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Encyclopedia > City Lights Bookstore
City Lights Bookstore, 2007
City Lights Bookstore, 2007

Co-founded in 1953 by Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, City Lights Bookstore and City Lights Publishers is a landmark independent bookstore and a small press publisher that specializes in world literature, the arts, and progressive politics. It is particularly known for its publication of Allen Ginsberg's Howl & Other Poems and the controversy which ensued. It is located in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, California, at 261 Columbus Avenue on the corner of Broadway Street. Image File history File links Information_icon. ... Shortcut: WP:WIN Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia and, as a means to that end, also an online community. ... Shortcut: WP:NPOV Wikipedia policy is that all articles should be written from a neutral point of view. ... Shortcut: WP:RULES Wikipedia is a collaborative project and its founders and contributors have a common goal: Wikipedia has some policies and guidelines that help us to work toward that common goal. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... “Beats” redirects here. ... Lawrence Ferlinghetti Lawrence Ferlinghetti (born Lawrence Ferling[1] on March 24, 1919) is an American poet who is known as the co-owner of the City Lights Bookstore and publishing house, which published early literary works of the Beats, including Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. ... Independent bookstore is a term used in to identify bookstores that are primarily owned and operated by local people. ... The Dun Emer Press in 1903 with Elizabeth Yeats working the hand press Small press is a term often used to describe publishers who typically specialize in genre fiction, or limited edition books or magazines. ... A publisher is a person or entity which engages in the act of publishing. ... Irwin Allen Ginsberg (IPA: ) (June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American Beat poet. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Filbert Street with St. ... Nickname: The City by the Bay; Fog City; The City Location of the City and County of San Francisco, California Coordinates: Country United States of America State California City-County San Francisco Government  - Mayor Gavin Newsom Area  - City  47 sq mi (122 km²)  - Land  46. ...

Contents

Bookstore

Founded in 1953 by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Peter D. Martin, City Lights is one of the few truly great independent bookstores in the United States, a place where booklovers from across the country and around the world come to browse, read, and just soak in the ambience of alternative culture's only "Literary Landmark." Although it has been more than forty years since tour buses with passengers eager to sight "beatniks" began pulling up in front of City Lights, the Beats' legacy of anti-authoritarian politics and insurgent thinking continues to be a strong influence in the store, most evident in the selection of titles. First confined to the southwest corner of a building constructed the year after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, City Lights has expanded several times over the years. The nation's first all-paperback bookstore, they now offer three floors of both new-release hardcovers and quality paperbacks from all of the major publishing houses, along with an impressive range of titles from smaller, harder-to-find, specialty publishers. The store features an extensive and in-depth selection of poetry, fiction, translations, politics, history, philosophy, music, spirituality, and more, with a staff whose special book interests in many fields contribute to the hand-picked quality of what you see on the shelves. City Lights is a member of the American Booksellers Association. 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... Lawrence Ferlinghetti Lawrence Ferlinghetti (born Lawrence Ferling[1] on March 24, 1919) is an American poet who is known as the co-owner of the City Lights Bookstore and publishing house, which published early literary works of the Beats, including Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. ... Arnold Genthes famous photograph of San Francisco following the earthquake, looking toward the fire on Sacramento Street The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a major earthquake that struck San Francisco and the coast of northern California at 5:12 A.M. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... The American Booksellers Association is a non-profit industry association founded in 1900 that promotes independent bookstores. ...


Publishers

In 1955, Ferlinghetti launched City Lights Publishers with the now-famous Pocket Poets Series; since then the press has gone on to publish a wide range of titles, both poetry and prose, fiction and nonfiction, international and local authors. Today, City Lights has well over a hundred titles in print, with a dozen new titles being published each year. Upcoming releases include Howard Zinn's A Power Governments Cannot Suppress and Maureen Webb's Illusions of Security. The press is known and respected for its commitment to innovative and progressive ideas, and its resistance to forces of conservatism and censorship. All City Lights Publications that are currently available are proudly featured in the bookstore. 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The City Lights Pocket Poets Series is a series of poetry collections published by Lawrence Ferlinghetti and City Lights Books of San Francisco since August 1955. ... Howard Zinn (born August 24, 1922) is an American historian, social critic, playwright and political scientist. ...


Ferlinghetti

A prominent voice of the wide-open poetry movement that began in the 1950s, Lawrence Ferlinghetti has written poetry, translation, fiction, theater, art criticism, film narration, and essays. Often concerned with politics and social issues, Ferlinghetti’s poetry countered the literary elite’s definition of art and the artist’s role in the world. Though imbued with the commonplace, his poetry cannot be simply described as polemic or personal protest, for it stands on his craftsmanship, thematics, and grounding in tradition. Ferlinghetti’s A Coney Island of the Mind continues to be the most popular poetry book in the U.S. It has been translated into nine languages, and there are nearly 1,000,000 copies in print. The author of poetry, plays, fiction, art criticism, and essays, he has a dozen books currently in print in the U.S., and his work has been translated in many countries and in many languages. His most recent books are A Far Rockaway of the Heart (1997), How to Paint Sunlight (2001), and Americus Book I (2004) published by New Directions. Ferlinghetti’s paintings have also been shown at various galleries around the world, from the Butler Museum of American Painting to Il Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome. In San Francisco, his work can regularly be seen at the George Krevsky Gallery at 77 Geary Street. Lawrence Ferlinghetti Lawrence Ferlinghetti (born Lawrence Ferling[1] on March 24, 1919) is an American poet who is known as the co-owner of the City Lights Bookstore and publishing house, which published early literary works of the Beats, including Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. ... New Directions Publishing Corp. ...


Howl

In 1956 City Lights published Howl & Other Poems as poem number 4 in its City Lights Pocket Poets Series. City Lights' publication and distribution of the poem led to the arrest of Ferlinghetti and bookstore manager Shigeyoshi Murao on obscenity charges, and the trial that followed drew national attention to the San Francisco Renaissance and Beat movement writers. With the aid of the ACLU and overwhelming support from prestigious literary and academic figures, the book was vindicated in court, and Ferlighetti and Murao were acquitted. This landmark First Amendment case established a legal precedent for the publication of controversial work with redeeming social importance. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The City Lights Pocket Poets Series is a series of poetry collections published by Lawrence Ferlinghetti and City Lights Books of San Francisco since August 1955. ... The term San Francisco Renaissance is used as a global designation for a range of poetic activity centred around that city and which brought it to prominence as a hub of the American poetic avant-garde. ... “Beats” redirects here. ... The American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, is a non_governmental organization devoted to defending civil rights and civil liberties in the United States. ...


Landmark Status

City Lights bookstore as it was in July of 2003.
City Lights bookstore as it was in July of 2003.

On July 9, 2001, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a designation of landmark status for the City Lights Bookstore building on cultural, historical, and architectural grounds, citing its associations with "major developments in post-World War II literature as publisher of Beat Generation writers [and] the defense of Allen Ginsberg's Howl and Other Poems in a landmark test of First Amendment protections" and with "persons important in the literary and cultural development of San Francisco and the nation," as well as its "[d]istinctive characteristics typical of small commercial buildings constructed following the 1906 earthquake and fire" as a "fairly rare survivor of a once common building type of its period."[1] This landmark designation mandates the preservation of certain external features of the building and its immediate surroundings. Image File history File linksMetadata CityLightsBookstore. ... Image File history File linksMetadata CityLightsBookstore. ... July 9 is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 175 days remaining. ... 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... San Francisco skyline. ... The Bill of Rights in the National Archives The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is a part of the United States Bill of Rights. ... Arnold Genthes famous photograph of San Francisco following the earthquake, looking toward the fire on Sacramento Street The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a major earthquake that struck San Francisco and the coast of northern California at 5:12 A.M. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906. ...


Numbered references

  1. ^ Ordinance to Amend Appendix A of Planning Code Article 10 to Designate City Lights Bookstore As a Landmark [PDF]

External links

  • Official website
  • Neighborhood map of City Lights Bookstore: MondoMap
  • Landmark status likely for beatnik-era bookstore, a June 2001 CNN article
  • And the Beats Go On, a June 2001 article from the San Francisco Chronicle
  • Poetry Landmark: The City Lights Bookstore, from the website of the Academy of American Poets
  • City Lights Pocket Poets checklist and the story behind the cover design, from a fan's personal website
  • Upcoming events at City Lights
  • Forthcoming books from City Lights Publishers
  • LA Times article on Lawrence Ferlinghetti's announcement of the National Book Award nominations

  Results from FactBites:
 
Poets.org - Poetry, Poems, Bios & More - Poetry Landmark: The City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco, CA (435 words)
Nestled among the trattorias, strip clubs, and skyscrapers of San Francisco’s North Beach is City Lights Bookstore—not only a landmark to poetry, but also a battleground for the freedom of speech.
City Lights was founded in 1953 by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Peter D. Martin as the nation’s first all-paperback bookstore.
In 1955, Ferlinghetti became the store’s sole owner and launched City Lights Publishers in order to present the work of the Beat poets, who were having difficulty finding a place for their writing with mainstream, East Coast publishers.
City Lights Bookstore - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (461 words)
City Lights bookstore as it was in July of 2003.
City Lights was founded in 1953 as the nation's first all-paperback bookstore, by Peter D. Martin and Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
City Lights is a member of the American Booksellers Association.
  More results at FactBites »


 
 

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