Welcome to City Lights Publishers!

Founded in 1955, with nearly 200 books in print, City Lights publishes cutting-edge fiction, poetry, memoirs, literary translations and books on vital social and political issues.

Featured Titles from City Lights Publishers

The Black History of the White House
The Black History of the White House
Clarence Lusane
The untold history and politics of the White House from the perspective of African Americans
Absence of the Hero
Absence of the Hero
Uncollected Stories and Essays, Vol. 2: 1946-1992
Charles Bukowski, David Calonne
Everyone's favorite Dirty Old Man returns with more boozy tales of extraordinary madness
Colorblind
Colorblind
The Rise of Post-Racial Politics and the Retreat from Racial Equity
Tim Wise
How "colorblindness" in policy and personal practice perpetuate racial inequity in the United States today
The Bomb
The Bomb
Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn's personal, historical, and political views on the significance of the U.S. bombings of Royan and Hiroshima
To Die for the People
To Die for the People
Huey Newton, Toni Morrison
A fascinating, first-person account of a historic era in the struggle for black empowerment in America
Invisible History
Invisible History
Afghanistan's Untold Story
Elizabeth Gould, Paul Fitzgerald
A fresh and comprehensive analysis of Afghanistan's political history emphasizing the impact of US interventions
The Peep Diaries
The Peep Diaries
How We're Learning to Love Watching Ourselves and Our Neighbors
Hal Niedzviecki
One man's journey through a rapidly transforming culture of lying, spying, revealing, and confessing
Between Barack and a Hard Place
Between Barack and a Hard Place
Racism and White Denial in the Age of Obama
Tim Wise
How Barack Obama's rise is reshaping the meaning of race in the United States today.
Free Cell
Free Cell
Anselm Berrigan
The second volume in the City Lights Spotlight series—experimental poems by innovative New York poet and former St. Mark's Poetry Project director
Beauty Salon
Beauty Salon
Mario Bellatin
Biting social allegory from one of Mexico's most exciting young authors: edgy, lyrical and cynically hopeful.