Welcome to the Poetry Center and American Poetry Archives

Upcoming Events

Caren Beilin + Amy Berkowitz

In Common Writers Series: Caren Beilin and Amy Berkowitz, reading and in conversation

Thursday, October 17 - 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
The Poetry Center, Humanities 512, San Francisco State University
Amy Berkowitz +Caren Beilin

In Common Writers Series: Amy Berkowitz and Caren Beilin, reading and in conversation

Friday, October 18 - 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
E. M. Wolfman General Interest Small Bookstore, 410 13th Street (near 12th St. BART), Oakland
Peter Nachtrieb

Mazza Writer in Residence Peter Nachtrieb + Guests, reading of a new play-in-progress

Monday, October 21 - 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Z Space, 450 Florida Street (at 17th), San Francisco
Peter Nachtrieb

Mazza Writer in Residence Peter Nachtrieb, a playwriting workshop and conversation

Thursday, October 24 - 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
The Poetry Center, Humanities 512, San Francisco State University
Giancarlo Huapaya + Omar Pimienta + José Antonio Villarán

Tripwire Cross-Cultural Poetics Series: Cardboard House Press/Cartonera Collective: Giancarlo Huapaya, Omar Pimienta, José Antonio Villarán

Thursday, November 7 - 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
The Poetry Center, Humanities 512, San Francisco State University
Giancarlo Huapaya +José Antonio Villarán + Omar Pimienta

Tripwire Cross-Cultural Poetics Series: Cardboard House Press/Cartonera Collective: Giancarlo Huapaya, Omar Pimienta, José Antonio Villarán

Friday, November 8 - 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
The Green Arcade, 1680 Market Street (at Gough), San Francisco
Bao Phi + Sarah Menefee

The Poetry Center Book Award: Bao Phi with Sarah Menefee, reading and in conversation

Thursday, November 14 - 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
The Poetry Center, Humanities 512, San Francisco State University
Raquel Salas Rivera + Vanessa Angélica Villarreal

In Common Writers Series: Raquel Salas Rivera and Vanessa Angélica Villarreal, reading and in conversation

Thursday, November 21 - 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
The Poetry Center, Humanities 512, San Francisco State University
Vanessa Angélica Villarreal + Raquel Salas Rivera

In Common Writers Series: Vanessa Angélica Villarreal and Raquel Salas Rivera, reading and in conversation

Friday, November 22 - 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Moe's Books, 2476 Telegraph Avenue (btw Haste and Dwight Way), Berkeley
Tyrone Williams

The George Oppen Memorial Lecture: Tyrone Williams

Friday, December 6 - 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Unitarian Center, 1187 Franklin (at Geary), San Francisco
Mei-mei Berssenbrugge + Ching-In Chen + Andrea Abi-Karam

Kelsey St. Press 45th Anniversary Celebration: Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, Ching-In Chen, Andrea Abi-Karam

Friday, December 13 - 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
McRoskey Mattress Co., 1687 Market Street (at Gough), San Francisco

Recent Events

In Common Writers Series: Fay Victor and Myra Melford, in performance and conversation

In Common Writers Series: Fay Victor and Myra Melford, workshop performance and conversation

Trisha Low and Syd Staiti, reading and in conversation

Neeli Cherkovski and Jim Dunn, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO In Common Writers Series: Tim Z. Hernandez, Marguerite Muñoz, and René Juarez-Vazquez, reading at Voz Sin Tinta

VIDEO + AUDIO In Common Writers Series: Tim Z. Hernandez, reading and in conversation with Marguerite Muñoz and René Juarez-Vazquez

VIDEO + AUDIO Mazza Writer in Residence Juliana Delgado Lopera with Joseph Cassara, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Mazza Writer in Residence Juliana Delgado Lopera with Monique Jenkinson, aka Fauxnique, an afternoon of literary drag

AUDIO In Common Writers Series: Darius James, solo reading from Negrophobia

VIDEO + AUDIO West Coast Premier: Darius James and Val Jeanty, in performance at The Lab

VIDEO + AUDIO In Common Writers Series: Darius James and Val Jeanty, workshop performance and conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO In Common Writers Series: Feliz Lucia Molina and Alli Warren, reading their work

VIDEO + AUDIO In Common Writers Series: Feliz Lucia Molina, reading and in conversation with Alli Warren

VIDEO + AUDIO Prose at The Poetry Center: R.O. Kwon and Nona Caspers, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO In Common Writers Series: Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle and Maryam Ivette Parhizkar, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO In Common Writers Series: Maryam Ivette Parhizkar, reading and in conversation with Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle

VIDEO + AUDIO Brandon Shimoda with Aisuke Kondo, reading, art presentation, and conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Morgan Parker and Charif Shanahan, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Poetry Center Book Award Reading: Lauren Levin and Melissa Mack, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Black Study Series: Frank B. Wilderson III and D.S. Marriott, reading from their poetry

VIDEO + AUDIO Black Study Series: Frank B. Wilderson III, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO In Common Writers Series: Jasmine Gibson and Juliana Spahr, reading from their work

VIDEO + AUDIO In Common Writers Series: Jasmine Gibson, reading and in conversation with Juliana Spahr

CANCELLED In Common Writers Series: Kiese Laymon and Tongo Eisen-Martin, reading their work

CANCELLED In Common Writers Series: Kiese Laymon, reading and in conversation with Tongo Eisen-Martin

VIDEO + AUDIO In Common Writers Series: Janice Lee and Brenda Iijima, reading from their works

VIDEO + AUDIO In Common Writers Series: Janice Lee, reading and in conversation with Brenda Iijima

VIDEO + AUDIO Prose at The Poetry Center: May-lee Chai and Junse Kim

VIDEO + AUDIO “Stop Sweeping Us, We Are Not Trash”: Leroy F. Moore Jr. and Lisa “Tiny” Gray-Garcia

VIDEO + AUDIO M. NourbeSe Philip, reading and in conversation: the Leslie Scalapino 21st Century Innovative Writers Series

VIDEO + AUDIO Steven Seidenberg and Jared Stanley, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Mazza Writer in Residence Tatiana Luboviski-Acosta, in collaboration with Kyle Parker

VIDEO + AUDIO Mazza Writer in Residence Tatiana Luboviski-Acosta with special guest Daisy Zamora, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO “I have decided to wholeheartedly consecrate myself to my art” —Mazza Writer in Residence, Tatiana Luboviski-Acosta

VIDEO + AUDIO Tripwire Cross-Cultural Poetics Series: Antena: a language justice and language experimentation collaborative, Jen Hofer and John Pluecker

VIDEO + AUDIO Tripwire Cross-Cultural Poetics Series: John Pluecker and Jen Hofer, reading from their poetry

VIDEO + AUDIO MK Heather June Gibbons and Chavez, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Tommy Pico and Brontez Purnell, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Forrest Gander, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO James Kass and Paul S. Flores: a reading & performance celebrating 21 years by two founders of Youth Speaks

VIDEO + AUDIO The Black Aesthetic, in performance and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Cosmic Diaspora (Jake Marmer, John Schott, Joshua Horowitz) and Steve Dalachinsky, in performance

NO VIDEO NoViolet Bulawayo, Gina Berriault Award for Fiction, reading

VIDEO + AUDIO Tom Raworth (1938–2017): A Celebration of His Life and Work

VIDEO + AUDIO David Henderson, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Solmaz Sharif, a reading and reception

VIDEO + AUDIO Jackie Wang, Carceral Capitalism, with Lily Hoang, A Bestiary, a reading and book party

VIDEO + AUDIO Lily Hoang and Jackie Wang, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Julian Talamantez Brolaski and Garrett Caples, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Dale Smith, on Robert Duncan and Charles Olson, and reading his own poetry

VIDEO + AUDIO Lewis Jordan Trio, for Langston Hughes on his Birthday

VIDEO + AUDIO David Hobbs, The George Oppen Memorial Lecture, "Oppen and His Early Others"

VIDEO + AUDIO Jerome Rothenberg, Reading and in Conversation

AUDIO: David Meltzer Memorial Tribute

VIDEO + AUDIO alex cruse and Kevin CK Lo, in Performance and in Conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Trace Peterson and Max Wolf Valerio, Reading and in Conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO William Rowe and Helen Dimos, Reading and in Conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Dennis Cooper and Eileen Myles, reading at McRoskey Mattress Co.

VIDEO + AUDIO Tongo Eisen-Martin with Marshall Trammell, in Performance

VIDEO + AUDIO Mazza Writer in Residence Tongo Eisen-Martin, in Performance and Conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Camille T. Dungy and Javier Zamora, Reading and in Conversation

The New Talkies: Live Film Narrations at ATA

VIDEO + AUDIO Douglas Kearney and Tatiana Luboviski-Acosta, in Performance and Conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Martha Ronk and Paul Vangelisti, Reading and in Conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Nellie Wong and Genny Lim, Reading and in Conversation

VIDEO CLIPS David Brazil, Sara Larsen, Rebecca Eland, Andrew Schelling, Reading and in Conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Orlando White and Patrick James Dunagan, Poetry Center Book Award Reading

VIDEO + AUDIO Janice Lowe plays Leaving Cle, Poetry and Groove, with Yohann Potico and Kevin Carnes

VIDEO + AUDIO Ariel Goldberg and Simone White, Giant Night: The Poetry Project at 50, a Reading and Conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Poetry Center Chapbook Exchange, a Reading and Conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Margaret Randall, Only the Road ⁄ Solo el Camino: Eight Decades of Cuban Poetry

VIDEO + AUDIO David Boyce, Hafez Modirzadeh, Marshall R. Trammell & Friends

VIDEO + AUDIO Asya Abdrahman, Faith Adiele, Tonya M. Foster: Navigating Space for Women

VIDEO + AUDIO Layli Long Soldier and Truong Tran, Reading and in Conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Hank Lazer and Andrew Maxwell, Reading and in Conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Oki Sogumi and Wendy Trevino, Reading and in Conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Benjamin Hollander, a Memorial Tribute

VIDEO + AUDIO Charles Alexander and Susan Thackrey, Reading and in Conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Frances Richard, The George Oppen Memorial Lecture: "The Mind's Own Place and Feminine Technologies: George Oppen and Possibilities of the Political"

VIDEO + AUDIO Working With Others: Convivial Research (Revisited), Manolo Callahan, Stefano Harney, and Tonika Sealey Thompson

VIDEO + AUDIO Barbara Jane Reyes and Oscar Bermeo + Video Debut Screening

VIDEO + AUDIO Alice Notley reads The Descent of Alette, two nights at The Lab

VIDEO + AUDIO José Kozer, a bilingual reading and conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Prose at The Poetry Center: Carolina De Robertis and Micah Perks

VIDEO + AUDIO Geneva Chao and Mg Roberts, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Rod Smith and Lee Ann Brown, Reading and in Conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Florencia Castellano, Luis Felipe Fabre, Pablo Katchadjian, Stalina Emmanuelle Villarreal

VIDEO + AUDIO Julia Bloch and erica lewis, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Jennifer Foerster, reading at the exhibition "When I Remember I See Red"

VIDEO + AUDIO Bill Berkson Memorial Tribute

VIDEO + AUDIO Samantha Giles and Angela Hume, Reading and in Conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Tongo Eisen-Martin and Jasmine Gibson, Reading and in Conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Poetry Center Book Award Reading: Hollie Hardy and Mukta Sambrani

VIDEO + AUDIO For Franco Beltrametti: with Joanne Kyger, Duncan McNaughton, Donald Guravich, Maggie Brown, Jim Nisbet, Judy Goldhaft, Stefan Hyner

VIDEO + AUDIO Stefan Hyner: “This Other World Not Civilized,” a reading and talk with Lao Tzu, T’ao Yüan Ming, Li T’ai Po

VIDEO Kuwentuhan (Talkstory) Collective Performance at McRoskey Mattress Co.

VIDEO + AUDIO Kuwentuhan (Talkstory): a project of The Poetry Center and Barbara Jane Reyes

VIDEO + AUDIO Sarah Schulman and Terry Castle: a reading from The Cosmopolitans and a conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Elaine Kahn and Trisha Low, Reading and in Conversation

AUDIO Ed Pavlić and David Lau, Reading and in Conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Fred Moten and Nathaniel Mackey, with Hafez Modirzadeh

VIDEO + AUDIO Clarence Major and Patricia Spears Jones, Reading and in Conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Annie Finch, A Solo Reading and Conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Tom Clark and Vincent Katz, Reading New Work

VIDEO + AUDIO Vincent Katz and Jane Gregory, Reading and in Conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Roberto Tejada, The George Oppen Memorial Lecture: "Assault on the Quiet Continent: Oppen in Mexico"

VIDEO + AUDIO Gregory Pardlo reading, 2015 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry

VIDEO + AUDIO Stephen Rodefer, a Memorial Tribute

VIDEO + AUDIO Leticia Hernández-Linares and Lee Herrick, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Adjunct Action | Poets in Action: Jessica Beard, Hugh Behm-Steinberg, David Buuck, Stephanie Young

VIDEO + AUDIO Poet | Artist | Activist: Let’s Make A Plan: Christopher Higgenbotham, Christian Nagler, Cassie Thornton

VIDEO + AUDIO John Keene, Counternarratives: reading and in conversation with Tân Khánh Cao

VIDEO + AUDIO Prose at The Poetry Center: John Keene, Counternarratives

VIDEO + AUDIO Tonya M. Foster and David Buuck, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Lucia Berlin's A Manual for Cleaning Women: Selected Stories, a reading with Stephen Emerson, Gloria Frym, August Kleinzahler, and Mimi Pond

VIDEO + AUDIO Michael Gizzi's Collected Poems, a Celebration

VIDEO + AUDIO Katy Bohinc and Paul Ebenkamp, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO David Meltzer: Two-Way Mirror, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Robert Dewhurst and Michael Seth Stewart on the Life and Work of John Wieners