Founded in 1955, with nearly 300 books in print, City Lights publishes cutting-edge fiction, poetry, memoirs, literary translations and books on vital social and political issues.

It's December, and we're celebrating all the titles we've been proud to publish this year! You'll find a list of our 2020 releases below, and be sure to check out the books we'll be publishing soon!

Imprints & series include:

Pocket Poets Series Open Media Series City Lights/Sister Spit Spotlight Series

Featured Titles from City Lights Publishers

ReTargeting Iran

David Barsamian

A timely primer on the conflict between the United States and Iran by scholars of Middle Eastern politics who advocate diplomacy and de-escalation.

Dispatches from the Race War

Tim Wise

Essays on racial flashpoints, white denial, violence, and the manipulation of fear in America today. "Drawing on events from the killing of Trayvon Martin to the Black Lives Matter protests last summer, Wise calls to account his fellow white citizens and exhorts them to combat racist power structures."—The New York Times

No Fascist USA!
The John Brown Anti-Klan Committee and Lessons for Today's Movements

Hilary Moore, James Tracy

"Smash fascism! Read this book!"––Tom Morello, songwriter and guitarist with Rage Against the Machine

A Short History of Presidential Election Crises
(And How to Prevent the Next One)

Alan Hirsch

An urgent primer on what can be done to combat emerging threats to the core of U.S. Democracy––presidential elections.

The Green New Deal and Beyond
Ending the Climate Emergency While We Still Can

Stan Cox

A clear and urgent call for the national, social, and individual changes required to prevent catastrophic climate change.

Every Day We Get More Illegal

Juan Felipe Herrera

A State of the Union from the nation's first Latino Poet Laureate. Trenchant, compassionate, and filled with hope.

*Get a signed book plate by Juan Felipe! We'll include one with each book purchase while supply lasts.

Under the Dome
Walks with Paul Celan

Jean Daive

An arresting memoir of the final years and tragic suicide of one of twentieth-century Europe's greatest poets, published on the centenary of his birth.

Little Hill

Alli Warren

Despite the dystopian now, Alli Warren finds promise in the smallest human instances of tenderness, ecological connection, and political solidarity. Little Hill is about learning to live and love in the 21st century while not shying away from all there is to struggle against.

Funeral Diva

Pamela Sneed

A poetic memoir about coming-of-age in the AIDS era, and its effects on life and art. "She is a writer for the future, in that she defies genre."—Hilton Als

*Get a signed book plate by Pamela Sneed! We'll include one with each book purchase while supply lasts.

Facing You
City Lights Spotlight Series No. 19

Uche Nduka

From acclaimed Nigeria-born, Brooklyn-based poet Uche Nduka, a book of love poems written with compact elegance and vivid eroticism.

Natch
City Lights Spotlight Series No. 20

Sophia Dahlin

Queer pastoral lyrics take on the romantic sublime in a stunningly assured debut collection.