Welcome to the Poetry Center and American Poetry Archives

Upcoming Events

color portrait photos of poets Keith Donnell Jr. + Antony Fangary

Keith Donnell Jr. and Antony Fangary, reading and in conversation

Thursday, September 23, 2021 - 13:00 (PDT)
The Poetry Center, Humanites 512, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco
Mark Nowak and Worker Writers School poets at PEN America

Mark Nowak and Worker Writers School: Coronavirus Haiku, a reading and conversation

Thursday, September 30, 2021 - 17:00 (PDT)
Remote-access event

Register to Attend
b&w photo of Hannah Kezema + color photo of Angel Dominguez in blue hammock

Mazza Writer in Residence Angel Dominguez and Hannah Kezema, reading and in conversation

Thursday, October 14, 2021 - 13:00 (PDT)
The Poetry Center, Humanites 512, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco
color photos of poets Angel Dominguez + Ronaldo V. Wilson

Mazza Writer in Residence Angel Dominguez and Ronaldo V. Wilson, in performance and in conversation

Saturday, October 16, 2021 (All day) (PDT)
Time and location to be announced
color photos of writers Camille Roy + Jaime Cortez

Jaime Cortez and Camille Roy, reading and in conversation

Friday, October 22, 2021 - 19:00 (PDT)
The Green Arcade, 1680 Market Street, San Francisco
color photo of poet jay dodd + b&w photo of poet Lourdes Figueroa

Poetry Center Book Award Reading: jayy dodd and Lourdes Figueroa, reading and in conversation

Thursday, October 28, 2021 - 19:00 (PDT)
Remote-access event

Register to Attend
color photos of poets Maryam Gunja, Gabrielle Daniels + Hung Q Tu

Gabrielle Daniels, Maryam Gunja, and Hung Q. Tu, a celebration of new works from Dogpark Collective

Saturday, November 6, 2021 (All day) (PDT)
Time and location to be announced
Wang Ping photo Fritz Vandover + Jennifer Cheng photo Gary Tsang

Wang Ping and Jennifer S. Cheng, reading and in conversation

Thursday, November 11, 2021 - 13:00 (PDT)
The Poetry Center, Humanites 512, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco
color photos of poets Chris Nealon + Stephanie Young

Chris Nealon and Stephanie Young, reading and in conversation

Friday, December 10, 2021 (All day) (PDT)
Time and location to be announced
color photo of poet Chris Nealon reading from his work + audience

Chris Nealon, “George Oppen and The Future”: The George Oppen Memorial Lecture

Saturday, December 11, 2021 (All day) (PDT)
Time and location to be announced

Recent Events

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Amy Sonnie and James Tracy, reading and in conversation

Hearing—Lyn Hejinian and Leslie Scalapino: a collective reading and conversation

New Voice Series, featuring Dan Lau, Edward Gunawan, and Carlos Osoria

Black Freighter Press, a celebration: with Mahogany L. Browne, Christopher Malec, Josiah Luis Alderete, Tongo Eisen-Martin, and readings from the final book by the late Q.R. Hand Jr.

“It is burning. / It is dreaming. / It is waking up.”—Poetry and Environmental Justice: with Ed Roberson, Tiffany Higgins, Eli Clare, and Lehua M. Taitano

Mazza Writer in Residence Brontez Purnell and Friends: Cisco Guzman, Mason J., and Melissa Merin

Brontez Purnell, Mazza Writer in Residence, a solo reading and conversation

Youmna Chlala and Ken Chen, reading and in conversation

Denise Riley and Jennifer Soong, reading and in conversation

Tripwire Cross-Cultural Poetics Series: Momtaza Mehri and Zoé Samudzi, reading and in conversation

Cristina Rivera Garza and Kit Schluter, reading and in conversation

Vi Khi Nao and Dao Strom, reading and in conversation

Fanny Howe and Linda Norton, reading and in conversation

Uche Nduka and Sophia Dahlin, reading and in conversation

The George Oppen Memorial Lecture: Erica Hunt

Legacy of Forugh Farrokhzad: with Sholeh Wolpé, Jasmin Darznik, and Shabnam Piryaei—poetry, fiction, film, and conversation

"A Border, like race, is a cruel fiction." Mazza Writer in Residence Wendy Trevino, with Zaina Alsous, reading and in conversation

“I am deliberate / and afraid / of nothing”—Poetry and Protest: In honor of Audre Lorde and Pat Parker, and in support of The Women's Building: with Judy Grahn, Jewelle Gomez, Avotcja, Arisa White, Leila Weefur, Angela Hume

Bob Kaufman’s Collected Poems: A celebration AFTER his 95th birthday—poetry and jazz

In Common Writers Series: John Yau and Claudia La Rocco, reading and in conversation

In Common Writers Series: John Yau and Andrew Joron, reading and in conversation

In Common Writers Series: Prageeta Sharma and Dodie Bellamy, reading and in conversation

Poetry Center Book Award Reading: Ashley Toliver and Jason Bayani, reading and in conversation

Audre Lorde Award Reading: Elizabeth Rosas, Samantha Cosentino, and Lillian Giles, reading and in conversation

Celebration of DVAN, the Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network: Viet Thanh Nguyen, Thi Bui, Isabelle Thuy Pelaud, She Who Has No Master(s), and Danny Thanh Nguyen

VIDEO + AUDIO Suzanne Stein and Anne Lesley Selcer, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO In Common Writers Series: Denise Leto and Jennifer Bartlett, at The Green Arcade

In Common Writers Series: Jennifer Bartlett and Denise Leto, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Josiah Luis Alderete and James Cagney, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Kelsey St. Press 45th Anniversary Celebration: Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, Ching-In Chen, Andrea Abi-Karam, at McRoskey Mattress Co.

VIDEO + AUDIO The George Oppen Memorial Lecture: Tyrone Williams, at Unitarian Center

VIDEO + AUDIO In Common Writers Series: Raquel Salas Rivera and Vanessa Angélica Villarreal, reading at Moe's Books

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

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

VIDEO + AUDIO Tripwire Cross-Cultural Poetics Series: Cardboard House Press/Cartonera Collective: Giancarlo Huapaya, Omar Pimienta, José Antonio Villarán and Friends, at The Green Arcade

NO VIDEO Tripwire Cross-Cultural Poetics Series: Cartonera Collective in San Francisco, a bookmaking workshop

VIDEO + AUDIO Tripwire Cross-Cultural Poetics Series: Cardboard House Press: Giancarlo Huapaya, Omar Pimienta, José Antonio Villarán, reading and in conversation

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

VIDEO + AUDIO Mazza Writer in Residence Peter Nachtrieb + Guests, reading of a new play-in-progress at Z Space

VIDEO + AUDIO In Common Writers Series: Amy Berkowitz and Caren Beilin, at E.M. Wolfman Books

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

VIDEO + AUDIO In Common Writers Series: Fay Victor and Myra Melford, in performance at Center for New Music

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

VIDEO + AUDIO Trisha Low and Syd Staiti, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO 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, at The Bindery

AUDIO In Common Writers Series: Darius James, solo reading from Negrophobia at City Lights Books

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 at The Green Arcade

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 at University Press Books

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 at The Green Arcade

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 at Moe's Books

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 at Alley Cat Books

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, at McRoskey Mattress Co.

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 at The Green Arcade

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 at E. M. Wolfman Bookstore

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, solo 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, at The Maude Fife Room, UC Berkeley

VIDEO + AUDIO David Henderson, solo reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Solmaz Sharif, solo reading and reception

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

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," at Unitarian Center

VIDEO + AUDIO Jerome Rothenberg, solo 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, duo performance at The Green Arcade

VIDEO + AUDIO Mazza Writer in Residence Tongo Eisen-Martin, solo performance and conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Camille T. Dungy and Javier Zamora, reading and in conversation

The New Talkies: Live Film Narrations at Artists' Television Access

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, Andrew Schelling

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 group 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 and Friends at Bird & Beckett

VIDEO + AUDIO Asya Abdrahman, Faith Adiele, Tonya M. Foster: Navigating Space for Women, at Museum of the African American Diaspora

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, at Unitarian Center

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," at Unitarian Center

VIDEO + AUDIO Working With Others: Convivial Research (Revisited), Manolo Callahan, Stefano Harney, and Tonika Sealey Thompson, at the Howard Zinn Book Fair

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, the Señal chapbook series, at Artists' Television Access

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

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

VIDEO + AUDIO Bill Berkson Memorial Tribute, at McRoskey Mattress Co.

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 Hollie Hardy and Mukta Sambrani, Poetry Center Book Award Reading

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

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, at McRoskey Mattress Co.

VIDEO + AUDIO Clarence Major and Patricia Spears Jones, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Annie Finch, solo reading and conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Tom Clark and Vincent Katz, reading new work at The Green Arcade

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," at Unitarian Center

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

VIDEO + AUDIO Stephen Rodefer, a Memorial Tribute, at Berkeley Arts Festival

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, at Howard Zinn Book Fair

VIDEO + AUDIO Poet | Artist | Activist: Let’s Make A Plan: Christopher Higgenbotham, Christian Nagler, Cassie Thornton, at the Labor Archives and Research Center

VIDEO + AUDIO John Keene, Counternarratives: reading and in conversation with Tân Khánh Cao, at Green Apple Books on the Park

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

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, at the Maude Fife Room, UC Berkeley

VIDEO + AUDIO Michael Gizzi's Collected Poems, a Celebration, at The Green Arcade

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

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

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

VIDEO + AUDIO Ernesto Cardenal, reading at Brava Theater

VIDEO + AUDIO Prageeta Sharma and Thomas Devaney, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Claudia Keelan and Rusty Morrison, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Maged Zaher and Rodney Koeneke, reading at Ruth's Table

VIDEO + AUDIO The Tahrir of Poems: Maged Zaher reads Egyptian Poets

VIDEO + AUDIO Arisa White and Raina J. Léon, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Peter Culley and Stacy Szymaszek, reading at Ruth's Table

VIDEO + AUDIO Stacy Szymaszek and Peter Culley, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Tribute to Kathleen Fraser, at Writers' Studio, California College of the Arts

VIDEO + AUDIO Pierre Joris and Nicole Peyrafitte, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Pierre Joris on Paul Celan, at City Lights Books

VIDEO + AUDIO Joanne Kyger and Robert Adamson, at Unitarian Center

VIDEO + AUDIO Robert Adamson, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Duncan McNaughton and Bill Berkson, reading and in conversation

AUDIO Bill Berkson and Duncan McNaughton, reading at The Lab

VIDEO + AUDIO Poetry Center Book Award Reading, Alli Warren and Laura Moriarty, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Okey Ndibe, reading and in conversation

VIDEO + AUDIO Frank O'Hara's Lunch Poems 50th Anniversary Reading, at McRoskey Mattress Co.