Main Stage Events

Friday, July 24

• Main Stage Poetry Reading

  Join us for a wide variety of international poetry readings, hosted by devorah major, with a special reading by San Francisco Poet Laureate Diane di Prima.

  with Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Ignatius Mabasa, Zhai Yongming, Maram al-Massri, Alexander Skidan, Carol Muske-Dukes, Roy "Chicky" Arad, Daisy Zamora, Anna Lombardo, Cletus Nelson Nwadike, Menna Elfyn, Paul Flores, Diane di Prima

  7:00 pm - 9:00 pm at Palace of Fine Arts

Saturday, July 25

• Main Stage Poetry Reading

  Join us for a wide variety of international poetry readings.

  with Francis Combes, Ziba Karbassi, Georges Castera/Joj Kastra, Taslima Nasrin, Al Young, Ámbar Past, Tarek Eltayeb, Agneta Falk, Sasha Pimentel Chacòn, Ferruccio Brugnaro, Carla Badillo Coronado, Jack Hirschman

  7:00 pm - 9:30 pm at Palace of Fine Arts

All SFIPF Events

Wednesday, July 22

• Red Poet Film Screening

  Join us for a documentary film about Poet-in-Residence for Friends of the SFPL, Jack Hirschman, directed by Matthew Furey.

  Jack Hirschman will be present.

  6:00 pm at Koret Auditorium, Main Library

Thursday, July 23

• Jack Kerouac Alley Kick Off Party

  Celebrate the kick off of the 2nd Biennial San Francisco International Poetry Festival with an outdoor party featuring poetry and music.

  7:00 pm - 8:30 pm at Jack Kerouac Alley

Friday, July 24

• Main Stage Poetry Reading

  Join us for a wide variety of international poetry readings, hosted by devorah major, with a special reading by San Francisco Poet Laureate Diane di Prima.

  with Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Ignatius Mabasa, Zhai Yongming, Maram al-Massri, Alexander Skidan, Carol Muske-Dukes, Roy "Chicky" Arad, Daisy Zamora, Anna Lombardo, Cletus Nelson Nwadike, Menna Elfyn, Paul Flores, Diane di Prima

  7:00 pm - 9:00 pm at Palace of Fine Arts

Saturday, July 25

• Translation Colloquy

  Two-time winner of the American Book Award Alejandro Murguía joins poets Olivia Sears, Stephen Kessler, Judith Ayn Bernhard and Kareem James Abu Zeid in a conversation about the art and craft of translation in today’s works.

  12:00 pm - 2:00 pm at Mission Branch Library

• Children’s Story Time

  Join host Sarah Menefee and poets/authors Ámbar Past (Mexico), Jorge Argueta (El Salvador), Tony Robles (The Philippines), Cletus N. Nwadike (Sweden, translated by Agneta Falk) for a children’s story time and book reading, and a book giveaway.

  with Ámbar Past, Cletus Nelson Nwadike

  12:00 pm - 2:00 pm at Richmond Branch Library

• Youth Poet Event

  Join host Anne Wintroub of Friends of the Library for a youth poetry reading with WritersCorps, moderated by California State Poet Laureate Carol Muske-Dukes.

  with Carol Muske-Dukes

  12:00 pm - 2:00 pm at Western Addition Branch Library

• Workshop: Writing a Love Poem

  Join Syrian/French poet Maram al-Massri and Friends Executive Director Donna Bero to explore this ancient and universal art form.

  with Maram al-Massri

  12:00 pm - 2:00 pm at Alliance Francaise

• Poetry Reading at Richmond Library

  Featuring Zhai Yongming (China) reading with Jamie Proctor-Xu, Alexander Skidan (Russia) reading with Rebecca Bella and Nguyen Qui Duc (Vietnam) reading with Isabelle Pelaud.

  with Zhai Yongming, Alexander Skidan, Nguyen Qui Duc

  2:30 pm - 4:30 pm at Richmond Branch Library

• Poetry Reading at North Beach Library

  Featuring Roy Arad (Israel) reading with Neeli Cherkovski, Menna Elfyn (Wales) reading with Maketa Groves, Paul Flores (USA) and San Francisco Poet Laureate Diane di Prima.

  with Roy "Chicky" Arad, Menna Elfyn, Paul Flores, Diane di Prima

  2:30 pm - 4:30 pm at North Beach Branch Library

• Poetry Reading at Western Addition Library

  Featuring Ignatius Mabasa (Zimbabwe) reading with Michael Warr, Maram al-Massri (Syria) reading with Tina Tarnoff and California State Poet Laureate Carol Muske-Dukes.

  with Ignatius Mabasa, Maram al-Massri, Carol Muske-Dukes

  2:30 pm - 4:30 pm at Western Addition Branch Library

• New Voices

  Readings by 2008 Poets 11 selected poets Melba Abela, Marty Campbell, Aja Couchois Duncan and David Menendez Alvarez.

  1:00 pm - 2:00 pm at North Beach Branch Library

• Reading and Q & A with Francis Combes

  Join French poet Francis Combes at the Alliance Francaise for a reading and Q & A session.

  with Francis Combes

  2:00 pm - 3:30 pm at Alliance Francaise

• Poetry Reading at Mission Library

  Featuring Anna Lombardo (Italy) reading with Olivia Sears, Daisy Zamora (Nicaragua) reading with George Evans, Cletus Nelson Nwadike (Nigeria) reading with Agneta Falk.

  with Anna Lombardo, Daisy Zamora, Cletus Nelson Nwadike

  2:30 pm - 4:30 pm at Mission Branch Library

• Main Stage Poetry Reading

  Join us for a wide variety of international poetry readings.

  with Francis Combes, Ziba Karbassi, Georges Castera/Joj Kastra, Taslima Nasrin, Al Young, Ámbar Past, Tarek Eltayeb, Agneta Falk, Sasha Pimentel Chacòn, Ferruccio Brugnaro, Carla Badillo Coronado, Jack Hirschman

  7:00 pm - 9:30 pm at Palace of Fine Arts

Sunday, July 26

• North Beach Poetry Crawl

  1:30pm – 3:00 pm: Beat Museum
  Ámbar Past (Mexico) reading with Alejandro Murguía, and Al Young (United States).

  1:30pm – 3:00pm: Kerouac Alley
  Ferruccio Brugnaro (Italy) reading with Jack Hirschman, and Carla Badillo Coronado (Ecuador) reading with Jessica Loos.

  3:30pm – 5:00pm: Caffe Trieste
  Ziba Karbassi (Iran) reading with Niloufar Talebi.

  3:30pm – 5:00 pm: The Purple Onion
  Francis Combes (France) reading with Matt Gonzales, and Agneta Falk.

  5:30pm – 7:00 pm: Live Worms Gallery
  Tarek Eltayeb (Sudan/Austria) reading with Kareem James Abu Zeid, and Sasha Pimentel Chacòn (The Philippines).

  5:30pm – 7:00 pm: Kerouac Alley
  Georges Castera/Joj Kastra (Haiti) reading with Boadiba, and Taslima Nasrin (Bangladesh) reading with Dotty Payne.

  with Ámbar Past, Al Young, Ferruccio Brugnaro, Carla Badillo Coronado, Ziba Karbassi, Francis Combes, Agneta Falk, Tarek Eltayeb, Sasha Pimentel Chacòn, Georges Castera/Joj Kastra, Taslima Nasrin

  1:30 pm - 7:00 pm at locations in North Beach

• Washington Square Park Closing Party

  Hosted by Jack Hirschman, with Friends of the Library Executive Director Donna Bero, poets Carla Badillo Coronado and Jorge Molina, with music by the Vince Lateano Quartet.

  7:30 pm at Washington Square Park