SF’s “National Poetry Month” Celebration
April is National Poetry Month and the San Francisco Public Library has scheduled abundant programs to entice the entire community.
From readings by world-renowned poets to films about national poets laureate, from poems in your pocket to blackout poetry crafts, the Library has something for everyone in honor of National Poetry Month.
SF Public Library’s National Poetry Month Celebration
April 2019
All Branches
FREE and open to the public
The celebration kicks off on April 2 with a Poetry in Song Concert. Singers perform art-song arrangements of poetry by Victor Hugo, John Masefield, Friedrich Rückert, Albert Samain, Paul-Armand Silvestre, Théophile de Viau and others, with live piano accompaniment by Britton Day.
On April 9, San Francisco Poet Laureate Kim Shuck hosts an event celebrating Maya Angelou with local poets reading their own work, as well as Angelou’s own poems.
For fun, on April 18 neighbors can stop by the Western Addition Branch Library to pick up a poem to carry in their pocket all day. On April 15, teens will cut words from papers and magazines to create their own ransom note poems at the Bernal Heights Branch Library.
The Library’s poetry events culminate on April 30 in an Evening of South Asian-American Poetry with poets Athena Kashyap, Tanuja Mehrotra Wakefield, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Geeta Anand.
National Poetry Month highlights:
- Poetry in Song Concert – April 2, 6 p.m., Main Library
- Poe Tree Workshop – April 2, 4 p.m., Bernal Heights Branch
- Celebrating Maya Angelou with SF Poet Laureate Kim Schuck – April 9, 6 p.m., Main Library
- On the Page/Off the Page Open Mic Poetry – April 9, 7 p.m., Park Branch
- Poetry Collage and Altered Poetry Workshop – April 10, 3:30 p.m., Portola Branch (For teens and tweens)
- BlackOut Poetry – April 10, 4 p.m. North Beach and April 13, 2 p.m., Golden Gate Valley Branch
- Poets on Film: Rita Dove and Billy Collins – April 11, 3 p.m., Main Library
- Poem Jam – April 11, 6 p.m., Main Library
- Found Poetry Workshop – April 14, 3 p.m., Visitacion Valley Branch
- Ransom Note Poems – April 15, 2 p.m., Bernal Heights Branch (For teens)
- Poem in Your Pocket Day – April 18, all day, Western Addition Branch
- Open Mic Poetry – April 19, 2 p.m., Main Library Braille and Talking Book Center
- Russian Poems & Verses – April 23, 6 p.m., Richmond Branch
- Forum Magazine Celebrates National Poetry Month – April 24, 5:30 p.m., Main Library
- Poet Tongo-Eisen Martin: The Price of the Ticket – April 25, 6 p.m., Main Library
- SF Beautiful, SFMTA and the Poetry Society of America present Cedar Sigo – April 25, 6:30 p.m., West Portal Branch
- Poet Rozalie Hirs: Work in Stuttering – April 27, 12 noon, Main Library
- An Evening of South-Asian American Poets – April 30, 5:30 p.m., Main Library
