Blog
Neeli Cherkovski (1945–2024)
Neeli Cherkovski (1945–2024) It is with much sadness yet with countless fond memories that City Lights announces the death of one of our longstanding poet compadres, Neeli Cherkovski. Born Nelson Cherry in Santa Monica in 1945, Neeli reverted to his family’s...
Can We Keep Both Fascism and Climate Doom at Bay for Decades to Come?
Today, the nation’s anti-democracy, fossil-fuel-loving political minority appears more determined than ever to gain enough power to turn us into a sweltering autocracy. We have just 11 months left to stop them.
City Lights 70th Anniversary Programming
Join us as we commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the founding of City Lights! We’ll be featuring historic talks, poetry readings, online panels and discussions, and much more as we celebrate throughout the year. Check out our calendar of events!
5 Questions with Ian Johnson, Author of SPARKS: China’s Underground Historians and Their Battle for the Future
At least three times a week, I have to swim about 1500 to 2000-meters; afterwards, I feel comfortably tired and with a cup of malty-dark dahongbao tea from China, I can write through the morning.
5 Questions with Robert Glück, Author of ABOUT ED
One thing I watch with excitement is the growing willingness to organize and strike. San Francisco teachers have just authorized a strike. Labor must get strong to start chipping away at our ludicrous income disparity—it’s at the heart of many current problems.
5 Questions with Joseph Lease, Author of FIRE SEASON
This book is informed by both ongoing events, like environmental devastation and the global movement toward fascism, and personal ones, like the deaths of my mother and father.
5 Questions with Benjamin Weber, Author of AMERICAN PURGATORY: Prison Imperialism and the Rise of Mass Incarceration
I'm most inspired by the activists who have internationalized the long freedom struggle in this country, who have gone beyond the typical terms of domestic politics to find an anticolonial analysis and decolonial framework for addressing the most pressing challenges of our times.
Scientists Pursue Climate Activism Despite Violent Threats
Our species’ abuse of the Earth is causing ecological breakdown. And the world’s rich nations pretend that everything is just fine.
5 Questions with Jonathan Lethem, Author of BROOKLYN CRIME NOVEL
Valerie Werder’s Thieves is rocking my world at the moment.
5 Questions with mimi tempestt, Author of THE DELICACY OF EMBRACING SPIRALS
my dream book store in san francisco already exists. it’s called Medicina Para Pesadillas located at 3036 24th street in the Mission. that bookstore is an enchanted portal for sure and run by two magical human beings.