City Lights Pocket Poets Series
Encyclopedia
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Lawrence Ferlinghetti is an American poet, painter, liberal activist, and the co-founder of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers...
and City Lights Books of San Francisco since August 1955. The series is most notable for the publication of Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
's literary milestone "Howl
Howl
"Howl" is a poem written by Allen Ginsberg in 1955 and published as part of his 1956 collection of poetry titled Howl and Other Poems. The poem is considered to be one of the great works of the Beat Generation, along with Jack Kerouac's On the Road and William S. Burroughs's Naked Lunch...
", which led to an obscenity
Obscenity
An obscenity is any statement or act which strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time, is a profanity, or is otherwise taboo, indecent, abhorrent, or disgusting, or is especially inauspicious...
charge for the publishers that was fought off with the aid of the ACLU.
Initially, the books were small, affordable paperbacks with a distinctive black and white cover design. (This design was borrowed from Kenneth Patchen
Kenneth Patchen
Kenneth Patchen was an American poet and novelist. Though he denied any direct connection, Patchen's work and ideas regarding the role of artists paralleled those of the Dadaists, the Beats, and Surrealists...
's An Astonished Eye Looks Out of the Air (1945), published by Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
's Untide Press
Untide Press
The Untide Press, founded in 1943, attempted to bring poetry to the public in an inexpensive but attractive format.It was founded by writer William Everson, architect and printer Kemper Nomland, actor Kermit Sheets and editor / librarian William Eshelman, in a camp of conscientious objectors in...
. http://www.connectotel.com/marcus/pocketph.html) The paperbacks were the first introduction for many readers to avant-garde poetry. Many of the poets were members of the Beat Generation
Beat generation
The Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
and the San Francisco Renaissance
San Francisco Renaissance
The term San Francisco Renaissance is used as a global designation for a range of poetic activity centered on San Francisco and which brought it to prominence as a hub of the American poetic avant-garde. However, others The term San Francisco Renaissance is used as a global designation for a range...
, but the volumes included a diverse array of poets, including authors translated from Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, and Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
. According to Ferlinghetti, "From the beginning the aim was to publish across the board, avoiding the provincial and the academic...I had in mind rather an international, dissident, insurgent ferment."
List of books in the City Lights Pocket Poets Series
- Lawrence FerlinghettiLawrence FerlinghettiLawrence Ferlinghetti is an American poet, painter, liberal activist, and the co-founder of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers...
, Pictures of a Gone World, August 1955 (reissued & expanded, 1995) - Kenneth RexrothKenneth RexrothKenneth Rexroth was an American poet, translator and critical essayist. He is regarded as a central figure in the San Francisco Renaissance, and paved the groundwork for the movement...
(translator), Thirty Spanish Poems of Love and Exile, 1956 - Kenneth PatchenKenneth PatchenKenneth Patchen was an American poet and novelist. Though he denied any direct connection, Patchen's work and ideas regarding the role of artists paralleled those of the Dadaists, the Beats, and Surrealists...
, Poems of Humor and Protest, 1956 - Allen GinsbergAllen GinsbergIrwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
, Howl and Other Poems, 1956 - Marie PonsotMarie PonsotMarie Ponsot, née Birmingham is an American poet, literary critic, essayist, teacher, and translator.-Life:Ponsot was born in Brooklyn, New York, but along with her brother grew up in Jamaica, Queens. She was already writing poems as a child, some of which were published in the Brooklyn Daily...
, True Minds, 1956 - Denise LevertovDenise Levertov-Early life and influences:Levertov was born and grew up in Ilford, Essex.Couzyn, Jeni Contemporary Women Poets. Bloodaxe, p74 Her mother, Beatrice Spooner-Jones Levertoff, came from a small mining village in North Wales...
, Here and Now, 1957 - William Carlos WilliamsWilliam Carlos WilliamsWilliam Carlos Williams was an American poet closely associated with modernism and Imagism. He was also a pediatrician and general practitioner of medicine, having graduated from the University of Pennsylvania...
, Kora in Hell : Improvisations, 1957 - Gregory CorsoGregory CorsoGregory Nunzio Corso was an American poet, youngest of the inner circle of Beat Generation writers...
, Gasoline, 1958 (reissued with The Vestal Lady on Brattle, 1978) - Jacques PrévertJacques PrévertJacques Prévert was a French poet and screenwriter. His poems became and remain very popular in the French-speaking world, particularly in schools. Some of the movies he wrote are extremely well regarded, with Les Enfants du Paradis considered one of the greatest films of all time.-Life and...
, Paroles, 1958 (reissued bilingually, 1990) - Robert DuncanRobert Duncan (poet)Robert Duncan was an American poet and a student of H.D. and the Western esoteric tradition who spent most of his career in and around San Francisco. Though associated with any number of literary traditions and schools, Duncan is often identified with the poets of the New American Poetry and Black...
, Selected Poems, 1959 - Jerome RothenbergJerome RothenbergJerome Rothenberg is an internationally known American poet, translator and anthologist who is noted for his work in ethnopoetics and poetry performance.-Early life and work:...
(translator), New Young German Poets, 1959 - Nicanor ParraNicanor ParraNicanor Parra Sandoval is a mathematician and poet born in San Fabián de Alico, Chile, who has been considered to be a popular poet in Chile with enormous influence and popularity in Latin America, and also considered one of the most important poets of the Spanish language literature...
, Anti-Poems, 1960 - Kenneth PatchenKenneth PatchenKenneth Patchen was an American poet and novelist. Though he denied any direct connection, Patchen's work and ideas regarding the role of artists paralleled those of the Dadaists, the Beats, and Surrealists...
, The Love Poems of Kenneth Patchen, 1960 - Allen GinsbergAllen GinsbergIrwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
, Kaddish and Other Poems, 1961 - Robert Nichols, Slow Newsreel of Man Riding Train, 1962
- Yevgeni Yevtuschenko, etc., Anselm HolloAnselm HolloAnselm Paul Alexis Hollo is a Finnish poet and translator. He has lived in the United States since 1967.-Life and work:...
(translator), Red Cats, 1962 - Malcolm LowryMalcolm LowryClarence Malcolm Lowry was an English poet and novelist who was best known for his novel Under the Volcano, which was voted No. 11 in the Modern Library 100 Best Novels list.-Biography:...
, Selected Poems of Malcolm Lowry, 1962 - Allen GinsbergAllen GinsbergIrwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
, Reality Sandwiches, 1963 - Frank O'HaraFrank O'HaraFrancis Russell "Frank" O'Hara was an American writer, poet and art critic. He was a member of the New York School of poetry.-Life:...
, Lunch Poems, 1964 - Philip LamantiaPhilip LamantiaPhilip Lamantia was an American poet and lecturer. Lamantia's visionary poems were ecstatic, terror-filled, and erotic which explored the subconscious world of dreams and linked it to the experience of daily life.-Biography:...
, Selected Poems 1943-1966, 1967 - Bob KaufmanBob KaufmanBob Kaufman , born Robert Garnell Kaufman, was an American Beat poet and surrealist inspired by jazz music. In France, where his poetry had a large following, he was known as the "American Rimbaud."-Biography:...
, Golden Sardine, 1967 - Janine Pommy-Vega, Poems to Fernando, 1968
- Allen GinsbergAllen GinsbergIrwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
, Planet NewsPlanet NewsPlanet News is a book of poetry written by Allen Ginsberg and published by City Lights. It is number twenty three in the Pocket Poets series. It contains poems written by Ginsberg between 1961 and 1967, many written during his travels to India, Japan, Europe, Africa, and many other places...
, 1961-1967, 1968 - Charles UptonCharles Upton (poet)Charles Upton is an American poet and metaphysician.-Life:Born in San Francisco, Charles Upton grew up in Marin County, California. He attended Catholic schools through high school. He attended UC Davis for only four days.-Career:...
, Panic Grass, 1968 - Pablo PicassoPablo PicassoPablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
, Hunk of Skin, 1968 - Robert BlyRobert BlyRobert Bly is an American poet, author, activist and leader of the Mythopoetic Men's Movement.-Life:Bly was born in Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota, to Jacob and Alice Bly, who were of Norwegian ancestry. Following graduation from high school in 1944, he enlisted in the United States Navy, serving...
, The Teeth-Mother Naked At Last, 1970 - Diane DiPrima, Revolutionary Letters, 1971
- Jack KerouacJack KerouacJean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
, Scattered Poems, 1971 - Andrei Voznesensky, Dogalypse, 1972
- Allen GinsbergAllen GinsbergIrwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
, The Fall of America, Poems of These States 1965-1971, 1972 - Pete WinslowPete WinslowPete Winslow was a surrealist poet associated with the Beat Generation.He was born on 19 October 1934 in Washington state. He died in September 1972 of complications following surgery and was survived by his wife Jane Winslow and son, Peter Winslow, who died in a car accident in 1993.He graduated...
, A Daisy in the Memory of a Shark, 1973 - Harold NorseHarold NorseHarold Norse was an American writer who created a body of work using the American idiom of everyday language and images. One of the expatriate artists of the Beat generation, Norse was widely published and anthologized.- Life :Born Harold Rosen to an unmarried Lithuanian Jewish immigrant in Brooklyn...
, Hotel Nirvana, 1974 - Anne WaldmanAnne WaldmanAnne Waldman is an American poet.Since the 1960s, Waldman has been an active member of the “Outrider” experimental poetry community as a writer, performer, collaborator, professor, editor, scholar, and cultural/political activist....
, Fast Speaking Woman, 1975 (reissued & expanded, 1996) - Jack HirschmanJack HirschmanJack Hirschman is an American poet and social activist who has written more than 50 volumes of poetry and essays.-Biography:...
, Lyripol, 1976 - Allen GinsbergAllen GinsbergIrwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
, Mind BreathsMind BreathsMind Breaths is a book of poetry by Allen Ginsberg published by City Lights Publishers. It contains poems written by Ginsberg between 1972 and 1977.Some of these poems include:*"Ayers Rock Uluru Song"...
, Poems 1972-1977, 1977 - Stefan BrechtStefan BrechtStefan Brecht was a German-born American poet, critic and scholar of theater.The son of playwright and poet Bertolt Brecht and actress Helene Weigel, Stefan Brecht was born in Berlin. He chose to stay in the United States when his family, who had arrived in Santa Monica, California in 1941,...
, Poems, 1978 - Peter OrlovskyPeter OrlovskyPeter Anton Orlovsky was an American poet.-Life and work:Orlovsky was born in the Lower East Side of New York City, the son of Katherine and Oleg Orlovsky, a Russian immigrant. He was raised in poverty and was forced to drop out of Newtown High School in his senior year so he could support his...
, Clean Asshole Poems & Smiling Vegetable Songs, 1978 - AntlerAntler (poet)Antler is an American poet who lives in Wisconsin.Among other honors, Antler received the Whitman Prize from the Walt Whitman Association, given to the poet "whose contribution best reveals the continuing presence of Walt Whitman in American poetry," in 1985. Antler also was awarded the Witter...
, Factory, 1980 - Philip LamantiaPhilip LamantiaPhilip Lamantia was an American poet and lecturer. Lamantia's visionary poems were ecstatic, terror-filled, and erotic which explored the subconscious world of dreams and linked it to the experience of daily life.-Biography:...
, Becoming Visible, 1981 - Allen GinsbergAllen GinsbergIrwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
, Plutonian Ode and Other Poems 1977-1980, 1982 - Pier Paolo PasoliniPier Paolo PasoliniPier Paolo Pasolini was an Italian film director, poet, writer, and intellectual. Pasolini distinguished himself as a poet, journalist, philosopher, linguist, novelist, playwright, filmmaker, newspaper and magazine columnist, actor, painter and political figure...
, Roman Poems, 1986 (reissued bilingually, 2005) - Scott Rollins (editor), Nine Dutch Poets, 1982
- Ernesto CardenalErnesto CardenalReverend Father Ernesto Cardenal Martínez is a Nicaraguan Catholic priest and was one of the most famous liberation theologians of the Nicaraguan Sandinistas, a party he has since left. From 1979 to 1987 he served as Nicaragua's first culture minister. He is also famous as a poet...
, From Nicaragua With Love, 1986 - Antonio Porta, Kisses From Another Dream, 1987
- Adam CornfordAdam CornfordAdam Cornford is an American poet, librettist, and essayist.-Biography:Adam Francis Cornford is the son of Christopher Cornford and a lineal descendant of naturalist Charles Darwin...
, Animations, 1988 - La Loca, Adventures on the Isle of Adolescence, 1989
- Vladimir MayakovskyVladimir MayakovskyVladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky was a Russian and Soviet poet and playwright, among the foremost representatives of early-20th century Russian Futurism.- Early life :...
, Listen!, 1991 - Jack KerouacJack KerouacJean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
, Pomes All Sizes, 1992 - Daisy ZamoraDaisy ZamoraDaisy Zamora is one of the most prominent figures in contemporary Latin American poetry. Her work is known for its uncompromising voice and wide-ranging subject matter that dwells on the details of daily life while encompassing human rights, politics, revolution, feminist issues, art, history and...
, Riverbed of Memory, 1992 - Rosario MurilloRosario MurilloRosario Murillo is a Nicaraguan poet and revolutionary who fought in the Sandinista revolution in 1979. She is also the wife of current President Daniel Ortega and is the First Lady of Nicaragua, a title she also held in 1985 when her husband became President 6 years after the Sandinista National...
, Angel in the Deluge, 1992 - Jack KerouacJack KerouacJean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
, The Scripture of the Golden Eternity, 1994 - Alberto Blanco, Dawn of the Senses, 1995
- Julio CortázarJulio CortázarJulio Cortázar, born Jules Florencio Cortázar, was an Argentine writer. Cortázar, known as one of the founders of the Latin American Boom, influenced an entire generation of Spanish speaking readers and writers in the Americas and Europe.-Early life:Cortázar's parents, Julio José Cortázar and...
, Save Twilight: Selected Poems, 1997 - Dino CampanaDino CampanaDino Campana was an Italian visionary poet. His fame rests on his only published book of poetry, the Canti orfici , as well as his wild and erratic personality, including his ill-fated love affair with Sibilla Aleramo...
, Orphic Songs, 1998 - Jack Hirschman, Front Lines: Selected Poems, 2002
- Semezdin Mehmedinovic, Nine Alexandrias, 2003
- Kamau Daaood, The Language of Saxophones, 2005
- Cristina Peri RossiCristina Peri RossiCristina Peri Rossi is an Uruguayan novelist, poet, translator, and author of short stories.Considered a leading light of the post-1960s period of prominence of the Latin-American novel, she has written more than 37 works. She was born in Montevideo, Uruguay but was exiled in 1972, and moved to...
, State of Exile, 2008 - Tau by Philip LamantiaPhilip LamantiaPhilip Lamantia was an American poet and lecturer. Lamantia's visionary poems were ecstatic, terror-filled, and erotic which explored the subconscious world of dreams and linked it to the experience of daily life.-Biography:...
and Journey to the End by John Hoffman, 2008 - David MeltzerDavid MeltzerDavid Meltzer is an American poet and musician of the Beat Generation and San Francisco Renaissance. Lawrence Ferlinghetti has described him as "one of the greats of post-World-War-Two San Francisco poets and musicians." Meltzer came to prominence with inclusion of his work in the anthology, The...
, When I Was A Poet, 2011