The San Francisco International Poetry Festival kicks off today and runs through Sunday. Our own Richmond Library will be hosting two events this Saturday, July 25. Details are below. To see the full list of events for the festival, visit sfipf.org.
Children’s Story Time
Join host Sarah Menefee and poets/authors Ãmbar Past (Mexico), Jorge Argueta (El Salvador), Tony Robles (The Philippines), and Cletus N. Nwadike (Sweden) for a children’s story time and book reading, and a book giveaway. with Ãmbar Past, Cletus Nelson Nwadike
Saturday, July 25 | 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm at Richmond Branch Library (351 9th Avenue)
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
Saturday, July 25 | 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm at Richmond Branch Library (351 9th Avenue)
More about the SF International Poetry Festival:
Mayor Gavin Newsom, San Francisco Poet Laureate emeritus Jack Hirschman, Friends of the San Francisco Public Library and the San Francisco Public Library present the second biennial San Francisco International Poetry Festival, July 23-26, 2009. The SFIPF takes place at the Palace of Fine Arts, public libraries and various venues throughout San Francisco. All events are free and open to the public.
This year’s landmark event will be co-hosted by Hirschman and San Francisco Poet Laureate Diane di Prima. San Francisco Poet Laureate emeritus Lawrence Ferlinghetti will be presented with a special honor. Robert Mailer Anderson and Nicola Miner are the Honorary Chairs of the SFIPF.
The festival honors San Francisco’s great legacy of hosting and encouraging cross cultural dialogue. In 2007 the first ever SFIPF, a four-day extravaganza, drew thousands of people from the Bay Area and beyond to venues and celebrations throughout the City, including a street party in North Beach, youth events, book signings, translation workshops and more.
Since the 2007 Festival, Friends of the SFPL has presented smaller poetry festivals in a variety of languages, such as the Iranian Literary Arts Festival, Vietnamese Poets of the Diaspora and Flor y Canto en el Barrio: A Celebration of Latino Poetry, in their ongoing effort to continue to build cultural bridges, celebrate the literary arts and foster international dialogue.