editor and is also a successful musician. He is best known for his novels about the character Elric of Melniboné, a seminal influence on the field of fantasy since the 1960s and '70s. As editor of the British science fiction magazine New Worlds, from May 1964 until March 1971 and then again from 1976 to 1996, Moorcock fostered the development of the science fiction "New Wave" in the UK and indirectly in the United States, leading to the advent of cyberpunk. His publication of "Bug Jack Barron" (1969) by Norman Spinrad as a serial novel was notorious; in British Parliament, some British MPs condemned the Arts Council for funding the magazine. Mr. Moorcock is also a recording musician, contributing to the bands Hawkwind, Blue Öyster Cult, Robert Calvert, Spirits Burning, and his own project, Michael Moorcock & The Deep Fix. In 2008, The Times named Mr. Moorcock in its list of "The 50 greatest British Writers".
Mike Stax is a writer, editor, publisher, record producer, and musician. He is the founder and editor of Ugly Things Magazine, and frontman of the musical group The Loons. His work with Ugly Things has been instrumental in the preservation of late 20th century garage, psychedelic, punk, and alternative rock music history. He is currently working as co-writer (with Rick Brown) on a feature film about the seminal 60's psychedelic rock group The Misunderstood.
This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation/
Daniel Levin Becker in conversation with Ian S. Port, celebrating the release of his new book "What’s Good: Notes on Rap and Language," published by City Lights Books. This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.
An early contributor to the groundbreaking lyrics site Rap Genius (now known as Genius), Daniel Levin Becker is an American critic, translator, and editor, and the youngest member of the Oulipo literary collective. He is the author of "Many Subtle Channels: In Praise of Potential Literature" (Harvard UP, 2012) and the translator of, among others, Georges Perec’s "La Boutique Obscure" (Melville House, 2013) and Eduardo Berti’s "An Ideal Presence" (Fern Books, 2021), and co-translator of Frédéric Forte’s "Minute-Operas" (Burning Deck, 2015) and "All That Is Evident Is Suspect: Readings from the Oulipo 1963–2018" (McSweeney’s, 2018). He is a contributing editor to The Believer, senior editor at McSweeney’s Publishing, and English editor for the French nonfiction publisher Odile Jacob. He lives in Paris.
Ian S. Port is the author of "The Birth of Loud" (Scribner, 2019), an acclaimed portrait of electric guitar innovators Leo Fender and Les Paul and their impact on music. Ian’s writing has also appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, Village Voice, and many other outlets. A Bay Area native and former music editor of SF Weekly, Ian spent seven years in New York City, and is trying to decide where to live next.
Songs included in this event: "Exhibit C (Instrumental)" by Jay Electronica; Decon Records, 2009; produced by Just Blaze "We Major" by Kanye West; Roc-a-Fella Records, 2005; produced by Kanye Wet, Baby Dubb, and Jon Brion "Stay Schemin (Album Version [Explicit])" by Rick Ross; Maybach Music Group, 2012; produced by the Beat Bully
This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation/
In conjunction with MAPS (the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) and Synergetic Press, City Lights presents "Psyche Unbound," a day-long appreciation of Stanislav Grof.
"Comparative and Theoretical Studies" is the third and final session of the day-long symposium in three sessions exploring the life and work of Stanislav Grof, the world’s leading researcher in psychedelic therapy, breathwork, and the exploration of non-ordinary states of consciousness.
This final session explores how the work of Stanislav Grof has been applied and looking toward future paradigms of therapeutic practice. A panel discussion with Tom Riedlinger, Tom Roberts, Diane Haug, Jasmine Virdi and John Buchanan. Moderated by Maria Mangini, with an opening statement from Peter Maravelis. This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom on Saturday, January 22, 2022.
The event coincided with the launch of the new book: "Psyche Unbound: Essays in Honor of Stanislav Grof" Edited by Richard Tarnas, Ph.D. and Sean Kelly, Ph.D. and published by MAPS, with Synergetic Press
To learn about Psyche Unbound click this link: citylights.com/psyche-unbound-tr…te-to-stan-groff/
Special Thanks to the following for their support of this event: California Institute of Integral Studies, Tam Integration, Psychedelic Seminars, Esalen Institute, Psychedelic Society UK, Psychedelics Today, and DoubleBlind Mag.
This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation/
In conjunction with MAPS (the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) and Synergetic Press, City Lights presents "Psyche Unbound," a day-long appreciation of Stanislav Grof.
"Psychotherapy and Consciousness" is the second session of the day-long symposium in three sessions, exploring the life and work of Stanislav Grof, the world’s leading researcher in psychedelic therapy, breathwork, and the exploration of non-ordinary states of consciousness. This session is an overview of the research and main ideas of Stanislav Grof with guests Michael Mithoefer, Roshi Joan Halifax, Charles Grob, Paul Grof and Jenny Wade. Moderated by Janis Phelps, with an opening statement from Peter Maravelis. This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom on Saturday, January 22, 2022.
The event coincided with the launch of the new book: "Psyche Unbound: Essays in Honor of Stanislav Grof" Edited by Richard Tarnas, Ph.D. and Sean Kelly, Ph.D. and published by MAPS, with Synergetic Press.
To learn about Psyche Unbound click this link: citylights.com/psyche-unbound-tr…te-to-stan-groff/
Special Thanks to the following for their support of this event: California Institute of Integral Studies, Tam Integration, Psychedelic Seminars, Esalen Institute, Psychedelic Society UK, Psychedelics Today, and DoubleBlind Mag.
This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation/
In conjunction with MAPS (the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies)and Synergetic Press, City Lights presents "Psyche Unbound," a day-long appreciation of Stanislav Grof.
"Early Witnesses and Allies" is the first session of the day-long symposium in three sessions, exploring the life and work of Stanislav Grof, the world’s leading researcher in psychedelic therapy, breathwork, and the exploration of non-ordinary states of consciousness.
A storytelling event and tribute with Stanislav and Brigitte Grof joined by Rick Tarnas, Sean Kelly, Rick Doblin, Susan Hess Logeals (Producer of the film "Way of the Psychonaut"), Will Keepin, and Diane Haug. Moderated by David Presti, with an opening statement from Peter Maravelis. This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom on Saturday, January 22, 2022.
The event coincided with the launch of the new book: "Psyche Unbound: Essays in Honor of Stanislav Grof" Edited by Richard Tarnas, Ph.D. and Sean Kelly, Ph.D. and published by MAPS, with Synergetic Press
To learn about Psyche Unbound click this link: https://citylights.com/psyche-unbound-tribute-to-stan-groff/
Special Thanks to the following for their support of this event: California Institute of Integral Studies, Tam Integration, Psychedelic Seminars, Esalen Institute, Psychedelic Society UK, Psychedelics Today, and DoubleBlind Mag.
This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: https://citylights.com/foundation/
This is the second part of the celebration of the life and work of Diane di Prima: a panel discussion celebrating the City Lights publication of "Spring and Autumn Annals" by Diane di Prima with appearances by Sheppard Powell, Ammiel Alcalay, Amber Tamblyn, and Ana Božičević. This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom, hosted by Peter Maravelis and moderated by Sara Larsen.
This event was sponsored by the City Lights Foundation and Lost & Found: The CUNY Poetics Document Initiative.
Purchase "Spring and Autumn Annals” direct from City Lights Bookstore: https://citylights.com/beat-literature-poetry-history/spring-autumn-annals/
City Lights events calendar: https://citylights.com/events/
A tribute to Diane di Prima, marking one year since her passing in October 2020, with Hanif Abdurraqib, Garrett Caples, Jeanne di Prima, Sheppard Powell, Cedar Sigo, Sunnylyn Thibodeaux, Wendy Trevino, and Jenny Jo Wennlund. This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.
This event was sponsored by the City Lights Foundation and Lost & Found: The CUNY Poetics Document Initiative.
Purchase books by Diane di Prima direct from City Lights Bookstore: https://citylights.com/author/diane-di-prima/
City Lights events calendar: https://citylights.com/events/
Christopher W. Shaw in conversation with Ralph Nader, discussing his newly released book "First Class: The U.S. Postal Service, Democracy, and the Corporate Threat," published by City Lights Books. This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom, hosted by Peter Maravelis and moderated by Katherine Isaac.
Christopher W. Shaw is an author, historian, and policy analyst. He has a Ph.D. in History from the University of California, Berkeley, and is the author of "Money, Power, and the People: The American Struggle to Make Banking Democratic" (University of Chicago Press, 2019) and "Preserving the People’s Post Office" (Essential Books, 2006). His research on the history of banking, money, labor, agriculture, social movements, and the postal system has been published in the following academic journals: Journal of Policy History, Journal of Social History, Agricultural History, Enterprise & Society, Kansas History, and Journalism History. Shaw was formerly a project director at the Center for Study of Responsive Law. He has worked on a number of policy issues, including the privatization of government services, health and safety regulations, and electoral reform. He has appeared in such media outlets as the Associated Press, National Public Radio, Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, New York Post, Village Voice, Philadelphia Inquirer, and Buffalo News, among others. Shaw lives in Berkeley, CA.
Named by The Atlantic as one of the hundred most influential figures in American history, and by Time and Life magazines as one of the most influential Americans of the twentieth century, Ralph Nader has helped us drive safer cars, eat healthier food, breathe better air, drink cleaner water, and work in safer environments for more than four decades. Nader’s recent books include "Breaking Through Power" with City Lights, "Unstoppable," and "The Good Fight." Nader writes a syndicated column, has his own radio show, and gives lectures and interviews year round.
Katherine Isaac is the Executive Director of the Debs-Jones-Douglass Institute (DJDI) where she advocates for the public good, including a strong and expanded public Postal Service. Previously, Isaac coordinated the Campaign for Postal Banking and A Grand Alliance to Save Our Public Postal Service at the American Postal Workers Union. She currently serves as Board Treasurer of the Global Labor Justice/International Labor Rights Forum. Isaac is the author of "Civics for Democracy: A Journey for Teachers and Students."
Sponsored by the City Lights Foundation.
Steven Reigns in conversation with Jonny McGovern, discussing his new book "A Quilt For David," published by City Lights Books. This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.
Steven Reigns, Los Angeles poet and educator, was appointed the first Poet Laureate of West Hollywood. He has two previous collections, "Inheritance" and "Your Dead Body is My Welcome Mat," and over a dozen chapbooks. Reigns edited "My Life is Poetry," showcasing his students’ work from the first-ever autobiographical poetry workshop for LGBTQ seniors. Reigns has lectured and taught writing workshops around the country to LGBTQ youth and people living with HIV. He worked for a decade as an HIV test counselor in Florida and Los Angeles. Currently he is touring The Gay Rub, an exhibition of rubbings from LGBTQ landmarks around the world, and has a private practice as a psychotherapist. He lives in West Hollywood, CA.
Jonny McGovern is a comedian, podcaster and the host/ executive producer of the long-running hit TV series “Hey Qween,” which showcases queer stories and performers.
Editors Note: During this event, McGovern hosts a game called "Gaze Upon It," where he compiled a slideshow of images and has Reigns describe and elaborate on them. To see the images discussed, please visit the link below (segment begins approximately 26 minutes into the event):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-1u_jD3-co
Sponsored by the City Lights Foundation.
City Lights and YES! Magazine present Stan Cox in conversation with Sonali Kolhatkar, celebrating the launch of his new book, "The Path to a Livable Future: A New Politics to Fight Climate Change, Racism, and the Next Pandemic," published by City Lights Books. This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.
Stan Cox began his career in the U.S. Department of Agriculture and is now the Lead Scientist at The Land Institute. Cox is the author of "The Green New Deal and Beyond: Ending the Climate Emergency While We Still Can" (with City Lights), "Any Way You Slice It: The Past, Present, and Future of Rationing, Losing Our Cool: Uncomfortable Truths About Our Air-Conditioned World (and Finding New Ways to Get Through the Summer)" and "Sick Planet: Corporate Food and Medicine." His writing about the economic and political roots of the global ecological crisis have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Baltimore Sun, Denver Post, Kansas City Star, Arizona Republic, The New Republic, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, Salon, and Dissent, and in local publications spanning 43 U.S. states. In 2012, The Atlantic named Cox their “Readers’ Choice Brave Thinker” for his critique of air conditioning. He is based in Salina, Kansas.
Sonali Kolhatkar is YES! Magazine’s Racial Justice Editor. She is also the host and creator of "Rising Up with Sonali," a nationally syndicated television and radio program.
YES! Media is a nonprofit, independent organization that publishes solutions journalism daily online and a quarterly print magazine. To learn more visit: www.yesmagazine.org
Sponsored by the City Lights Foundation.
David Talbot and Margaret Talbot celebrating the launch of their new book, "By the Light of Burning Dreams: The Triumphs and Tragedies of the Second American Revolution," published by Harper Collins. This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.
David Talbot is the author of the New York Times bestseller "Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years" and the acclaimed national bestseller "Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror, and Deliverance in the City of Love." He is the founder and former editor in chief of Salon, and was a senior editor at Mother Jones and the features editor at the San Francisco Examiner. He has written for The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Time, The Guardian, and other major publications. Talbot lives in San Francisco, California.
Margaret Talbot joined The New Yorker as a staff writer in 2004. Previously, she was a contributing writer at the New York Times Magazine and, from 1995 to 1999, an editor at The New Republic. Her stories, covering legal issues, social policy, and popular culture, have appeared, in addition to in the Times Magazine and The New Republic, in The Atlantic Monthly, National Geographic, and the Times Book Review. She was one of the founding editors of Lingua Franca and was a senior fellow at the New America Foundation. In 1999, she received a Whiting Writer's Award. She is the author of "The Entertainer: Movies, Magic and My Father’s Twentieth Century," about Lyle Talbot, her father.
Sponsored by the City Lights Foundation.
Chet'la Sebree in conversation with Dantiel W. Moniz, celebrating the release of Chet'la Sebree's new book, "Field Study," published by FSG Originals. This event was originally broadcast via Zoom and hosted by Josiah Luis Alderete.
Chet'la Sebree is the director of the Stadler Center for Poetry and Literary Arts at Bucknell University and the author of "Mistress," winner of the 2018 New Issues Poetry Prize and nominated for a 2020 NAACP Image Award. She earned an MFA in creative writing, with a focus in poetry, from American University, and has received fellowships from the Delaware Division of the Arts, the MacDowell Colony, Hedgebrook, Yaddo, Vermont Studio Center, and Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies. Her poetry has appeared in the Kenyon Review, Guernica, Pleiades, and elsewhere.
Dantiel W. Moniz is the recipient of the Alice Hoffman Prize for Fiction, the Cecelia Joyce Johnson Emerging Writer Award by the Key West Literary Seminar, a Tin House Scholarship, and has been named a "Writer to Watch" by Publishers Weekly and Apple Books. Her debut collection, "Milk Blood Heat," is an Indie Next Pick, an Amazon "Best Book of the Month" selection, a Roxane Gay Audacious Book Club pick, and has been hailed as "must-read" by TIME, Entertainment Weekly, Buzzefeed, Elle, and O, The Oprah Magazine, among others. Her work has appeared in the Paris Review, Harper’s Bazaar, Tin House, One Story, American Short Fiction, Ploughshares, The Yale Review, McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern and elsewhere. She lives in Northeast Florida and currently teaches fiction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Sponsored by the City Lights Foundation.
New Directions at 85: The Anniversary Celebration with Forrest Gander as MC and Rosmarie Waldrop, Susan Howe, Nathaniel Tarn, Nathaniel Mackey, Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, Sylvia Legris, Michael Palmer, Will Alexander, Eliot Weinberger, and other surprise guests. This event was originally broadcast live via zoom on Thursday, June 3, 2021 and was introduced by City Lights' Peter Maravelis and hosted by Forrest Gander.
New Directions was founded in 1936 by James Laughlin, then a Harvard University sophomore, via advice from Ezra Pound to "do something useful" after finishing his studies at Harvard. The first projects to come out of New Directions were anthologies of new writing, each titled "New Directions in Poetry and Prose" (until 1966's NDPP 19). Early writers incorporated in these anthologies include Dylan Thomas, Marianne Moore, Wallace Stevens, Thomas Merton, Denise Levertov, James Agee, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. New Directions publishing program includes writing of all genres, representing not only American writing, but also a considerable amount of literature in translation from modernist authors around the world. Among some of the writers they have published are Nobel Prize Winners: Andre Gide, Pablo Neruda, Boris Pasternak, Octavio Paz, Pulitzer Prize Winners: Hilton Als, George Oppen, Gary Snyder, Williams Carlos Williams, National Book Award Winners: Yoko Tawada, Nathaniel Mackey, Man Booker Prize Winner László Krasznahorkai, as well as many others.
The current focus of New Directions is threefold: discovering and introducing to the US contemporary international writers; publishing new and experimental American poetry and prose; and reissuing New Directions' classic titles in new editions.
Drawing from the tradition of the early anthologies and series, New Directions launched the Pearl series, which presents short works by New Directions writers in slim, minimalist volumes designed by Rodrigo Corral.
Nathaniel Mackey in conversation with Fred Moten, celebrating the launch of his new poetry collection, "Double Trio," published by New Directions. This event was originally broadcast via Zoom and hosted by Josiah Luis Alderete.
Nathaniel Mackey was born in Miami, Florida, in 1947. He is the author of several books of fiction of "exquisite rhythmic lyricism" (Bookforum), poetry, and criticism and has received many awards for his work, including the National Book Award in poetry for Splay Anthem, the Stephen Henderson Award from the African American Literature and Culture Society, the Bollingen Prize, and the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize. Mackey is the Reynolds Price Professor of English at Duke University.
Fred Moten is an American cultural theorist, poet, and scholar whose work explores critical studies, black studies, and performance studies. Moten is Professor of Performance Studies at New York University and Distinguished Professor Emeritus at University of California, Riverside and the University of Iowa. His scholarly texts include "The Undercommons: Fugitive Planning & Black Study" which was co-authored with Stefano Harney, "In the Break: The Aesthetics of the Black Radical Tradition," and "The Universal Machine" (Duke University Press, 2018). He has published numerous poetry collections, including The Little Edges, The Feel Trio, B Jenkins, and Hughson's Tavern. In 2020, Moten was awarded a for "[c]reating new conceptual spaces to accommodate emerging forms of Black aesthetics, cultural production, and social life."
Sponsored by the City Lights Foundation.
Cynthia Kaufman in conversation with Francesca Caparas, discussing her new book, "The Sea is Rising and So Are We: A Climate Justice Handbook," published by PM Press. This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.
Cynthia Kaufman is the director of the Vasconcellos Institute for Democracy in Action, where she also teaches community organizing and philosophy. The author of "Getting Past Capitalism: History, Vision, Hope" (Lexington Books, 2012), she is a lifelong social change activist, having worked on issues such as tenants' rights, police abuse, union organizing, international politics, and most recently climate change.
Francesca Caparas teaches English and Asian American Studies at De Anza College and she is the Faculty Coordinator of the Jean Miller Resource Room for Women, Gender, and Sexuality. She is the 2020-21 Fulbright Scholar to the Philippines where she will be researching discourses of digital literacy. Her interests and community work include international human rights, intersectional feminism, digital culture, and decolonization.
Sponsored by the City Lights Foundation.
Aminatta Forna in conversation with Eula Biss, discussing her new book, “The Window Seat: Notes From a Life in Motion,” published by Grove Press. This event was originally broadcast via Zoom and hosted by Josiah Luis Alderete.
Aminatta Forna is the author of the novels “Ancestor Stones,” “The Memory of Love,” and “The Hired Man,” as well as the memoir “The Devil That Danced on the Water.” Forna's books have been translated into sixteen languages. Her essays have appeared in Granta, The Guardian, The Observer, and Vogue. She is currently the Lannan Visiting Chair of Poetics at Georgetown University.
Eula Biss is the author of four books, most recently “Having and Being Had.” Her book “On Immunity” was named one of the Ten Best Books of 2014 by the New York Times Book Review, and “Notes from No Man's Land” won the National Book Critics Circle award for criticism in 2009. Her essays and prose poems have recently appeared in the Guardian, the New York Review of Books, The Believer, Freeman’s, Jubilat, the Baffler, Harper’s, and the New York Times Magazine. She teaches nonfiction writing at Northwestern University.
Sponsored by the City Lights Foundation.
Francisco Goldman in conversation with Valeria Luiselli, discussing his new novel, "Monkey Boy," published by Grove Atlantic Press. This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.
Francisco Goldman has published four novels and two books of non-fiction. "The Long Night of White Chickens" was awarded the American Academy's Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction. His novels have been finalists for several prizes, including, twice, The Pen/Faulkner Prize. "The Ordinary Seaman" was a finalist for The International IMPAC Dublin literary award. "The Divine Husband" was a finalist for The Believer Book Award. "The Art of Political Murder" won The Index on Censorship T.R. Fyvel Book Award and The WOLA/Duke Human Rights Book Award. "The Interior Circuit: A Mexico City Chronicle," published in 2013, was named by the LA Times one of 10 best books of the year and received The Blue Metropolis "Premio Azul" 2017. His most recent novel, "Say Her Name," won the 2011 Prix Femina Etranger. His books have been published in 16 languages.
Valeria Luiselli was born in Mexico City and grew up in South Korea, South Africa and India. An acclaimed writer of both fiction and nonfiction, she is the author of the essay collection "Sidewalks;" the novels "Faces in the Crowd" and "The Story of My Teeth;" "Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions" and "Lost Children Archive." She is the recipient of a 2019 MacArthur Fellowship and the winner of two Los Angeles Times Book Prizes, The Carnegie Medal, an American Book Award, and has been nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Kirkus Prize, and the Booker Prize. She has been a National Book Foundation "5 Under 35" honoree and the recipient of a Bearing Witness Fellowship from the Art for Justice Fund. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Granta, and McSweeney's, among other publications, and has been translated into more than twenty languages. She is a Writer in Residence at Bard College and lives in New York City.
Sponsored by the City Lights Foundation.
A memorial tribute to Michael McClure with readings and remembrances by Russ Tamblyn, CAConrad, Margaret Randall, Forrest Gander, George Herms, Henry Kaiser, Jerome Rothenberg, Cedar Sigo, Garrett Caples, Paul Nelson, Lyn Hejinian, Andrew Schelling, Amy McClure, Jane McClure, and Joanna McClure. This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.
Michael McClure (1932-2020) was an award-winning American poet, playwright, songwriter, and novelist. After moving to San Francisco as a young man, he was one of the five poets who participated in the Six Gallery reading that featured the public debut of Allen Ginsberg's landmark poem "Howl." A key figure of the Beat Generation, McClure is immortalized as Pat McLear in Jack Kerouac's novels The Dharma Bums and Big Sur. He also participated in the 60s counterculture alongside musicians like Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison. He taught for many years at California College of the Arts and lived with his wife, Amy, in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Sponsored by the City Lights Foundation.
City Lights celebrates the final book by the late Beat Generation legend Michael McClure. Anne Waldman, Eileen Myles, and Garrett Caples read from and discuss the work of the late poet in this book launch for "Mule Kick Blues: And Last Poems" published by City Lights. This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.
Anne Waldman co-founded the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado, where she still teaches. Her poetry collections include Iovis I, Iovis II, Fast Speaking Woman, Helping the Dreamer, Kill or Cure, and Trickster Feminism. She is a recipient of the Shelley Memorial Award.
Eileen Myles is an acclaimed poet and writer who has published over twenty works of fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and libretto. Their prizes and awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Warhol/Creative Capital grant, an award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and a poetry award from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts.
Garrett Caples is a poet and freelance writer who lives in San Francisco and is an editor for City Lights, where he curates the Spotlight Poetry Series. He is the author of three full-length poetry collections and a book of essays. He is the co-editor of The Collected Poems of Philip Lamantia (California, 2013), Particulars of Place (Omnidawn, 2015) by Richard O. Moore, Incidents of Travel in Poetry: New and Selected Poems by Frank Lima (City Lights, 2016), and Arcana: A Stephen Jonas Reader (City Lights, 2019) He has a Ph.D. in English from UC Berkeley.
Sponsored by the City Lights Foundation.
Erica Hunt and Michael Palmer, reading from their new works: Hunt reading from her new collection "Jump The Clock," published by Nightboat, and Palmer reading from "Little Elegies for Sister Satan," published by New Directions. This event was originally broadcast via Zoom and hosted by Josiah Luis Alderete.
Erica Hunt is a poet and essayist, author of Local History, Arcade, Piece Logic, Veronica: A Suite in X Parts, and Jump the Clock: New and Selected Poems, published by Nightboat Books in November 2020. Her poems and essays have appeared in BOMB, Boundary 2, Brooklyn Rail, The Los Angeles Review of Books, Poetics Journal, Tripwire, Recluse, In the American Tree, and Conjunctions. With Dawn Lundy Martin, Hunt is the editor of an anthology of new writing by Black women, Letters to the Future. Hunt has received awards from the Foundation for Contemporary Art, the Fund for Poetry, and the Djerassi Foundation and is a past fellow of Duke University/University of Capetown Program in Public Policy. She teaches at Brown University.
Michael Palmer is an American born in New York City in 1943 and long resident in San Francisco, nearly all of Palmer's poetry is published by New Directions: At Passages (1995); The Lion Bridge: Selected Poems 1972–1995 (1998); The Promises of Glass (2000); Codes Appearing: Poems 1979–1988 (2001); Company of Moths (2005); and most recently, Thread (2011). He is the translator of works by Emmanuel Hocquard, Vicente Huidobro, and Alexei Parshchikov, among others, and the editor of "Code of Signals: Recent Writings in Poetics." For over thirty years he has collaborated with the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company.
Sponsored by the City Lights Foundation.
Mary Beth Meehan with Fred Turner, celebrating the launch of their book "Seeing Silicon Valley: Life Inside a Fraying America" published by University of Chicago Press. This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.
Mary Beth Meehan is a photographer known for her large-scale, community-based portraiture centered around questions of representation, visibility, and social equity in the United States. She lives in New England, where she has lectured at Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design, and Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
Fred Turner is Harry and Norman Chandler Professor of Communication at Stanford University. He is the author of the books "The Democratic Surround" and "From Counterculture to Cyberculture" both published by the University of Chicago Press.
Sponsored by the City Lights Foundation.
Carribean Fragoza in conversation with Héctor Tobar, celebrating the launch of her new book "Eat the Mouth That Feeds You", published by City Lights Books. This event was originally broadcast via Zoom and hosted by Josiah Luis Alderete.
The daughter of Mexican immigrants, Carribean Fragoza was raised in South El Monte, California. After graduating from UCLA, Fragoza completed the Creative Writing MFA Program at CalArts, where she worked with writers Douglas Kearney and Norman Klein. Fragoza is founder of Vicious Ladies, a new website publishing womxn, queer, and non-binary critics of color. She co-edits UC Press's acclaimed California cultural journal, Boom California, and is also the founder of South El Monte Arts Posse, an interdisciplinary arts collective. Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in numerous publications, including Zyzzyva, Alta, BOMB, Huizache, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. She is the co-editor of "East of East: The Making of Greater El Monte" and Senior Writer at the Tropics of Meta. Carribean is the Coordinator of the Kingsley and Kate Tufts Poetry Award at Claremont Graduate University, and she lives in the San Gabriel Valley in LA County.
Héctor Tobar is the author of five books published in fifteen languages, including the critically acclaimed, New York Times bestseller: "Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine and the Miracle That Set Them Free." Héctor is also a contributing writer for the New York Times opinion pages and an associate professor at the University of California, Irvine. He's written for The New Yorker, The Los Angeles Times and other publications. His short fiction has appeared in Best American Short Stories, L.A. Noir, Zyzzyva and Slate. His new novel is "The Last Great Road Bum," published by MCD/Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
Sesshu Foster and Arturo Ernesto Romo in conversation with Carribean Fragoza, celebrating the book launch of "ELADATL: A History of the East Los Angeles Dirigible Air Transport Lines," published by City Lights Books. This event was originally broadcast via Zoom and hosted by Josiah Luis Alderete.
Sesshu Foster taught composition and literature in East L.A. for over 20 years, and at the University of Iowa, the California Institute for the Arts, and the University of California, Santa Cruz. His work is published in The Oxford Anthology of Modern American Poetry, Language for a New Century: Poetry from the Middle East, Asia and Beyond, and State of the Union: 50 Political Poems. His most recent books are "City of the and "Atomik Aztex." Sesshu was awarded the American Book Award and the Asian American Literary Award in Poetry for "World Ball Notebook;" the Believer Book Award for "Atomik Aztex; an American Book Award for "Invocation LA: Urban Multicultural Poetry;" and finalist for the PEN Center West Poetry Prize, as well as the Paterson Poetry Prize, for "City Terrace Field Manual." Sesshu is based in Alhambra, CA.
Arturo Ernesto Romo was born in Los Angeles, California in 1980. His artwork, mostly collaborative mixed media works but also drawing, has been circulated internationally. Fluency, agency and folly are central themes in his practice; he sees his artwork as a companion multiplier, folding folds, netting nets. His art-making is pushed through explorations on the streets of East and North East Los Angeles, which feed into an ongoing series of collaborations with Sesshu Foster. He is based in Alhambra, CA.
Carribean Fragoza is the author of Eat the Mouth That Feeds You (City Lights), and founder of Vicious Ladies, a new website publishing womxn, queer, and non-binary critics of color. She co-edits UC Press's acclaimed California cultural journal, Boom California, and is also the founder of South El Monte Arts Posse, an interdisciplinary arts collective. Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in numerous publications, including Zyzzyva, Alta, BOMB, Huizache, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. She is the co-editor of East of East: The Making of Greater El Monte and Senior Writer at the Tropics of Meta. Carribean is the Coordinator of the Kingsley and Kate Tufts Poetry Award at Claremont Graduate University, and she lives in the San Gabriel Valley in LA County.
Mira Sethi in conversation with Miranda Popkey, celebrating Mira Sethi's new short fiction collection "Are You Enjoying?" published by Alfred Knopf. This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.
Mira Sethi is an actor and a writer. She grew up in Lahore and attended Wellesley College, after which Sethi worked as a books editor at The Wall Street Journal. She has written op-ed pieces for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Guardian. Sethi regularly appears in a mainstream Pakistani drama series on television. She lives in Lahore, Karachi, and San Francisco.
Miranda Popkey is a writer, editor, and translator from the Italian. Her writing has appeared in The New Republic, The New Yorker’s page-turner blog, The Paris Review Daily, The Hairpin, New York’s magazine “The Cut,” and many others. Her debut novel, “Topics of Conversation,” was published by Alfred Knopf in 2020. She currently resides in Massachusetts with her husband and dog.
Marie Mutsuki Mockett in conversation with Garnette Cadogan discussing her new book "American Harvest: God, Country, and Farming in the Heartland," published by Graywolf Press. This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.
Marie Mutsuki Mockett is the author of a novel, "Picking Bones from Ash," and a memoir, "Where the Dead Pause," and "The Japanese Say Goodbye," which was a finalist for the PEN Open Book Award. She has written for the New York Times, Salon, National Geographic, Glamour, Ploughshares, and other publications and has been a guest on The World, Talk of the Nation and All Things Considered on NPR. She is a core faculty member of the Rainier Writing Workshop and a Visiting Writer in the MFA program Saint Mary's College in Moraga, California. She lives in San Francisco.
Garnette Cadogan is the Porter Distinguished Visiting Professor for the 2020-2021 academic year. Born and raised in Jamaica, Garnette Cadogan is an essayist, a Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia, and a Visiting Scholar at the Institute for Public Knowledge at New York University.
Rachel Kushner in conversation with Dana Spiotta celebrating the launch of Rachel Kushner's "The Hard Crowd: Essays 2000-2020," published by Scribner. This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.
Rachel Kushner is the bestselling author of three novels: the Booker- and NBCC Award–shortlisted "The Mars Room;" "The Flamethrowers," a finalist for the National Book Award and a New York Times top ten book of 2013; and "Telex from Cuba," a finalist for the National Book Award. She grew up in San Francisco and now lives in Los Angeles.
Dana Spiotta is is the author of four novels: "Innocents and Others,"(2016), which won the St. Francis College Literary Prize and was shortlisted for The Los Angeles Times Book Prize; "Stone Arabia" (2011), which was a National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist in fiction; "Eat the Document" (2006), which was a National Book Award Finalist in fiction and a recipient of the Rosenthal Foundation Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters; and "Lightning Field" (2001). Spiotta was a Guggenheim Fellow, a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellow, and she won the 2008-9 Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome. In 2017, the American Academy of Arts and Letters awarded her the John Updike Prize in Literature. Spiotta lives in Syracuse and teaches in the Syracuse University MFA program.
Héctor Tobar with Oscar Villalon discussing Héctor Tobar's new book "The Last Great Road Bum," published by Farrar Straus and Giroux. This event was recently broadcast via Zoom and hosted by Josiah Luis Alderete.
Héctor Tobar is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and novelist. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Deep Down Dark, as well as The Barbarian Nurseries, Translation Nation, and The Tattooed Soldier. Tobar is also a contributing writer for the New York Times opinion pages and an associate professor at the University of California, Irvine. He has written for The New Yorker, the Los Angeles Times, and other publications. His short fiction has appeared in Best American Short Stories, L.A. Noir, ZYZZYVA, and Slate. The son of Guatemalan immigrants, he is a native of Los Angeles, where he lives with his family.
Oscar Villalon is the Managing Editor of Zyzzyva Magazine. He is is the former book editor at the San Francisco Chronicle and a board member of the National Book Critics Circle. His reviews have appeared on NPR.org and KQED's "The California Report."
Joshua Bennett is joined in conversation with Tongo Eisen Martin, Jesse McCarthy, and Simone White to discuss his new book "Being Property Once Myself: Blackness and the End of Man" published by Belknap Press/Harvard University Press. The prize-winning poet Joshua Bennett argues that blackness acts as the caesura between human and nonhuman, man and animal. This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom and hosted by Josiah Luis Alderete.
Joshua Bennett is the author of The Sobbing School, winner of the National Poetry Series and a finalist for the NAACP Image Award. He has received grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ford Foundation, and MIT and was a Junior Fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows. He is the Mellon Assistant Professor of English and Creative Writing at Dartmouth College.
Tongo Eisen-Martin is the author of Heaven Is All Goodbyes (City Lights Books, 2017) and someone's dead already (Boostrap Press, 2015) and his poetry has been featured in Harper's Magazine and New York Times Magazine. Heaven Is All Goobyes was shortlisted for the Griffin International Poetry Prize and awarded the California Book Award for Poetry, an American Book Award, and a PEN Oakland Book Award. He is also a movement worker and educator whose work in Rikers Island was featured in the New York Times. He has been a faculty member at the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University, and his curriculum on extrajudicial killing of Black people, "We Charge Genocide Again!" has been used as an educational and organizing tool throughout the country. He's from San Francisco.
Jesse McCarthy is assistant professor jointly appointed in the Department of English and the Department of African and African American Studies at Harvard University. His research is concerned with the intersection between politics and aesthetics in African American literature, postwar or post-45 literary history, and Black Studies. His dissertation The Blue Period: Black Writing in the Early Cold War, 1945 – 1965 argues for a reinterpretation of black literary aesthetics in the early Cold War and for the value of a discrete periodization of that era. He is also interested in modernism, film, poetics and translation. While a graduate student at Princeton he founded a Digital Humanities project based on the Sylvia Beach archives held at Princeton's Firestone Library called Mapping Expatriate Paris. His writing on culture, politics, and literature has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, The Nation, Dissent, The New Republic and n+1. He also serves as an editor at The Point.
Simone White is the author of Dear Angel of Death, Of Being Dispersed, and House Envy of All the World and of the poetry chapbooks Unrest and, with Kim Thomas, Dolly. Her writing has appeared in publications including Arttforum, BOMB, e-flux journal, the Chicago Review, and the New York Times Book Review. She teaches at the University of Pennsylvania.
Maw Shein Win with Nathalie Khankan and Marcelo Hernandez Castillo reading from new poetry, Storage Unit for the Spirit House, (Maw Shein Win) and Quiet Orient Riot (Nathalie Khankan), both published Omnidawn.
Maw Shein Win is the author of Invisible Gifts: Poems and her chapbooks include Ruins of a Glittering Palace and Score and Bone. Maw is the inaugural poet laureate of El Cerrito (2016–18). She lives and teaches in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Nathalie Khankan teaches Arabic language and literature in the Department of Near Eastern Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and she is the founding director of the Danish House in Palestine. Her work has previously appeared in the Berkeley Poetry Review, jubilat, and Crab Creek Review. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and daughters.
Marcelo Hernandez Castillo is the author of Cenzontle, winner of the A. Poulin, Jr. prize (BOA editions 2018), winner of the 2019 Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writers Award in poetry, a finalist for the Northern California Book Award and named a best book of 2018 by NPR and the New York Public Library.
Su Hwang is a recipient of the inaugural Jerome Hill Fellowship in Literature, the Academy of America Poets James Wright Prize, and writer-in-residence fellowships to Dickinson House and Hedgebrook, among others, Her debut poetry collection BODEGA, published with Milkweed Editions, won the 2020 Minnesota Book Awards in poetry. She currently lives in South Minneapolis.
Mauro Javier Cárdenas in conversation with Carlos Fonseca, discussing Mauro's new novel, Aphasia, published by Farrar Straus Giroux.
Mauro Javier Cárdenas, the critically-acclaimed author of The Revolutionaries Try Again—"an original, insubordinate novel" (New York Times)—pens a profound story of literature about a man coming to terms with his dysfunctional Colombian family, as well as his own behavior, as an immigrant in America.
Mauro Javier Cárdenas is the author of The Revolutionaries Try Again, which The New York Times called "an original, insubordinate novel." In 2017, the Hay Festival included him in Bogotá39, a selection of the best young Latin American novelists working today.
Day two of two: a weekend of events celebrating the 20-volume milestone of the City Lights Spotlight Series. Hosted by Garrett Caples (Series Editor). With readings by Andrew Joron, Cedar Sigo, Will Alexander, Julian Talamantez Brolaski, Lisa Jarnot, Alli Warren, John Coletti, Elaine Kahn, Edmund Berrigan, and Sophia Dahlin.
In September 2020, City Lights is publishing the next two volumes in the Spotlight Poetry Series: No. 19, Facing You by acclaimed Nigerian-American poet Uche Nduka, and No. 20, Natch, the debut collection of Bay Area queer poet Sophia Dahlin.
Day one of two: a weekend of events celebrating the 20-volume milestone of the City Lights Spotlight Series. Hosted by Garrett Caples (Series Editor). With readings by Norma Cole, Anselm Berrigan, Micah Ballard, Cathy Wagner, Eric Baus, Julien Poirier, David Brazil, Barbara Jane Reyes, Carmen Gimenez Smith, and Uche Nduka.
In September 2020, City Lights is publishing the next two volumes in the Spotlight Poetry Series: No. 19, 'Facing You' by acclaimed Nigerian-American poet Uche Nduka, and No. 20, 'Natch,' the debut collection of Bay Area queer poet Sophia Dahlin.
Third Man Books (the publishing imprint of Jack White's Third Man Records) returns to City Lights to launch three new titles: IT CAME FROM MEMPHIS by Robert Gordon, CAR MA by Alison Mosshart, and 9 Bar Blues by Sheree Renée Thomas. This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom.
Robert Gordon is a writer and a filmmaker, a native Memphian who has been exporting the city's authentic weirdness since long before his first book, It Came From Memphis (1995).
Alison Mosshart is best known for her work in her musical duo The Kills, as well as fronting the Grammy nominated rock n’ roll band, The Dead Weather. Her 5 major solo exhibits: "Fire Power," Joseph Gross Gallery in NYC, 2015, "Fire Power Los Angeles," Maxfield in Los Angeles, 2017, "Tonight Only," Muscle Shoals, Alabama, 2016, "Side Effects," Panteon in Mexico City, 2018, and "Los Trachas," FF-1051 Gallery in Los Angeles, 2018.
Sheree Renée Thomas imagines stories that are sonic rituals, works that cultivate and affirm the magical and the mystical in everyday living. Nine Bar Blues explores the multitudinous forms of music and the people who make it and appreciate it—the body’s music, the spirit’s music, and what moves a soul forward in the crossroads journey of life.
Gary Kamiya with Paul Madonna, celebrating their new book, Spirits of San Francisco: Voyages through the Unknown City, published by Bloomsbury Books.From two bestselling, prizewinning, and critically acclaimed contemporary chroniclers of San Francisco comes a rich, illustrated, idiosyncratic portrait of this great city.
Gary Kamiya is a writer, journalist, and historian. He is the author of the bestselling book Cool Gray City of Love: 49 Views of San Francisco and the history column "Portals of the Past" (soon to be a podcast) which appears every other Saturday in the San Francisco Chronicle. He also offers unique walking tours by appointment and is available as a speaker about all things San Francisco.
Paul Madonna is a San Francisco-based artist and writer. He is the creator of the comic series "All Over Coffee" and the author of four books, All Over Coffee, Everything is its Own Reward, On to the Next Dream, and Close Enough for the Angels. He is the Comics Editor for TheRumpus.net, has taught drawing at the University of San Francisco, and frequently lectures on creative practice, even when not asked.
City Lights celebrates the award-winning literary periodical's fall issue. Editor Michael Ray and Managing Editor Manjula Martin are joined by several contributors in an afternoon of readings and celebrations.
Guests include Frances de Pontes Peebles, Patrick Dacey, and Daniel Orozco.
Founded by Francis Ford Coppola in 1997, Zoetrope: All-Story is a quarterly print magazine of short fiction, one-act plays, and essays on film. Among the most celebrated literary periodicals in the world, it has won every major story award, including four National Magazine Awards for Fiction, along with a number of design commendations. The magazine's contributors comprise the most promising and significant writers of our era: Mary Gaitskill, Colum McCann, Rachel Cusk, Jim Shepard, Elena Ferrante, Daniel Alarcón, Karen Russell, Yiyun Li, Jonathan Lethem, Wes Anderson, Elizabeth McCracken, David Mamet, Ha Jin, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Margaret Atwood, Pedro Almodóvar, Ethan Coen, Yoko Ogawa, Charles D'Ambrosio, Neil Jordan, Haruki Murakami, and many more.
Eileen Myles reading from their new book, For Now, published by Yale University Press.
In this raucous meditation, Eileen Myles offers an intimate glimpse into creativity's immediacy. With erudition and wit, Myles recounts their early years as an awakening writer; existential struggles with landlords; storied moments with neighbors, friends, and lovers; and the textures and identities of cities and the country that reveal the nature of writing as a presence in time.
Eileen Myles is an acclaimed poet and writer who has published over twenty works of fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and libretto. Their prizes and awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Warhol/Creative Capital grant, an award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and a poetry award from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts
Barry Gifford celebrating the release of his new anthology, Roy's World: Stories 1973-2020, published by Seven Stories Press. Barry Gifford is joined by flimmaker Rob Christopher to explore the rich landscape of his seminal Roy Stores, a tie-in to the new documentary, Roy's World: Barry Gifford's Chicago.
Barry Gifford writes distinctly American stories for readers around the globe. From screenplays and librettos to his acclaimed Sailor and Lula novels, Gifford's writing is as distinctive as it is difficult to classify. His novel Wild at Heart was adapted into the 1990 Palme d’Or-winning film of the same name. Gifford lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Rob Christopher wrote, directed, and starred in the acclaimed fiction feature Pause of the Clock, which had its World Premiere at the Denver Film Festival in 2015 and screened at the Gene Siskel Film Center in 2016. He wrote the introduction to the young adult edition of Sad Stories of the Death of Kings by Barry Gifford and edited several Roy stories for publication on the website Chicagoist
Uche Nduka and Sophia Dahlin: Celebrating City Lights Spotlights Series Vol. 19 & 20. Uche Nduka reading from Facing You, Spotlight Series No. 19, and Sophia Dahlin reading from Natch, Spotlight Series No. 20.
Uche Nduka is an itinerant poet and professor living in Brooklyn. He was born in Nigeria, was raised bilingual in Igbo and English, and earned his BA from the University of Nigeria. He left Nigeria in 1994 and settled in Germany after winning a fellowship from the Goethe Institute. In 2007, he immigrated to the United States, where he would earn his MFA from Long Island University, Brooklyn.
Sophia Dahlin earned her BA from Bard College and her MFA from the University of Iowa, where she was an Iowa Arts Fellow. Her work has appeared in many journals, including BOMB, Fence, Lambda Literary, Denver Quarterly, and The Recluse. With Jacob Kahn, she edits the chapbook press Eyelet. She lives in Oakland, California, where she teaches with California Poets in the Schools.
Kerri Arsenault in conversation with Kurt Andersen discussing their two new books. Mill Town: Reckoning With What Remains, by Kerri Arsenault, (St. Martin’s Press) and Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America: A Recent History, by Kurt Andersen, (Random House). This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom.
Kerri Arsenault serves on the board of the National Books Critics Circle, is the Book Review Editor at Orion magazine, and Contributing Editor at Lithub. Arsenault received her MFA in Creative Writing from The New School and studied in Malmö University’s Communication for Development master’s programme. Her writing has appeared in Freeman’s, Lithub, Oprah.com, and The Minneapolis Star Tribune, among other publications. She lives in New England. Mill Town is her first book.
Kurt Andersen is author of Heyday and Turn of the Century and frequently writes for New York and Vanity Fair. He is host and cocreator of the Peabody Award–winning public radio program Studio 360. In 2006, he founded Very Short List, an email service for connoisseurs of culture who would never call themselves "connoisseurs." He was cofounder of Spy magazine, and has been a columnist and critic for the New Yorker and Time. Andersen lives with his wife and daughters in Brooklyn.
Celebrating RESISTENCIA: Poems of Protest and Revolution with Mark Eisner, Tina Escaja, Romina Funes, Rebeca Lane, Jack Hirschman, and Jessica Powell. Co-presented by the Red Poppy Art House and Tin House Books. This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom.
Carolina De Robertis, Resistencia translator, a writer of Uruguayan origins, is the author of four novels, most recently Cantoras, which received a Stonewall Book Award and a Reading Women Award.
Mark Eisner, co-editor of Resistencia: In 2004 Mark was involved in the early stages of the Red Poppy Art House.
Tina Escaja, co-editor of Resistencia, is a Spanish American author, digital artist, and Distinguished Professor at the University of Vermont.
Romina Funes, poeta, was born in General San Martin, Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1981. For the past decade, Romina has organized "Letras & Música.”
Jack Hirschman, Resistencia translator, is Poet Laureate emeritus of San Francisco.
Rebeca Lane, contributing poet/rapper, was born in Guatemala City. As a teenager she became involved with social movements.
Jessica Powell, Resistencia translator, has published dozens of translations of literary works by a wide variety of Latin American writers.
Jenny Bhatt in conversation with Devi S. Laskar discussing Janny Bhatt's new short fiction collection, EACH OF US KILLERS: Stories, published by 7.13 Books. Set in the American Midwest, England, and India the stories in Each of Us Killers are about people trying to realize their dreams and aspirations through their professions. This event was originally broadcast live on Zoom.
Jenny Bhatt is a writer, literary translator, and literary critic. She is the host of the Desi Books podcast. Her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in various venues in the US, UK, and India, including NPR, The Washington Post, Electric Literature, The Atlantic, BBC Culture, Literary Hub, Longreads, The Millions, and others. Her fiction has been nominated for Pushcart Prizes and the 2017 Best American Short Stories.
Devi S. Laskar is the author of The Atlas of Reds and Blues, winner of 7th annual Crook's Corner Book Prize (2020) for best debut novel set in the South, winner of the 2020 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature sponsored by the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association; selected by The Georgia Center for the Book as a 2019 book "All Georgians Should Read," long-listed for the 9th annual DSC Prize in South Asian Literature and long-listed for the 2019 Golden Poppy Award sponsored by the NCIBA.
John Freeman celebrates his new collection of poetry, The Park, published by Copper Canyon Press. He's joined by D.A. Powell, also reading from his own new work. This event was originally broadcast on Zoom.
John Freeman is the editor of Freeman's, a literary biannual of new writing, and executive editor of Literary Hub. His books include How to Read a Novelist and Dictionary of the Undoing (forthcoming), as well as a trilogy of anthologies about inequality, including Tales of Two Americas: Stories of Inequality in a Divided Nation, and Tales of Two Planets (forthcoming), which features storytellers from around the globe on the climate crisis. Maps, his debut collection of poems, was published in 2017. His work has been translated into more than twenty languages and has appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and The New York Times. He is the former editor of Granta and is a Writer in Residence at New York University.
D. A. Powell is the author of five collections of poetry, including Chronic, winner of the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, and Repast: Tea,Lunch, and Cocktails. Useless Landscape, or A Guide for Boys received the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry. He lives in San Francisco.
Jennifer Worley discusses her book, Neon Girls: A Stripper's Education in Protest and Power, published by Harper Collins. This event was originally broadcasted via Zoom.
Neon Girls is a riveting true story of a young woman's days stripping in grunge-era San Francisco where a radical group of dancers banded together to unionize and run the club on their own terms.
Jennifer Worley is a professor of English at City College of San Francisco and recently finished her term as President of the faculty union, AFT 2121. Her film Sex On Wheels, documents the history of San Francisco's sex industry and sex worker activism and has played at film festivals and universities worldwide. Her writing has appeared in Bitch, Captive Genders, Invisible Suburbs, The Queerist, and PRI's Outright Radio.
[editor's note: at the time of this recording, City Lights Bookstore was only open for curbside pickup and online order. The store has since opened fully and the hours are 12-8PM every day.]
Frank Wilderson III in conversation with Justin Desmangles, discussing Frank's new book, "Afropessimism." This event was originally broadcast via Zoom and hosted by Josiah Luis Alderete.
Professor and chair of African American studies at the University of California, Irvine, and author of Incognegro: A Memoir of Exile and Apartheid, Frank B. Wilderson III has received an NEA Literature Fellowship and a Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Legacy Award for Creative Nonfiction, among other awards.
Justin Desmangles is chairman of the Before Columbus Foundation, administrator of the American Book Award, and host of the radio broadcast New Day Jazz, now in its fifteenth year. A member of the board of directors of the Oakland Book Festival, Mr. Desmangles is also a program producer at the African-American Center of the San Francisco Public Library.
Cara Black and Jacqueline Winspear discussing the writing of fiction that takes place in World War II Europe. They explore topics that closely parallel many of the issues of the day as well as discussing the challenge and complexities of placing one's writing in a dynamic historic period. This event was originally broadcast via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.
Cara Black's most recent book is "Three Hours in Paris," published by Soho Press. Jacqueline Winspear's essay "Writing about War" will be published in the new anthology, "Private Investigations: Mystery Writers On The Secrets", "Riddles and Wonders In Their Lives," published by Seal Press.
Cara Black, doyenne of the Parisian crime novel, is at her best as she brings Occupation-era France to vivid life in this gripping story about one young woman with the temerity—and drive—to take on Hitler himself. Cara Black is also the author of the bestselling Aimee Leduc Series. The most recent release in that series being "Murder in Bel-Air" published by Soho Books.
Jacqueline Winspear is the author of the Masie Dobb's Series, following the exploits of the renowned psychologist and investigator Masie Dobbs through her exploits in WW2 London. The most recent novel in the series is T"he American Agent (number 15)" published by Harper Collins. Additional books in the series include: "To Die But Once; In This Grave Hour; Journey to Munich" and many others.
Katherine Silver in conversation with Mauro Javier Cárdenas, discussing Katherine's new translations of the work of Julio Ramón Ribeyro ("The Word of the Speechless : Selected Stories," published by NYRB) and Juan Carlos Onetti ("A Dream Come True: the Complete Stories of Juan Carlos Onetti," published by Archipelago Press). This event was originally broadcast via Zoom and hosted by Josiah Luis Alderete.
Katherine Silver has translated more than thirty books, mostly of literature from the Americas. Her most recent and forthcoming translations include works by María Sonia Cristoff, Julio Ramón Ribeyro, Julio Cortázar, Daniel Sada, Horacio Castellanos Moya, César Aira, and Pedro Lemebel. She has received numerous awards and prizes, including three National Endowment for the Arts translation fellowships. She was recently translator-in-residence at the University of Iowa, and is the former director of the Banff International Literary Translation Centre. In 2019 What Books Press published her book Echo under Story.
Mauro Javier Cardenas grew up in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and graduated with a degree in Economics from Stanford University. He's the author of The Revolutionaries Try Again (Coffee House Press). In 2016 he received a Joseph Henry Jackson Award and in 2017 the Hay Festival included him in Bogota 39, a selection of the best young Latin American novelists. His interviews and essays on/with László Krasznahorkai, Antonio Lobo Antunes, Javier Marias, Horacio Castellanos Moya, Juan Villoro, and Tatiana Huezo have appeared in Music & Literature, San Francisco Chronicle, BOMB, ZYZZYVA, and The Quarterly Conversation.
Emerson Whitney discussing and reading from their new book, "Heaven" published by McSweeney's. This event was broadcast live via Zoom, hosted by Caitlyn Wild.
At Heaven's center, Whitney seeks to understand their relationship to their mother and grandmother, those first windows into womanhood and all its consequences. Whitney retraces a roving youth in deeply observant, psychedelic prose—all the while folding in the work of thinkers like Judith Butler, Donna Haraway, and C. Riley Snorton—to engage transness and the breathing, morphing nature of selfhood.
An expansive examination of what makes us up, Heaven wonders what role our childhood plays in who we are. Can we escape the discussion of causality? Is the story of our body just ours? With extraordinary emotional force, Whitney sways between theory and memory in order to explore these brazen questions and write this unforgettable book.
Emerson Whitney is the author of Ghost Box. Emerson teaches in the BFA creative writing program at Goddard College and is a postdoctoral fellow in gender studies at the University of Southern California.
"Mapping the Bay," San Francisco Poet Laureate Kim Shuck is joined by Thea Matthews and Kevin Madrigal, reading new poetry.
Kim Shuck's latest book of poems is Deer Trails, published by City Lights.
Kim Shuck is an Ani Yun Wiya (Cherokee)/Polish-American poet, author, weaver, and bead-work artist who draws from Southeastern Native American culture and tradition as well as contemporary urban Indian life. She was born in San Francisco, California and belongs to the Northern California Cherokee diaspora. She is a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. She earned a B.A. in Art (1994), and M.F.A. in Textiles (1998) from San Francisco State University. Her basket weaving work is influenced by her grandmother Etta Mae Rowe and the long history of California Native American basket making. She is the winner of the Diane Decorah First Book Award from the Native Writers' Circle of the Americas and the Mary Tallmountain Award for Freedom Voices. In 2017, she was named the 7th Poet Laureate of San Francisco. Her newest book, Deer Trails, was published by City Lights in summer 2019. She is also one of 13 recipients of the Academy of American Poets inaugural Poets Laureate Fellowships.
Born and raised in San Francisco, CA Thea Matthews is an emerging poet, scholar, and activist. She earned her BA in Sociology at UC Berkeley where she studied and taught June Jordan’s program Poetry for the People. A seasoned performer of spoken word, she also poems published in the Atlanta Review, Foglifter, The Rumpus, For Women Who Roar magazine, and others. She is a contributing author in anthologies Still Here San Francisco (Foglifter Press 2019) and Love WITH Accountability: Digging up the Roots of Child Sexual Abuse (AK Press 2019). Currently, she is working on getting her first full-length collection of poetry Unearth [The Flowers] was published by Red Light Lit in 2020.
Kevin Madrigal is a decolonizer of food, art, and health. He is a Chicano first-generation child of inmigrantes Mexicanos from Sur San Francisco. In 2016, he founded Farming Hope in San Francisco to provide employment opportunities in food for folks experiencing homelessness. Currently, he's working on a collection of poems about anxiety and promoting positive mental behaviors as well as an ancestral Mexican cookbook.
Roy Scranton reading from his novel, I Heart Oklahoma, published by Soho.
Suzie's seen it all, but now she's looking for something she lost: a sense of the future. So when the chance comes to work with a maverick video artist on his road movie about Donald Trump's America, she's pretty sure it's a bad idea but she signs up anyway, hoping for an outside shot at starting over.
A provocative, genderqueer, shapeshifting musical romp through the brain-eating nightmare of contemporary America, I Heart Oklahoma! is a book about art, guns, cars, American landscapes, and American history. This kaleidoscopic novel moves from our bleeding-edge present to a furious Faulknerian retelling of the Charlie Starkweather killings in the 1950s, capturing in its fragmented, mesmerizing form the violence at the heart of the American dream.
Roy Scranton is the author of Learning to Die in the Anthropocene: Reflections on the End of a Civilization (published by City Lights Books), and co-editor of Fire and Forget: Short Stories from the Long War. He grew up in Oregon, dropped out of college, and spent several years wandering the American West. In 2002, he enlisted in the US Army. He served from 2002 to 2006, including a fourteen-month deployment to Iraq. After leaving the Army he earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree at the New School for Social Research, then completed his PhD in English at Princeton.
Aaron Cohen discusses the subject of his new book, Move On Up: Chicago Soul Music and Black Cultural Power, published by the University of Chicago Press.
Drawing on more than one hundred interviews and a music critic’s passion for the unmistakable Chicago soul sound, Cohen shows us how soul music became the voice of inspiration and change for a city in turmoil.
Aaron Cohen is the author of Aretha Franklin's 'Amazing Grace' (Bloomsbury). He teaches humanities, journalism and English composition at City Colleges of Chicago and received a Public Scholar fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities in 2016. Cohen's articles have appeared in The Chicago Tribune, DownBeat, Washington Post and The Nation and he is the two-time recipient of the Deems Taylor Award for outstanding music writing from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).
(From February 2019) Chloe Aridjis reading from her novel, "Sea Monsters," published by Catapult Press.
Pulsing to the soundtrack of Joy Division, Nick Cave, and Siouxsie and the Banshees, an intoxicating portrait of Mexico in the late 1980s by this brilliant Guggenheim fellow and Prix du Premier Roman Étranger–winning author.
Chloe Aridjis is a Mexican-American writer who was born in New York and grew up in the Netherlands and Mexico. After completing her Ph.D. at the University of Oxford in nineteenth-century French poetry and magic shows, she lived for nearly six years in Berlin. Her debut novel, Book of Clouds, has been published in eight languages and won the Prix du Premier Roman Étranger in France. Aridjis sometimes writes about art and insomnia and was a guest curator at Tate Liverpool. In 2014, she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. She lives in London.
Gillian Conoley and Donna de la Perrière reading from their new poetry collections. Gillian reading from A Little More Red Sun On The Human: New and Selected Poems, published by Nightboat Books; Donna de la Perrière reading from Works of Love & Terror, published by Talisman House.
Gillian Conoley was awarded the 2017 Shelley Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America. A Little More Red Sun on the Human: Selected Poems is forthcoming with Nightboat Books in Fall 2019. Her seventh poetry collection, PEACE, was named an Academy of American Poets Standout Book for 2014 and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Conoley’s work has received the Jerome J. Shestack Poetry Prize, a National Endowment for the Arts grant, and a Fund for Poetry Award. Her translations of Henri Michaux, Thousand Times Broken, appeared with City Lights in 2014. Conoley is Poet-in-Residence and Professor of English at Sonoma State University, where she edits Volt.
Donna de la Perrière is the author of SAINT ERASURE (2010) and TRUE CRIME (2009), both from Talisman House. The recipient of a 2009 Fund for Poetry award, she teaches in the MFA and undergraduate creative writing programs at California College of the Arts and San Francisco State University and curates the Bay Area Poetry Marathon reading series.
Kal Spelletich in conversation with Catharine Clark, discussing his new project, Significance Machines and Purposeful Robots.
'Significance Machines and Purposeful Robots' was an exhibit of work by Kal Spelletich at St. Mary's College Museum of Art through December 2019 that includes life size praying robots, photos, sound machines, drawings, videos and interactive sculptures which explore the question: can technology do spiritual work? Via audience operated robots that are meditative and violent, Spelletich's work enacts a liberated awareness and pushes his audience to a creative response to in their own lives.
City Lights celebrates the release of the catalog for this show. The catalog is enshrined inside a unique artifact produced in a limited edition. The artifact is composed of a suitcase shell that contains a mechanized spinning stone Buddha, LED lights, sound recording of spiritual music, a speaker, laser cut text on acrylic, caliper measuring tool, assorted photos, drawings and prints, a thumb drive with videos photos and texts, pen, paper, laser cut marble, folded sculpture, monograph, and whiskey. The catalogue was organized by Saint Mary's College Museum of Art curator, April Bojorquez, with a forward by Lauren MacDonald, and an interview by Catherine Clarke that provide perspectives on the work and the artist in relation to contemporary art and technology issues.
Kal Spelletich builds interactive machines and robots. He scours the world for industrial items in which the technology can be repurposed. Spelletich has collaborated with artists all over the world though his home base is in San Francisco. Kal works with bio-morphic sensors, (sometimes uncontrollable) that trigger his robots and provide viewers with a hands-on interactive experience. His work mines the space between what robots and humans can and cannot do. Recent exhibits of his work have been held in Namibia, Lubjianna, Berlin, Vienna, New York, India, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. A monographic exhibit of his work will be presented at Saint Mary's College in August 2019. Spelletich's practice is across genres and his work extends to curating exhibits and activism. His projects have been featured in the NY Times, PBS, and in other critical journals and media.
(From March 2019) City Lights celebrates the release of Lawrence Ferlinghetti's new novel, Little Boy, published by Doubleday Books with special guests reading passages from the book including: Andrew Sean Greer, Armistead Maupin, Michael Krasny, Maxine Hong Kingston, Shobha Rao, and Julien Poirier. A pre-recorded remark by Lawrence plays at the conclusion. This event was part of our Ferlinghetti 100th birthday celebrations in Spring 2019.
In this unapologetically unclassifiable work Lawrence Ferlinghetti lets loose an exhilarating rush of language to craft what might be termed a closing statement about his highly significant and productive 99 years on this planet. The "Little Boy" of the title is Ferlinghetti himself as a child, shuffled from his overburdened mother to his French aunt to foster childhood with a rich Bronxville family. Service in World War Two (including the D-Day landing), graduate work, and a scholar gypsy's vagabond life in Paris followed. These biographical reminiscences are interweaved with Allen Ginsberg-esque high energy bursts of raw emotion, rumination, reflection, reminiscence and prognostication on what we may face as a species on Planet Earth in the future. Little Boy is a magical font of literary lore with allusions galore, a final repository of hard-earned and durable wisdom, a compositional high wire act without a net (or all that much punctuation) and just a gas and an inspiration to read.
Terry Tempest Williams reading from her new book, Erosion: Essays of Undoing, published by Sarah Critchton Books/Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Introduction by City Lights bookseller Ryan Darley.
Erosion are fierce, timely, and unsettling essays from an important and beloved writer and conservationist.Terry Tempest Williams is the award-winning author of The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America's National Parks; Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place; Finding Beauty in a Broken World; and When Women Were Birds, among other books. Her work is widely taught and anthologized around the world. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, she is currently the Writer-in-Residence at the Harvard Divinity School. She and her husband Brooke Williams divide their time between Cambridge, Massachusetts and Castle Valley, Utah.
A discussion of Silvina Ocampo, focusing on the two new translations published by City Lights––"Forgotten Journey" & "The Promise"--with the books' translators: Suzanne Jill Levine, Katie Lateef-Jan and Jessica Powell. Opening statement by Elaine Katzenberger, publisher/executive director of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers, who also edited these two books.
Silvina Ocampo was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1903. A central figure of Argentine literary circles, Ocampo's accolades include Argentina's National Poetry Prize and a Guggenheim fellowship. She was an early contributor to Argentina's Sur magazine, where she worked closely with its founder, her sister Victoria Ocampo; Adolfo Bioy Casares, her husband; and Jorge Luis Borges. In 1937, Sur published Ocampo's first book, Viaje olvidado. She went on to publish thirteen volumes of fiction and poetry during a long and much-lauded career. Ocampo died in Buenos Aires in 1993. La promesa, her only novel, was posthumously published in 2011.
Suzanne Jill Levine is the General Editor of Penguin's paperback classics of Jorge Luis Borges’ poetry and essays (2010) and a noted translator, since 1971, of Latin American prose and poetry by distinguished writers such as Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Julio Cortázar, Carlos Fuentes, Manuel Puig, Severo Sarduy, and Adolfo Bioy Casares. She has published over 40 booklength translations not to mention hundreds of poetry and prose translations in anthologies and journals such as the New Yorker (including one of Ocampo’s stories in their recent flash fiction issue). Levine has received many honors, among them PEN awards, several NEA and NEH grants, Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, and more recently the PEN USA Translation prize for José Donoso’s posthumous novel The Lizard’s Tale. Founder of Translation Studies at UCSB, she has mentored students throughout her academic career (including Jessica Powell and Katie Lateef Jan). Levine is author of several books including the poetry chapbook Reckoning (2012); The Subversive Scribe: Translating Latin American Fiction (1991; 2009); Manuel Puig and the Spiderwoman: His Life and Fictions (FSG, 2000, 2002). Her most recent translation is Guadalupe Nettel’s Bezoar and Other Unsettling Stories (2020) for Seven Stories Press.
Jessica Powell has published dozens of translations of literary works by a wide variety of Latin American writers. She was the recipient of a 2011 National Endowment for the Arts Translation Fellowship in support of her translation of Antonio Benítez Rojo's novel, Woman in Battle Dress(City Lights, 2015), which was a finalist for the PEN Center USA Literary Award for Translation. Her translation of Wicked Weeds by Pedro Cabiya (Mandel Vilar Press, 2016), was named a finalist for the 2017 Best Translated Book Award and made the longlist for the 2017 National Translation Award. Her translation of Pablo Neruda's book-length poem, venture of the infinite man, was published by City Lights Books in October 2017. Her most recent translation, of Edna Iturralde's award-winning book, Green Was My Forest, was published by Mandel Vilar Press in September, 2018.
Katie Lateef-Jan is a PhD Candidate at the University of California, Santa Barbara in Comparative Literature with a doctoral emphasis in Translation Studies. Her research focuses on twentieth-century Latin American literature, specifically Argentine fantastic fiction. She is the co-editor with Suzanne Jill Levine of Untranslatability Goes Global: The Translator's Dilemma (2018). Her translations from the Spanish have appeared in Granta; Review: Literature and Arts of the Americas; and ZYZZYVA.
(From March 2019, during our Ferlinghetti at 100 celebrations) Ronald K.L. Collins and David M. Skover discuss the subject of their book, "The People v. Ferlinghetti : The Fight to Publish Allen Ginsberg's HOWL," published by Rowman & Littlefield. Opening statement by Malcolm Margolin.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti's name does not appear in any First Amendment treatise or casebook. And yet when the best-selling poet and proprietor of City Lights Books was indicted under California law for publishing and selling Allen Ginsberg's poem, Howl, Ferglinghetti buttressed the tradition of dissident expression and ended an era when minds were still closed, candid literature still taboo, and when selling banned books was considered a crime.
Ronald K.L. Collins is Harold S. Shefelman Scholar, University of Washington School of Law.
David M. Skover is Fredric C. Tausend Professor of Law, Seattle University School of Law. Together they have coauthored several books including The Trials of Lenny Bruce: The Fall and Rise of an American Icon (Sourcebooks, 2002) and On Dissent: Its Meaning in America (Cambridge, 2013)
Maxim Osipov reading excerpts in Russian of his new book, "Rock, Paper, Scissors and Other Stories," published by New York Review Books in translation. The new edition from NYRB was translated by Boris Dralyuk, Alex Fleming, and Anne Marie Jackson; edited by Boris Dralyuk. Joining Maxim to read passages from the book in English is Sabrina Jaszi.
Maxim Osipov (b. 1963) is a Russian writer and cardiologist. In the early 1990s he was a research fellow at the University of California, San Francisco, before returning to Moscow, where he continued to practice medicine and also founded a publishing house that specialized in medical, musical, and theological texts. In 2005, while working at a local hospital in Tarusa, a small town ninety miles from Moscow, Osipov established a charitable foundation to ensure the hospital’s survival. Since 2007, he has published short stories, novellas, essays, and plays, and has won a number of literary prizes for his fiction. He has published five collections of prose, and his plays have been staged all across Russia. Osipov’s writings have been translated into more than a dozen languages. He lives in Tarusa.
Gibby Haynes reading from his new novel, Me & Mr. Cigar, published by Soho Press.
From the wild and wonderful mind of Gibby Haynes––world famous Butthole Surfers front man/lyricist and self-proclaimed eternal Texan adolescent––comes the surreal tale of seventeen-year-old Oscar Lester and his trusted dog, Mr. Cigar.
Gibby Haynes is a musician, visual artist, writer, and filmmaker best known as a founding member of the Butthole Surfers, whose outrageous concerts spawned a global cult following and whose albums have sold millions worldwide. He lives in Brooklyn with his family. Me & Mr. Cigar is his first novel.
(From June 2019) Elliott Sharp in conversation with David Rothenberg to celebrate the release of two new books: "Nightingales in Berlin: Searching for the Perfect Sound" by David Rothenberg, published by University of Chicago Press and "IrRational Music" by Elliott Sharp published by Terra Nova Books.
David Rothenberg is the Series Editor of Terra Nova Books and is distinguished professor of philosophy and music at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He is the author of many books investigating music in nature, including Why Birds Sing, Survival of the Beautiful, and Bug Music: How Insects Gave Us Rhythm and Noise. His writings have been translated into more than eleven languages and among his twenty one music CDs is One Dark Night I Left My Silent House, on ECM.
Elliott Sharp is a composer and multi-instrumentalist. He was awarded the Berlin Prize in Music in 2015 and a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2014. His composition "Storm of the Eye" for violinist Hilary Hahn appeared on her Grammy-winning album In 27 Pieces.
A very special musical episode! Benedicte Maurseth discussing her book, "To Be Nothing: Conversations with Knut Hamre, Hardanger Fiddle Master," published by Terra Nova Press.
Benedicte Maurseth is a Norwegian folk musician, composer, and writer. She began her study of the Hardanger fiddle with Knut Hamre at the age of eight. She has toured in Norway and internationally, and has made several recordings on Grappa and ECM. In 2017 she was awarded the NOPA Music Prize for her outstanding contribution to the Norwegian music scene.
Terra Nova Books aim to show how environmental issues have cultural and artistic components, in addition to the scientific and political. Combining essays, reportage, fiction, art, and poetry, Terra Nova Books reveal the complex and paradoxical ways the natural and the human are continually redefining each other.
ZYZZYVA celebrates their 117th issue, the Bay Area Issue with an all-star lineup (in order of appearance): Paul Wilner, Meg Hurtado Bloom, Rita Bullwinkel, Kevin Simmonds, Ingrid Rojas Contreras, and Chia-Chia Lin. Hosted by ZYZZYVA managing editor Oscar Villalon.
Paul Wilner is a poet, critic, freelance journalist, and member of the National Book Critics Circle, and a frequent contributor to ZYZZYVA.
Meg Hurtado Bloom received her MFA in Creative Writing from St Mary's College of California. Her writing has appeared in Calamity, Lumen, Split Lip, Yellow Chair Review, The Volta, the Columbia Poetry Review, and elsewhere.
Rita Bullwinkel is the author of the story collection Belly Up, which won the 2018 Believer Book Award, and is currently being translated into Italian and Greek. Bullwinkel’s writing has been published in Tin House, Conjunctions, BOMB, Vice, NOON, and Guernica.
Kevin Simmonds’s books include the poetry collection Bend to It (Salmon Poetry) and Mad for Meat (Salmon Poetry). His work has been published in American Scholar, FIELD, Poetry, and elsewhere.
Ingrid Rojas Contreras’s first novel, Fruit of the Drunken Tree (Doubleday), is an Indie Next selection, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, and a New York Times editor's choice. Her essays and short stories have appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Buzzfeed, Nylon, and Guernica, among others.
Chia-Chia Lin is the author of The Unpassing (FSG), a finalist for the 2019 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Her short stories and essays have appeared in The Paris Review, NewYorker.com, The New York Times, and elsewhere.
ZYZZYVA was founded in 1985 in San Francisco with the goal of publishing a superb literary journal featuring West Coast poets, writers, and artists from a wide range of backgrounds. Since then, the journal has evolved into a nationally distributed, widely acclaimed publication also showcasing contributors from across the country and even from around the world. 2020 marks ZYZZYVA’s 35th anniversary.
(From November 2018) Kevin Killian reads from his book, Fascination, published by Semiotext(e) and edited by Andrew Durbin.
A memoir of gay life in 1970s Long Island by one of the leading proponents of the New Narrative movement.
Fascination brings together an early memoir, Bedrooms Have Windows (1989) and a previously unpublished prose work, Bachelors Get Lonely, by the poet and novelist Kevin Killian, one of the founding members of the New Narrative movement. The two together depict the author's early years struggling to become a writer in the sexed-up, boozy, drug-ridden world of Long Island's North Shore in the 1970s. It concludes with Triangles in the Sand, a new, previously unpublished memoir of Killian's brief affair in the 1970s with the composer Arthur Russell. Fascination offers a moving and often funny view of the loneliness and desire that defined gay life of that era—a time in which Richard Nixon's resignation intersected with David Bowie's Diamond Dogs—from one of the leading voices in experimental gay writing of the past thirty years. “Move along the velvet rope,” Killian writes in Bedrooms Have Windows, “run your shaky fingers past the lacquered Keith Haring graffito: 'You did not live in our time! Be Sorry!'”
Kevin Killian was a San Francisco-based poet, novelist, playwright, and art writer. Recent books include the poetry collections Tony Greene Era and Tweaky Village. He is the coauthor of Poet Be Like God: Jack Spicer and the San Francisco Renaissance. With Dodie Bellamy, he coedited Writers Who Love Too Much: New Narrative Writing, 1977–1997.
Carmen Maria Machado with Esmé Weijun Wang in conversation and celebrating the release of Carmen Maria Machado's In The Dream House: A Memoir, published by Graywolf Press. Event co-sponsored by Asian Women's Shelter, Communities United Against Violence, and The California chapter of Survived and Punished.
Carmen Maria Machado is the author of Her Body and Other Parties, a finalist for the National Book Award. The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, she is the writer in residence at the University of Pennsylvania and lives in Philadelphia with her wife.
Esmé Weijun Wang is the author of The Collected Schizophrenias and The Border of Paradise. She received the Whiting Award in 2018 and was named one of Granta's Best of Young American Novelists of 2017. She holds an MFA from the University of Michigan and lives in San Francisco.
RESOURCES: Asian Women's Shelter (AWS) was founded in 1988 to address the needs of women, children and transgender survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking, especially those who are immigrants and refugees. The survivors we work with every day embody the true meaning of courage, hope, and determination. They inspire our unrelenting commitment to end violence in our families, communities, and world. Visit: www.sfaws.org
Founded in 1979, Communities United Against Violence (CUAV) works to build the power of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) communities to transform violence and oppression. We support the healing and leadership of those impacted by abuse and mobilize our broader communities to replace cycles of trauma with cycles of safety and liberation. As part of the larger social justice movement, CUAV works to create truly safe communities where everyone can thrive. Visit: www.cuav.org
The California chapter of Survived and Punished is a collective of about 15 people who are survivors (including survivors who are formerly incarcerated), community organizers, attorneys, victim advocates, policy experts, and scholars. They are building relationships with survivors who are incarcerated at the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla, the biggest women’s prison in the U.S. As part of this process, S&P partnered with TGI Justice Project and CCWP in 2018 to launch a survey to hundreds of survivors in women’s and men’s prisons in California. To leanr more visit: survivedandpunished.org
Celebrating the new issue of Freeman's: "The Best New Writing on California," published by Grove. Hosted by John Freeman with readings by Tommy Orange, Rabih Alameddine, Lauren Markham, H.R. Smith, Shobha Rao, Oscar Villalon, and Jaime Cortez.
The sixth Freeman's brilliantly showcases some of the world's best writers grappling with the myths and reality of California today.
John Freeman was the editor of Granta until 2013. His books include How to Read a Novelist, Tales of Two Cities, Tales of Two Americas, and Maps, his debut collection of poems. He is executive editor at the Literary Hub and teaches at the New School and New York University. His work has appeared in the New Yorker and the Paris Review and has been translated into twenty languages.
(From April 2019) Heather Dundas in conversation with David Wade celebrating the release of Foucault in California : A True Story—Wherein the Great French Philosopher Drops Acid in the Valley of Death by Simeon Wade, Foreword by Heather Dundas, and published by Heyday Books.
In The Lives of Michel Foucault, David Macey quotes the iconic French philosopher as speaking "nostalgically…of 'an unforgettable evening on LSD, in carefully prepared doses, in the desert night, with delicious music, [and] nice people.'" This came to pass in 1975, when Foucault spent Memorial Day weekend in Southern California at the invitation of Simeon Wade—ostensibly to guest-lecture at the Claremont Graduate School where Wade was an assistant professor, but in truth to explore what he called the Valley of Death. Led by Wade and Wade's partner Michael Stoneman, Foucault experimented with psychedelic drugs for the first time; by morning he was crying and proclaiming that he knew Truth.
Foucault in California is Wade’s firsthand account of that long weekend. Felicitous and often humorous prose vaults readers headlong into the erudite and subversive circles of the Claremont intelligentsia: parties in Wade’s bungalow, intensive dialogues between Foucault and his disciples at a Taoist utopia in the Angeles Forest (whose denizens call Foucault "Country Joe"); and, of course, the fabled synesthetic acid trip in Death Valley, set to the strains of Bach and Stockhausen. Part search for higher consciousness, part bacchanal, this book chronicles a young man’s burgeoning friendship with one of the twentieth century’s greatest thinkers.
Catherine Flynn celebrating the release of "James Joyce and the Matter of Paris," published by Cambridge University Press, in conversation with fellow UC Berkeley professor Kent Puckett.
In James Joyce and the Matter of Paris, Catherine Flynn recovers the paradigmatic city of European urban modernity as the foundational context of Joyce's imaginative consciousness. Beginning with Joyce's underexamined first exile in 1902–03, she shows the significance for his writing of the time he spent in Paris and of a range of French authors whose works inflected his experience of that city. In response to the pressures of Parisian consumer capitalism, Joyce drew on French literature to conceive a somatic aesthetic, in which the philosophically disparaged senses of taste, touch, and smell as well as the porous, digestive body resist capitalism's efforts to manage and instrumentalize desire. This book re-situates the most canonical of Irish modernists in a European avant-garde context while revealing important links between Anglophone modernism and critical theory.
Catherine Flynn works on British and Irish modernist literature in a European avant-garde context. She joined the Department of English at the University of California at Berkeley in 2012. She was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University's Introduction to the Humanities Program from 2009 to 2012. She received her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Yale University in 2009 and her B.A. in English and Philosophy from University College Cork in 2000. Previously, she practiced as an architect in Ireland and in Vienna, Austria; she has a B.Arch from University College Dublin. She is an Affiliate of the Program in Critical Theory and currently also serves as Director of Berkeley Connect in English and as Associate Director of Irish Studies.
Isabella Tree discussing the subject of her new book, Wilding: Returning Nature to Our Farm, from New York Review Books with an introduction by Eric Schlosser.
For many years Isabella Tree and Charlie Burrell struggled to make a go as farmers, doing everything they could to make the heavy clay soils of their farm at Knepp in West Sussex as productive as possible, while rarely succeeding in making a profit. By 2000, facing bankruptcy, the couple decided they would try something new. They would hand their 3,500 acres, farmed for centuries, even millennia, back to nature. They would let it go wild.
Isabella Tree is an award-winning author, travel writer, and manager of the the Knepp Wildland Project, together with her husband Charlie. She has contributed writing to National Geographic, Granta, The Sunday Times, and The Observer, and her articles have been chosen for The Best American Travel Writing and Reader’s Digest Today’s Best Non-Fiction. Tree is the author of several books, including The Living Goddess and The Bird Man. She lives in England. Author photo: Francesco Guidicini.
RE/Search celebrates the release of Issue 19: UNDERGROUND LIVING with V. Vale and special guest Rudy Rucker.
V. Vale has traversed the major global underground movements of the past century (including Beatniks, Hippies, Punk, Industrial, kitsch, retro-styles, surrealism, situationism, queer, incredibly strange films and music, performance art, feminism, zines—and more). Along the way, he documented it all, taking over 100,000 photos. Here, for the first time in book form, are 80 "personal" images of underground living, selected from the depths of Vale's vast photographic archive. UNDERGROUND LIVING Includes more than 75 color photos featuring the early Ramones shows, Henry Rollins, Lydia Lunch, John Waters, Genesis P-Orridge, William S. Burroughs, J.G. Ballard, Andy Warhol, Allen Ginsberg, Kathy Acker, Survival Research Labs, and many more!
Rudy Rucker is a mathematician, computer scientist, science fiction author, and one of the founders of the cyberpunk literary movement. The author of both fiction and non-fiction, he is best known for the novels in the Ware Tetralogy, the first two of which both won Philip K. Dick Awards. His most recent book is "Million Mile Roadtrip" published by Nightshade Books. He wrote the inroduction for RE/Search 19 UNDERGROUND LIVING.
(From May 2017)China Miéville reads from October: The Story of the Russian Revolution, published by Verso Books.
On the centenary of the Russian Revolution, China Miéville tells the extraordinary story of this pivotal moment in history.
China Miéville is the multi-award-winning author of many works of fiction and non-fiction. His fiction includes The City and the City, Embassytown and This Census-Taker. He has won the Hugo, World Fantasy, and Arthur C. Clarke awards. His non-fiction includes the photo-illustrated essay London’s Overthrow and Between Equal Rights, a study of international law. He has written for various publications, including the New York Times, Guardian, Conjunctions and Granta, and he is a founding editor of the quarterly Salvage.
Anna Merlan discussing the subject of her new book, Republic of Lies: American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Power, published by Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt & Co.
A riveting tour through the landscape and meaning of modern conspiracy theories, exploring the causes and tenacity of this American malady, from Birthers to Pizzagate and beyond.
Anna Merlan is a journalist specializing in politics, crime, religion, subcultures, and women's lives. Merlan is a senior staff writer at Vice features. She was previously a senior reporter at Jezebel and staff writer at the Village Voice and the Dallas Observer. Republic of Lies is her first book. She lives in New York.
(From January 2018) Jenn Pelly and Greil Marcus celebrating a new edition in the 33 & 1/3 series, The Raincoats, by Jenn Pelly and published by Bloomsbury Academic. Co-presented by the Rock and Roll Book Club of San Francisco.
In this short book – the first on the Raincoats – author Jenn Pelly tells the story of the group's audacious debut album, which Kurt Cobain once called "wonderfully classic scripture." Pelly builds on rare archival materials and extensive interviews with members of the Raincoats, Sleater-Kinney, Bikini Kill, Hole, Scritti Politti, Gang of Four, and more. She draws formal inspiration from the collage-like The Raincoats itself to explore this album's magic, vulnerability, and strength.
Jenn Pelly is an editor at Pitchfork. Her writing has appeared in Rolling Stone, SPIN, The Wire, and The Village Voice. Pelly's book on feminist punk band The Raincoats was published in October 2017 as part of Bloomsbury's 33 ⅓ series.
Greil Marcus is a music journalist, cultural critic, and author of numerous notable books. He is the author of Mystery Train, Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the 20th Century, Invisible Republic: Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes, and many others. His work has appeared in Rolling Stone Magazine, The Beleiver, Village Voice, Art Forum, Pitchfoirk, Creem, and numerous others.
Ramesh Srinivasan and Shahid Buttar discussing Ramesh's new book, Beyond the Valley: How Innovators around the World are Overcoming Inequality and Creating the Technologies of Tomorrow, published by The MIT Press.
How to repair the disconnect between designers and users, producers and consumers, and tech elites and the rest of us: toward a more democratic internet.
Ramesh Srinivasan is Professor of Information Studies and Design Media Arts at UCLA. He makes regular appearances on NPR, The Young Turks, MSNBC, and Public Radio International, and his writings have been published in the Washington Post, Quartz, Huffington Post, CNN, and elsewhere.
(From February 2014) Jeff VanderMeer reads from his novel Annihilation, part one of the Southern Reach Trilogy, published in 2014 by FSG. (Includes a very interesting snapshot of City Lights c. 2014 with Peter Maravelis's intro of upcoming readings at the time..!).
Savannah Shange in conversation with Patrick Camangian discussing the subject of Savannah Shange's new book, Progressive Dystopia: Abolition, Antiblackness, and Schooling in San Francisco, published by Duke University Press.
In Progressive Dystopia, Savannah Shange explores the potential for reconciling the school's marginalization of Black students with its sincere pursuit of multiracial uplift and solidarity. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and six years of experience teaching at the school, Shange outlines how the school fails its students and the community because it operates within a space predicated on antiblackness. Seeing San Francisco as a social laboratory for how Black communities survive the end of their worlds, Shange argues for abolition over either revolution or progressive reform as the needed path toward Black freedom.
Savannah Shange is Assistant Professor of Anthropology and principal faculty in Critical Race and Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Patrick Camangian is an associate professor in the Teacher Education Department at the University of San Francisco. He has been an English teacher since 1999, beginning in the Los Angeles Unified School District where he was awarded "Most Inspirational Teacher" by former mayor Richard Riordan and the school's student body. Professor Camangian currently volunteers in the Oakland Unified School District teaching English. He has collaborated with groups such as California's People's Education Movement, the Education for Liberation national network, and San Francisco's Teachers 4 Social Justice.
(From May 2015) Peaches in conversation with Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens discussing the book, What Else Is in the Teaches of Peaches, a photograph book chronicling her life and performances with text from Peaches, Yoko Ono, Ellen Page, and Michael Stipe, published by Akashic Books.
Jairus Victor Grove in conversation with David Goldberg discussing the subject of Jairus's book, Savage Ecology: War and Geopolitics at the End of the World, published by Duke University Press.
Jairus Victor Grove is Director of the University of Hawaii Research Center for Futures Studies and an Associate Professor of International Relations. Dr. Grove received his doctorate from Johns Hopkins University in 2011. His research focuses on the relationship between disruptive technology and global warfare and also the end of the world.
David A. M. Goldberg is a writer, teacher, cultural critic, media developer and native San Franciscan. His work focuses on those nasty spots where racism and digital technology appear to be combining forces to produce a new kind of sentient evil.
Susan Steinberg reading from her new novel, Machine, published by Graywolf.
Machine is a dazzling and innovative leap forward for a writer whose most recent book, Spectacle, gained her a rapturous following. Machine revolves around a group of teenagers—both locals and wealthy out-of-towners—during a single summer at the shore. Susan Steinberg is the author of Spectacle, Hydroplane, and The End of Free Love. She is the recipient of a United States Artists Fellowship, a National Magazine Award, and a Pushcart Prize. She teaches at the University of San Francisco.
Daniel Handler in conversation with John McMurtrie celebrating Daniel Handler's new novel, "Bottle Grove," published by Bloomsbury Books. A razor-sharp tale of two couples, two marriages, a bar, and a San Francisco start-up from the best-selling, award-winning novelist.
Mark Arax in conversation with Kit Rachils discussing the subject of his new book THE DREAMT LAND: Chasing Water and Dust Across California published by Alfred Knopf.
A vivid, searching journey into California's capture of water and soil–the epic story of a people's defiance of nature and the wonders, and ruin, it has wrought.
Mark Arax is an author and journalist whose writings on California and the West have received numerous awards for literary nonfiction. A former staffer at the Los Angeles Times, his work has appeared in The New York Times and the California Sunday Magazine. His books include a memoir of his father’s murder, a collection of essays about the West, and the best-selling The King of California, which won a California Book Award, the William Saroyan Prize from Stanford University, and was named a top book of 2004 by the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Chronicle. He lives in Fresno, California.