City Lights Readings and Events

Our weekly reading series at the bookstore features new authors from across the publishing world. Across the nation, our authors are constantly on tour. Below are short listings for both events at the store, and authors on the road. For more information, click onto the event title.

Live From City LightsCheck out our new podcast series, "Live From City Lights"-- broadcasting events, interviews, and reviews from City Lights Books & Publishers.

City Lights Authors on the Road

see more events for City Lights authors >>


Spying on Democracy
Heidi Boghosian

Tuesday, September 17th, 7:00-9:00 pm
New York, NY: Revolution Books

Monday, September 30th, 7:30pm
Berkeley, CA: Berkeley Arts & Letters


Loteria Cards and Fortune Poems
Juan Felipe Herrera, Artemio Rodriguez

Sunday, September 22nd, 4:35p.m.
Washington, DC: Library of Congress


The End of San Francisco
Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore

Thursday, October 3rd, Time TBA
Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin

Monday, October 7th, 7:00pm
Chicago, IL: Women and Children First




An Army of Lovers
Juliana Spahr, David Buuck

Juliana Spahr and David Buuck
City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco, CA
Thursday, October 10, 2013, 7:00 P.M.

celebrating the release of

An Army Of Lovers

from City Lights Books


Tuesday, October 15th, 6:00 pm
San Francisco, CA: San Francisco Public Library


The Meaning of Freedom
Angela Y. Davis

Thursday, October 17th, 6:30 pm
Seattle, WA: Seattle University, Campion Ballroom


Here Come the Warm Jets
Alli Warren

Thursday, October 24th, 7:30pm
Berkeley, CA: Moe's Bookstore

Alli Warren's Book Launch at City Lights!
City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco, CA
Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013, 7:00 P.M.

celebrating the release of

Here Come the Warm Jets

the latest release in the City Lights Spotlight Series



Arguing for Our Lives
Robert Jensen

Robert Jensen
City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco, CA
Thursday, October 31, 2013, 7:00 P.M.

discussing

Arguing for Our Lives:
A User's Guide to Constructive Dialog

from City Lights Books



Ghost Tantras
Michael McClure

Wednesday, November 20th, 7:00 pm
San Francisco, CA: City Lights Bookstore


This War Called Love
Alejandro Murguía

Saturday, September 14th, 1:00 pm
San Francisco, CA: San Francisco Public Library


       

Readings at the Bookstore

see more events at City Lights Bookstore >>


Cool Gray City of Love
Gary Kamiya

Gary Kamiya
City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco
Wednesday, September 18, 2013, 7:00 P.M.

celebrating the release of

Cool Gray City of Love

from Bloomsbury Books



Pink Sari Revolution
Amana Fontanella-Khan

Amana Fontanella-Khan in conversation with Geetika Pathania Jain
City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco
Thursday, September 19, 2013, 7:00 P.M.

discussing her new book

Pink Sari Revolution
A Tale of Women and Power in India

from W.W. Norton



SUNDAYS IN KEROUAC ALLEY * Quiet Lightning
City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco
Sunday, September 22nd, 2013, 2-4 P.M.

Evan Karp & Friends



The Oil Road
James Marriott, Mika Minio-Paluello

PLATFORM (from London) at City Lights
City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco
Tuesday, September 24, 2013, 7:00 P.M.

celebrating the release of

The Oil Road - A Journey from the Caspian Sea to the City of London

from Verso Press



Conversations Across Borders
Guillermo Gomez-Pena, Laura Levin

Guillermo Gómez­-Peña in performance
City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco
Thursday, September 26, 2013, 7:00 P.M.

delivering a special solo performance:

Imaginary Activism: The role of the artist beyond the art world



SUNDAYS IN KEROUAC ALLEY * ZYZZYVA Fall 2013 Release Party
City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco
Sunday, September 29nd, 2013, 2-4 P.M.

Laura Cogan & Oscar Villalon and friends



Fish for Jimmy

Katie Yamasaki
City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco, CA
Tuesday, October 1st, 2013, 7:00 P.M.

reading from her new book for young people

Fish For Jimmy

published by Holiday House



Birth of a Psychedelic Culture
Ram Dass, Ralph Metzner

CITY LIGHTS AT 60: The Ecology of Consciousness- An afternoon with Ralph Metzner
Emerald Tablet, 80 Fresno St San Francisco, CA 94133 - Event Free - Sign up at front counter of City Lights
Saturday, October 5th, 2013, 1-4 P.M.

A special presentation exploring the navigation of states of consciousness



As Flies to Whatless Boys
Robert Antoni

Robert Antoni in discussion with Lucy Corin
City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco, CA
Tuesday, October 8, 2013, 7:00 P.M.

reading from their new works and discussing literature

Co-sponsored by Akashic Books and McSweeney's



CITY LIGHTS AT 60: How We Got Here, Where We're Going
City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco, CA
Wednesday, October 9, 2013, 7 P.M.

A roundtable discussion and visual presentation exploring the history of City Lights.



An Army of Lovers
Juliana Spahr, David Buuck

Juliana Spahr and David Buuck
City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco, CA
Thursday, October 10, 2013, 7:00 P.M.

celebrating the release of

An Army Of Lovers

from City Lights Books



Katherine Silver in discussion with Scott Esposito
City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco, CA
Tuesday, October 22, 2013, 7:00 P.M.

exploring the work of the acclaimed Spanish writer

Marcos Giralt Torrente



The Collected Poems of Philip Lamantia
Philip Lamantia, Garrett Caples, Andrew Joron, Nancy J. Peters

CITY LIGHTS AT 60: The Collected Lamantia
City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco, CA
Wednesday, October 23, 2013, 7 P.M.

An appreciation of the life and work of the surrealist and visionary poet, Philip Lamantia



John Freeman in discussion with Robin Sloan
City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco, CA
Monday, October 28, 2013, 7:00 P.M.

on the occasion of the release of John Freeman's

How to Read a Novelist

from Farrar, Strauss, Giroux



Here Come the Warm Jets
Alli Warren

Alli Warren's Book Launch at City Lights!
City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco, CA
Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013, 7:00 P.M.

celebrating the release of

Here Come the Warm Jets

the latest release in the City Lights Spotlight Series



Arguing for Our Lives
Robert Jensen

Robert Jensen
City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco, CA
Thursday, October 31, 2013, 7:00 P.M.

discussing

Arguing for Our Lives:
A User's Guide to Constructive Dialog

from City Lights Books



CITY LIGHTS AT 60: SUBTLE CHANNELS - An OuLiPo Laboratory: Present, Past, and Future
City Lights Bookstore, Mechanics' Institute Library, San Francisco Art Institute
November 6,7,9, 2012

A multi-day celebration that brings together members of the OuLiPo with Bay Area creators.



CITY LIGHTS AT 60: Surréalisme: Theory, Practice, and in Play
City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco
Tuesday, November 12th, 2013, 7 P.M.

Learn about City Lights' connection to Surrealism. With Garrett Caples, Peter Maravelis, and more.



An evening with Trinh T. Minh-ha
City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco, CA
Thursday, November 14, 2013, 7:00 P.M.

exploring the release of

D-Passage: The Digital Way

from Duke University Press



A Colossal Wreck
Alexander Cockburn

Daisy Cockburn & Jeffrey St. Clair
City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco
Sunday, November 17, 2013, 5:00 P.M.

celebrating the release of

A Colossal Wreck: A Road Trip Through Political Scandal, Corruption, and American Culture

by Alexander Cockburn

---Notice Change Of Event Date---



CITY LIGHTS AT 60: Women of the Beat Generation
City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco, CA
Tuesday, November 19, 2013, 7 P.M.

Hosted by Brenda Knight. Guest appearances by ruth weiss and others.



Ghost Tantras
Michael McClure

Wednesday, November 20th, 7:00 pm
San Francisco, CA: City Lights Bookstore


An evening with Barry Gifford
City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco, CA
Thirsday, November 21, 2013, 7:00 P.M.

reading from

The Roy Stories

from Seven Stories Press



CITY LIGHTS AT 60: Kenneth Rexroth-An Appreciation
City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco, CA
Tuesday, December 10th, 2013, 7 P.M.

With Ken Knabb, David Meltzer, and Kim Stanley Robinson



CITY LIGHTS AT 60: Conspiracy of Venus
City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco, California
Thursday, December 12, 2013, 7:00 P.M.

An all women's a cappella vocal ensemble