City Lights honors one of the most exciting new indy presses to emerge in the Bay Area in recent times. Nomadic Press publishes the works of emerging and established writers and artists.

Join us for an evening of readings with James Cagney and Friends

James celebrates the publication of

Martian: The Saint of Loneliness

published by Nomadic Press

Winner of the 2021 Academy of American Poets James Laughlin Award

A blistering exploration of America’s legacy of anti-Black violence from an indispensable poet of our time

American history got you down? Are you feeling alienated? Join poet James Cagney in his blistering second collection, Martian: The Saint of Loneliness, as he journeys through time, space, and memory with caustic, satirical beauty. Recall American history through its spent shell casings! Turn familial ghosts into art valuable for generations! In these fully charged poems, James Cagney storms through American fields blooming with artillery and anger on his thirsty quest for love, peace, and acceptance, in the smallest, most precious gestures.

James Cagney is poet and the author of Black Steel Magnolias In The Hour of Chaos Theory, (Nomadic Press, 2018), winner of the PEN Oakland 2019 Josephine Miles Award. His second collection, Martian: The Saint Of Loneliness, (Nomadic Press) was awarded the 2021 James Laughlin Award. James is a Cave Canem fellow who lives in Oakland.

Nomadic Press is a 501(c)(3) non-profit publisher that supports the works of emerging and established writers and artists. Through publications, events, and active community participation, Nomadic Press collectively weaves together platforms for intentionally marginalized voices to take their rightful place within the world of the written and spoken word. Through its limited means, we are simply attempting to help right the centuries’ old violence and silencing that should never have occurred in the first place and build alliances and community partnerships with others who share a collective vision for a future far better than today.

This event made possible by support from the City Light Foundation.

Learn more at: https://citylights.com/foundation/