City Lights Foundation
The City Lights Foundation fosters an active engagement with books and literary culture. Our public events, publishing program, and educational outreach are dedicated to sustaining a vibrant community of readers, writers, and independent thinkers.Â
The City Lights Future Fund
As we move into a post-founder/owner business model, this is a moment of evolution and transformation for City Lights. We are poised at the beginning of a new era in our institutional history, one that will require a new set of structures, systems and financial models to support it. Our aim is to plan as wisely and strategically as possible in order to protect and preserve the institution into the future, and also to enhance and expand our various cultural and civic roles.Â
If you are interested in donating funds to support this effort, please write to us for more information: foundation@citylights.com
Board of Directors:Â
Elaine Katzenberger, President
Amy Scholder, Secretary/Treasurer
James Kass, Board Member
Foundation Books
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Devorah Major $9.77 Add to cart
Where River Meets Ocean
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Gray-Garcia $17.50 Add to cart
Criminal of Poverty: Growing Up Homeless in America
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Devorah Major $10.47 Add to cart
The Other Side of the Postcard
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Chris Carlsson $12.57 Add to cart
The Political Edge
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Dana Frank $11.87 Add to cart
Local Girl Makes History: Exploring Northern California’s Kitsch Monuments
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Jack Hirschman $14.00 Add to cart
All That’s Left
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Diane di Prima $11.17 Add to cart
The Poetry Deal
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Chad Sweeney $12.57 Add to cart
Days I Moved Through Ordinary Sounds: The Teachers of WritersCorps in Poetry and Prose
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Janice Mirikitani $11.87 Add to cart
Love Works
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Kim Shuck $9.77 Add to cart
Deer Trails: San Francisco Poet Laureate Series No. 7
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Lawrence Ferlinghetti $11.17 Add to cart
San Francisco Poems
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Alejandro MurguÃa $11.17 Add to cart
Stray Poems
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Chris Carlsson $16.77 Add to cart
Ten Years That Shook the City: San Francisco 1968-1978
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Carey Perloff $12.57 Add to cart
Beautiful Chaos: A Life in the Theater
San Francisco Poet Laureate Series
The Poet Laureate Series was conceived as a way to augment the Laureates’ work and impact, both within and beyond the boundaries of San Francisco. Each volume documents the Laureate’s poetic voice and vision for the city, and includes the poet’s inaugural address, along with a selection of poems and/or essays. An important historic and cultural artifact, these books are useful educational tools as well, and for the millions of visitors who come through San Francisco each year, they provide a tangible example of the vital and unique cultural life of our city.
Inaugurated in 1998 by the San Francisco Public Library in collaboration with the Office of the Mayor, the position of Poet Laureate was first awarded to Lawrence Ferlinghetti, poet and founder of City Lights Books. He served for two years and was followed by Janice Mirikitani, devorah major, Jack Hirschman, Diane di Prima, Alejandro MurguÃa, Kim Shuck, and Tongo Eisen-Martin, who is the current Poet Laureate of San Francisco. Eisen-Martin’s laureate book is forthcoming in 2022.
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Devorah Major $9.77 Add to cart
Where River Meets Ocean
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Jack Hirschman $14.00 Add to cart
All That’s Left
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Diane di Prima $11.17 Add to cart
The Poetry Deal
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Janice Mirikitani $11.87 Add to cart
Love Works
-
Kim Shuck $9.77 Add to cart
Deer Trails: San Francisco Poet Laureate Series No. 7
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Lawrence Ferlinghetti $11.17 Add to cart
San Francisco Poems
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Alejandro MurguÃa $11.17 Add to cart
Stray Poems
Projects & Collaborations
Over the years, the City Lights Foundation has collaborated with various arts and community groups in the Bay Area to produce programming, books, and cultural activities. These include the Telegraph Hill Dwellers, Youth Speaks, the San Francisco Euro-Poetry Festival and CounterPULSE.
We are committed to diversifying the cultural dialogue by giving writers of all ages and ethnicities the tools to help develop their individual voices in the community. We continue to seek opportunities to collaborate with like-minded organizations, both in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond.
Contact Us
City Lights Foundation
All queries and requests: foundation@citylights.com or call (415) 362-1901
City Lights Foundation
261 Columbus Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94133
Fax: (415) 362-4921