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April is National Poetry Month – a time to appreciate the wisdom and beauty of the written word! San Francisco has long been an epicenter for poets with an edgy, progressive and passionate message and the books that we have in our collection are representative of the poetry originating in the Bay Area. Many of these books were published by San Francisco’s City Lights Booksellers & Publishers and others are wonderful histories of the San Francisco Poetry Renaissance and the Beat Generation movement.
1. Literary San Francisco : a pictorial history from its beginnings to the present day / by Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Nancy J. Peters (810.8 F35L)
This is a comprehensive history of the literary movement in San Francisco. Of particular interest is the birth of poetry in SF at the time of the Gold Rush (pp. 45-49) and a description of the poetry of the Beat Generation movement of the 1950’s (pp.174-179).
2. San Francisco Beat : talking with the poets / David Meltzer (811 M529)
For anyone interested in the thoughts and motivations behind the poets who populated the Beat Generation, this book gives the reader a fascinating insight into their psyches. Interviews with 5 poets – Kenneth Rexroth, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Michael McClure, William Everson and Lew Welch – were conducted between 1969 and 1971.
Three decades later, between 1994 and 1999, 12 more interviews took place – McClure and Ferlinghetti were re-interviewed, Everson and Rexroth were remembered in discussions with colleagues/friends, and 6 other poets were interviewed for the first time.
The interviews are extensive and detailed. Even if you are not an aficionado of the Beat Generation, you will find these interviews enlightening and unforgettable.
3. San Francisco poems / Lawrence Ferlinghetti (811 F35sa)
This book is a small collection of poems by Ferlinghetti including his inaugural address as the San Francisco Poet Laureate. A few pages of photos are included featuring the author in the 1950’s-1970’s.
4. The San Francisco poetry renaissance, 1955-1960 / Warren French ( 811.9 F87)
The San Francisco Renaissance, better known as the Beat Generation, began on October 7, 1955 with a poetry reading at a gallery on Fillmore Street and ended in May, 1960, when the final issue of the Beatitude Magazine, edited by Bob Kaufman and William Margolis, was distributed. This is an account of the early years of the San Francisco Renaissance, 1950-1960, and includes a chronology of important dates and the characters associated with the movement.
