City Lights Books
@CityLightsBooks
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A landmark independent bookstore & publisher that specializes in world literature, the arts, & progressive politics. | RIP LF: 1919-2021
San Francisco, CA
Joined September 2008
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"The greatest poem is lyric life itself."
Our poet and hero, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, passed away on Monday, February 22nd, in the evening.
We love you, Lawrence. 💖
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Poet
@MosabAbuToha
was taken away from his family by the Israeli Defense Forces at a checkpoint in Gaza.
Please join us in calling for the international community to demand the release of Mosab, and all hostages and prisoners in Gaza and Israel.
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A steady beacon, our store is there whenever we need a place to feel at home with our fellow humans, their ideas and aspirations, their curiosities and their wild dreams of a new beginning. At this time, we must humbly ask for your support.
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“All books in this window have been censored or suppressed.”
Our newest storefront window features books that have been targeted by book bans.
#UniteAgainstBookBans
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If you’re shopping for books online, order them from independent bookstores. Do not order books from Amazon. Plenty of fine shops in this country will deliver to your zip code.
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Mosab Abu Toha has been freed by Israeli soldiers and is with his family in Gaza.
We will report more details as soon as we have them. Thank you to everyone for their advocacy.
CEASEFIRE NOW!
Praise God!
@MosabAbuToha
has been released & is with his family!!! Did we do this with our hearts❤️😱. Now let's free every civilian noncombatant illegally detained every dang where!!!
Again, I know Mosab is grateful for yr prayers! (No Gaza is not free but Mosab's with beloveds
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Edgar Allan Poe walking on Highbridge, presumably on his way to write a scathing review of Wordsworth.
#Halloween
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We have new storefront banners!
Join us in working to stop the wave of censorship across the U.S.! Stand strong with your librarians who are under direct attack and be sure to support the authors and bookstores who provide an inclusive, truthful cultural lexicon for all.
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Well, that was a day.
From all of us here, thank you for sending your love. Lawrence touched the lives of so many in incalculable ways, and it's really something to be the prism through which so much pure love was being beamed today! The celebration of his life continues.
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Just overheard outside the store, two boys walking by with their skateboards:
"Dude, I didn't know a bookstore could be so fuckin popular, man."
😎
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“The greatest poem is lyric life itself.”
Our founder and all-around hero Lawrence Ferlinghetti turns 99 years old today!
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Join us in wishing Lawrence Ferlinghetti a happy birthday! He turns 98 today.
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Poet Mosab Abu Toha is in grave danger, as is everyone in Gaza.
We are offering his book as a free digital download as a gesture of love, a tribute to our dear friend, and in fervent hope for peace.
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This year marks the 70th anniversary of City Lights Bookstore!
City Lights was founded in 1953 as the nation’s first all-paperback bookstore and as a “literary meeting place.”
Join us as we celebrate online and in the store. Full calendar of events:
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New banners just went up.
"Democracy / is not a / spectator / sport"
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The view at
@Shakespeare_Co
in Paris. Lovely display of Lawrence's books. 💖
Photos by
@dlb
.
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Stay strong and take care of each other today, Tuesday, and beyond. Build strong communities! Democracy is not a spectator sport.
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"The weight of the world is love." Allen Ginsberg was born on this day in Newark, 1926.
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We have a new sign by our Columbus Street entrance celebrating our 70th anniversary!
We’ll be marking our 70th all year with special events, historical photos, stories, reminiscences and more.
Come celebrate with us!
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This year marks the 70th anniversary of City Lights Bookstore!
City Lights was founded in 1953 as the nation’s first all-paperback bookstore and “literary meeting place.”
Connecting people through books has been our mission ever since.
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Thanks to
@USPS
we're still shipping. Without this service, bookstores like ours wouldn't be able to get packages to our customers at affordable rates. Support the freaking mail!!!
You can order thru our website or call 415-362-8193, 12-8PM PT
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Instead of buying books from that one place on
#PrimeDay
, go to your local independent bookshop and browse, have a conversation, buy a book. If you don’t live near one, shop at one online.
(hopefully if you follow us you wouldn’t even consider shopping for books on Amazon)
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"We transform the terrains of our lives, wherever we are, into terrains of activism, terrains for the evolution of struggles for justice, equality and freedom." - Angela Davis
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William S. Burroughs and Lawrence Ferlinghetti at City Lights Bookstore, 1981.
Burroughs was born on this day in 1914.
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Rest in Peace Robbie Robertson!
Photo by Larry Keenan of Robbie Robertson, Michael McClure, Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsberg in the alley next to City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco, 1965.
More at:
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Beautiful to see this
@lithub
publication of
@MosabAbuToha
's poem “What Is Home?” in twenty-two different languages.
Many thanks to the editors and translators for making this happen!
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On January 25, 1988, the City of San Francisco approved a proposal by City Lights Books to rename 12 streets after San Francisco writers and artists, including Kerouac Alley next to our bookstore.
The effort was spearheaded by our founder Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
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Farewell to our poet & friend, Jack Hirschman. 💖
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With great sadness, City Lights wishes to note the death of our friend, the legendary beat poet Michael McClure, who passed away May 4 due to complications from a stroke he suffered last year.
#MichaelMcClure
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50 years ago this week, Angela Davis was arrested after being targeted by the FBI, who referred to her as a terrorist.
A longtime educator and radical activist, Angela is a living legend. We celebrate her pretty much every day. Read her books!
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If you don’t have an independent bookstore in your community, you can order from one online!!!!
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We are so happy to announce that Tongo Eisen-Martin (
@_Tongogara_
) has just been named the 8th Poet Laureate of San Francisco!
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Lawrence Ferlinghetti in front of the Banned Books display at City Lights Bookstore in the late 50s, photo by Harry Redl.
The Howl Trial of 1957 was a key victory for free expression.
#BannedBooksWeek
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Remember that there will always be more books downstairs! Thank you for adventuring into the New Year with us.
📸
@ABAbook
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Starting today, City Lights will be open seven days a week from 10am-10pm.
We’re so delighted about our new schedule since part of our mission is to ensure all readers with a number of daily obligations would still be able to find some time to stop by for a visit.
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Happy 80th birthday to the one and only Bob Dylan.
Shown here: Michael McClure, Dylan, and Allen Ginsberg in Adler Alley (Now Jack Kerouac Alley) next to City Lights Bookstore in 1965.
#bobdylan80
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Lawrence Ferlinghetti was born on this day in 1919. We miss him.
He died one month shy of his 102nd birthday. We celebrate his many extraordinary lives as a poet, painter, bookseller, traveler, activist, and friend every day.
#VivaFerlinghetti
(photo by Ilka Hartmann)
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In less than 24 hours we are already 2/3 of the way to our goal! We are simply OVERWHELMED by the support and love from friends and colleagues. 💖😭💖
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Coverage of the impromptu vigil and gathering in Kerouac Alley last night!
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It’s official, by decree of the City & County’s office of SF:
Lawrence’s 100th birthday, Sunday March, 24, 2019 is “Ferlinghetti Day.”
#Ferlinghetti100
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Spectators at HOWL obscenity trial, 8/24/1957 in SF. Photo by R. Lackenbach for LIFE Magazine. It was this week in ’57 City Lights store manager Shig Murao was cleared of selling “obscene” material (i.e. copies of HOWL).
#tbt
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Today is the day. Happy 100th birthday, Lawrence!
#Ferlinghetti100
Our Open-House birthday party is today, 4 locations in North Beach:
City Lights 1PM-5ish
Cafe Zoetrope 2-3PM
Vesuvio Cafe 3-4PM
Canessa Gallery 1PM-5ish
(if you can't get into one venue, try the others!)
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*deep breath*
Once more: If you’re shopping online for books this holiday season, order from independent booksellers.
*logs off until Monday*
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Allen Ginsberg was born on this day in Newark, 1926.
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“We need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers.” - Bayard Rustin
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Mosab Abu Toha brought up at a State Department briefing today. Keep getting out the word!
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Our various displays going upstairs to the Poetry Room and in the Poetry Room itself for now.
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On this day in 1955 on 3119 Fillmore St. in SF, the famous 6 Gallery reading took place.
It was the 1st public performance of “Howl.” Ferlinghetti, who saw the reading, sent a telegram to AG soon after: “I greet you at the beginning of a great career. When I do get MS of Howl?"
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Extremely excited to announce that our doors are open today at 12PM for customers to enter the store! (please wear a mask)
We've changed a few things around, and have a cap for how many people can be in the space at one time, so we thank you for your patience.
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Hello, let's give this post as much of a boost as possible. Consider supporting small businesses at this time.
(and if you have a ton of unread books already, and we hope that you do, it's time). via
@lithub
.
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“No matter what I will be a poet."
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This holiday season, only buy books from indie booksellers. If you don’t live near one, you can order from a bunch online.
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We're back and now accepting orders in two ways, either over the phone or by ordering through our website:
1. Curbside pickup
2. Regular mail delivery to your home
Ordering info at
Call us at 415-362-8193
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What is a community center for books and free thinkers in San Francisco that was featured on
@Jeopardy
last night? 😎
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City Lights made an appearance on
@Jeopardy
last night!
Do you know the answer to this clue?
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The scene at the store on Lawrence's 100th birthday. Remember crowds??
photo by
@McMurtrieSF
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Here's our antiracist reading list, curated by our booksellers which includes brand new books as well as some of our favorite backlist titles. Includes nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and YA. These books are displayed in our front windows as well!
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“As we all aware, it was quite a life. It’s like the sun and moon, and it’s going to affect us for a long long time in a really positive way." -- Paul Yamazaki, our head buyer, via
@Hoodline
.
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Please consider supporting
@marcusbooks
in Oakland - the oldest independent Black bookstore in the country. Let's step up for them!
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We are celebrating Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s 100th birthday with readings, talks, an open house with an amazing lineup of readers, and a lot more.
#Ferlinghetti100
More info here:
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Holy...
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In which MLK discussed the relationship between capitalism and poverty.
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America when will we end the human war? Go fuck yourself with your atom bomb.
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"I feel ancient, as though I had / Lived many lives. // And may never now know / If I am a fool / Or have done what my / karma demands."
Happy 89th birthday to Gary Snyder!
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RIP Diane di Prima
endless gratitude for the life and work of Diane di Prima
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Very rare photo here of our store c. late 50s in color! Love it.
#WeLoveBookstores
, yesterday, today & tomorrow, but we are overdue on this one. Happy
#IndependentBookstoreDay
😉
@CityLightsBooks
circa 1958. From the Robert Durden Color Slide Collection
#sfpubliclibrary
#sfhistory
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Jack Kerouac and Lawrence Ferlinghetti on Wisconsin St. in SF, 1959.
Jack was born on this day in 1922.
#JackKerouac
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"Nothing is harder / on the soul / than the smell of dreams / while they are evaporating."––Mahmoud Darwish. Stop the Deportations!
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It’s been one year since Lawrence Ferlinghetti, poet, painter and the founder of City Lights passed away on February 22, 2021. We miss him.
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It’s our 70th anniversary this year! This month, we’ll be highlighting images and stories that feature Lawrence Ferlinghetti, our founder and our inspiration.
Here he is in front of City Lights in 1959, six years after first opening the bookstore. More to come!
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We’ve been in this building 66 years and counting!
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The great Angela Davis is 73 today.
In honor of the legendary activist on her 73rd birthday: A clip of Angela Davis speaking on revolution from prison.
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"The lyric surge and strife of life is poetry."
Join us in wishing our hero Lawrence Ferlinghetti happy birthday! He turns 101 today.
#Ferlinghetti101
(Photo by Carlos Avila Gonzalez for
@SFC_Datebook
)
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On this day in 1955, Allen Ginsberg read part of "Howl" for the first time in public, at the Six Gallery, 3119 Fillmore Street in SF
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An Urgent Call for Expedited Visa Assistance for Mosab Abu Toha - Sign the Petition! via
@Change
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America I’m putting my queer shoulder to the wheel.
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According to our shipping department, everyone on earth ordered a copy of A Coney Island of the Mind last week. It is really a wonderful thing that there are so many new readers of this book. Doing a reprint yet,
@NewDirections
?? 😂
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.
@PENAmerica
has released a report which shows the majority of banned books have either LGBTQ themes or characters of color.
This comes amid reports that the number of challenges in 2022 is on pace to shatter the record number seen in 2021.
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One more: "my vow is / to remind us all / to celebrate / there is no time / too desperate / no season / that is not / a Season of Song."
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Don't use the telephone.
People are never ready to answer it.
Use poetry.
––Jack Kerouac
from Scattered Poems
We're celebrating 100 years of Kerouac this week! He was born on March 12, 1922 in Lowell, MA.
#KerouacAt100
🧵
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We're sad to report that Kate Braverman has died. She was 69 years old. We strongly urge you to read this piece by
@xwaldie
in the New Yorker about her razor-sharp & versatile work.
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"The Raven can’t afford losses like Amazon, but almost every dollar that the store makes stays in Kansas."
Wonderful to see
@ravenbookstore
profiled in the New Yorker. Visit them in Lawrence, KS!
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Our new bookstore section Pedagogies of Resistance, an ever-evolving list of over 100 books. Download the list here:
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Lawrence Ferlinghetti is the visionary without whom City Lights would not exist, and he was also a consummate collaborator. In the months ahead, we’ll be posting about people past and present who have worked alongside Ferlinghetti to bring along through seven decades. Stay tuned!
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Mel Goodman, author of our new book
#Whistleblower
at the CIA discusses
#RealityWinner
on
@TheCurrentCBC
:
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Nothing is harder / on the soul / than the smell of dreams / while they are evaporating."––Mahmoud Darwish. STOP THE DEPORTATIONS
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We can't be there in North Beach right now (😢), but for anyone that passes by the store this week - think of Lawrence!
#Ferlinghetti101
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One of our most esteemed authors, Noam Chomsky, is celebrating his 94th birthday today! Join us in wishing Noam a very happy birthday!
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Wow! Thank you to Greta Gerwig for this shout-out in
@sfchronicle
!
“I (always) try to make my way to City Lights Books, which is where I first discovered that I actually loved poetry.”
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.
@adalimon
has unveiled her signature project as U.S. Poet Laureate: an anthology of nature poems and site-specific poetry installations in 7 national parks.
The anthology features poems by
@jerichobrown
,
@JoyHarjo
,
@CPhillipsPoet
,
@dlseuss
, others.
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