Presented by KPFA and the Berkeley Public Library City Lights celebrates the publication of Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice by Sonali Kolhatkar Foreword by: Rinku Sen Published by City Lights Books This event will be held at the North Branch of the Berkeley Public Library, 1170 The Alameda, Berkeley CA […]

City Lights in conjunction with Heyday Books present Jane Smiley in conversation with Steve Wasserman celebrating the publication of The Questions that Matter Most: Reading, Writing, and the Exercise of Freedom – by Jane Smiley – Published by Heyday Books – This event will be held in Kerouac Alley, between Columbus and Grant Avenues, and City […]

City Lights celebrates its 70th Year! Join City Lights Booksellers and Publishers and the City Lights Foundation in celebrating its 70th orbit around the sun! Over the course of the decades, City Lights has served the community in a variety of ways: as America’s very first all paperback bookstore, an enclave for free thought, home […]

Michael Iarocci in conversation with Darcy Grimaldo Grigsby A discussion focusing upon the book: The Art of Witnessing: Francisco de Goya’s Disasters of War by Michael Iarocci published by University of Toronto Press Widely acknowledged as a major turning point in the history of visual depictions of war, Francisco de Goya’s renowned print series The […]

Brandon Shimoda reads from Hydra Medusa published by Nightboat Books Brandon Shimoda reads from Hydra Medusa published by Nightboat Books Part coping mechanism, part magical act, Hydra Medusa was composed while Brandon Shimoda was working five jobs and raising a child—during bus commutes, before bed, at sunrise. Encountering the ghosts of Japanese American ancestors, friends, […]

Price: Free (Registration Required) Wes “Scoop” Nisker discusses The Big Bang, the Buddha, and the Baby Boom: The Spiritual Experiments of My Generation – published by Monkfish Books Wes “Scoop” Nisker discusses The Big Bang, the Buddha, and the Baby Boom: The Spiritual Experiments of My Generation published by Monkfish Books Join “Scoop” Nisker on […]

Price: Free (Registration Required) Kristen R. Ghodsee discusses her new book Everyday Utopia: What 2,000 Years of Wild Experiments Can Teach Us About the Good Life – Published by Simon and Schuster Kristen R. Ghodsee discusses her new book Everyday Utopia: What 2,000 Years of Wild Experiments Can Teach Us About the Good Life Published […]

Hosted by Oscar Villalon. With Zyzzyva contributors tba. Come join the staff of ZYZZYVA and special guests as they celebrate the journal’s milestone 125th issue outdoors in Kerouac Alley. Featuring short readings from past and recent contributors, this gathering will be a chance to toast the community the journal has built around itself since 1985 and […]

City Lights and Verso Books celebrate the publication of Writers and Missionaries: Essays on the Radical Imagination by Adam Shatz published by Verso Books What does it mean to be a politically committed writer? Through a close reading of the lives and works of some of the greatest intellectuals of recent times, Adam Shatz asks: […]

City Lights celebrates the publication of Emerald Wounds: Selected Poems by Joyce Mansour Translator: Emilie Moorhouse Published by City Lights Books Garrett Caples in conversation with Emilie Moorhouse Rediscover Joyce Mansour, the most significant Surrealist poet to emerge from 1950s Paris. “You know very well, Joyce, that you are for me–and very objectively too–the greatest […]