Works in Translation

Featuring programs—mostly of poets, Adnan to Zurita—either with work presented in translation from the original language, or else in which languages other than American English figure in the presentation. Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Diné, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Kurmanji, Latin, Lakota, Persian (Farsi), Portuguese (Brazil), Old Provençal, Spanish (South and Central American and Caribbean origins, plus Spain), Swedish, Tagalog, Yiddish....Programs range from audio-only recordings from the early years of The Poetry Center (1955–1969) to video (with downloadable (more)

Etel Adnan, a Memorial Tribute: May 14, 2022

The Poetry Center, in conjunction with the Tripwire Cross-Cultural Poetics Series, presents a Memorial Tribute to Etel...

Date: 2022-05-14

Antena: Jen Hofer and John Pluecker: September 27, 2018

For the second event in The Poetry Center's premier Tripwire Cross-Cultural Poetics Series, we present Antena, a...

Date: 09/27/2018

John Ashbery — USA: Poetry, NET Outtakes Series: March 4 & 6, 1966

The Poetry Center presents John Ashbery, reading and speaking of his poetry and poetics, and together with painter Jane...

Date: 1966-03-04

Zeina Hashem Beck and Farnaz Fatemi: October 12, 2022

The Poetry Center, in collaboration with the Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies, presents Farnaz Fatemi and Zeina Hashem...

Date: 2022-10-12

For Franco Beltrametti: April 29, 2016

The Poetry Center and The Green Arcade present a tribute to Franco Beltrametti (1937-1995), incorporating a screening of...

Date: 04/29/2016

Clayton Eshleman, Robert Kelly, and Paul Blackburn: April 11, 1969

The Poetry Center presents Clayton Eshleman, Robert Kelly, and Paul Blackburn reading from their works.

Date: 04/11/1969

Robert Bly: October 25, 1961

The Poetry Center presents Robert Bly, reading from his original poetry, subsequently published in his first book,...

Date: 10/25/1961

Buddhadeva Bose: April 6, 1965

The Poetry Center presents Bengali poet Buddhadeva Bose reading poetry in English translation from among other works his...

Date: 04/06/1965

Cardboard House Press: Giancarlo Huapaya, Omar Pimienta, José Antonio Villarán: November 7, 2019

The Poetry Center presents Giancarlo Huapaya (with translator Ryan Greene), Omar Pimienta, and José Antonio...

Date: 2019-11-07

Cardboard House Press/Cartonera Collective: Giancarlo Huapaya, Omar Pimienta, José Antonio Villarán, and Friends: November 8, 2019

The Poetry Center presents Giancarlo Huapaya, Omar Pimienta, and José Antonio Villarán, along with members...

Date: 2019-11-08

Ernesto Cardenal: May 16, 2015

The Poetry Center in conjunction with the Flor y Canto Festival presents a bilingual reading by Ernesto Cardenal. As...

Date: 05/16/2015

Florencia Castellano, Luis Felipe Fabre, and Pablo Katchadjian: October 9, 2016

The Poetry Center and Small Press Traffic co-present poets and translators published in the first two years of the...

Date: 10/09/2016

Luis Cernuda: December 6, 1961

The Poetry Center presents Spanish poet Luis Cernuda reading a selection of his poems in the original Spanish; a speaker...

Date: 12/06/1961

Chao Tze-Chiang: July 9, 1958

The Poetry Center presents Chao Tze-Chiang chanting in Cantonese, and providing English translations, from the work of...

Date: 07/09/1958

Hataałii and Colectivo CalleSon: February 22, 2024

The Poetry Center presents singer/songwriter Hataałii (a.k.a Hataałiinez Wheeler) joining us from...

Date: 2024-02-22

Alta and Jack Collom: October 10, 1976

The Poetry Center presents Alta and Jack Collom, reading from their poetry in the San Francisco State University Student...

Date: 1076-10-10

Peter Culley and Stacy Szymaszek: April 3, 2015

The Poetry Center presents poets Peter Culley, reading from a recent collaborative work done with Elisa Ferrari, then...

Date: 04/03/2015

LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs and Rachel Levitsky: October 3, 2013

The Poetry Center presents LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs and Rachel Levitsky, reading their work and engaging with...

Date: 2013-10-03

Essential Voices: Poetry of Iran and Its Diaspora: February 12, 2022

Co-presented with the  Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies  and  Diaspora Arts Connection , this...

Date: 2022-02-12

Legacy of Forugh Farrokhzad, with Sholeh Wolpé, Jasmin Darznik, and Shabnam Piryaei: December 3, 2020

The Poetry Center and the  Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies , San Francisco State University, co-present...

Date: 2020-12-03

Safaa Fathy: April 19, 2024

The Poetry Center, together with Tripwire journal and Artists' Television Access (ATA), co-presents Egyptian...

Date: 2024-04-19

Simon J. Ortiz and Jennifer Elise Foerster: September 17, 2022

The Poetry Center presents Simon J. Ortiz and Jennifer Elise Foerster, reading from their poetry, at Medicine for...

Date: 2022-09-17

Forrest Gander: September 6, 2018

The Poetry Center presents Forrest Gander, reading and in conversation. After opening with a reading from unpublished...

Date: 09/06/2018

Michael Hamburger: February 15, 1967

Michael Hamburger reads original poems and his translations of German poets.

Date: 02/15/1967

Dick Gallup and Victor Hernández Cruz: March 3, 1976

The Poetry Center presents Dick Gallup and Victor Hernández Cruz, reading from their poetry at San Francisco State...

Date: 1976-03-03

Poetry and Environmental Justice — featuring Ed Roberson, Tiffany Higgins, Eli Clare, Lehua M. Taitano: April 17, 2021

The Poetry Center, in conjunction with the  Poetry Coalition , presents one in a series of programs organized across...

Date: 2021-04-17

Stefan Hyner: April 28, 2016

The Poetry Center presents Stefan Hyner in a reading and talk entitled "This Other World Not Civilized." Hyner...

Date: 04/28/2016

¡INTER-RANCHO-NAL! — Minerva Reynosa, Aziz Córdova, Indira Isel Torres Crux, with Lourdes Figueroa and Josiah Luis Alderete: June 22, 2024

The Poetry Center, joining forces with San Francisco International Flor y Canto Literary Festival and our...

Date: 2024-06-22

Pierre Joris on Paul Celan: March 18, 2015

The Poetry Center and City Lights Books co-present Pierre Joris, reading his translations and discussing the work and...

Date: 03/18/2015

Pierre Joris and Nicole Peyrafitte: March 19, 2015

The Poetry Center presents poet and translator Pierre Joris reading, primarily, from his collection Barzakh: Poems...

Date: 03/19/2015

Tom Clark and Vincent Katz: February 5, 2016

The Poetry Center presents Tom Clark reading and commenting on his poetry, from various works and from manuscript, and...

Date: 02/05/2016

Claudia Keelan and Rusty Morrison: April 30, 2015

The Poetry Center presents Rusty Morrison reading from Beyond the Chainlink (Ahsahta Press) and new works, along with...

Date: 04/30/2015

Carolyn Kizer: February 27, 1967

The Poetry Center presents Carolyn Kizer reading other poets' works as well as her own poems and Classical Chinese...

Date: 02/27/1967

Brandon Shimoda and Aisuke Kondo: March 7, 2019

The Poetry Center presents Brandon Shimoda and Aisuke Kondo, featuring a reading, an art presentation, and conversation....

Date: 03/07/2019

José Kozer: November 10, 2016

The Poetry Center and the Departments of Modern Languages and Literatures, and Jewish Studies, present José Kozer...

Date: 11/10/2016

Alana Marie Levinson-LaBrosse and Shook: May 6, 2023

The Poetry Center, in conjunction with  Tripwire :  a journal of poetics,  and together with our friends...

Date: 2023-05-06

Chris Martin and Imane Boukaila — On Poetry, Autism and Our Neurodivergent Future: March 21, 2024

The Poetry Center, together with the  Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability  at San Francisco State,...

Date: 2024-03-21

Thanasis Maskaleris and Nanos Valaoritis: May 23, 1969

The Poetry Center presents Nanos Valaoritis reading from his poetry in English and Thanasis Maskaleris reading a...

Date: 05/23/1969

David Melnick: April 23, 1984

The Poetry Center presents David Melnick, in what is apparently the only existing recording of the poet performing his...

Date: 1984-04-23

José Montoya: April 13, 1977

The Poetry Center presents José Montoya, activist and co-founder (with Esteban Villa) of the Royal Chicano Air...

Date: 1977-04-13

Nancy Morejón: September 4, 2014

The Poetry Center, together with Women and Gender Studies, Latina/Latino Studies, and Africana Studies at San...

Date: 2014-09-04

New Voice Series, featuring Jennifer S. Cheng, Karla Myn Khine, Evelyn Jo, and music by Neblinas del Pacífico: May 9, 2024

The Poetry Center presents poets Jennifer S. Cheng, Karla Myn Khine, and Evelyn Jo, each reading their work. This is the...

Date: 2024-05-09

Simon J. Ortiz: November 19, 1975

The Poetry Center presents Simon J. Ortiz, in this early reading of his work at San Francisco State University. Ortiz...

Date: 1975-11-19

Margaret Randall and Sergio Mondragon: December 15, 1966

The Poetry Center presents Margaret Randall and Sergio Mondragon reading their work. George Hitchcock reads the English...

Date: 12/15/1966

Margaret Randall, Eight Decades of Cuban Poetry: March 30, 2017

The Poetry Center presents Margaret Randall reading and in conversation. Randall speaks and reads from the anthology she...

Date: 03/30/2017

Kenneth Rexroth: July 13, 1955

The Poetry Center presents Kenneth Rexroth reading from his poetry and translations.

Date: 07/13/1955

Kenneth Rexroth: February 23, 1965

The Poetry Center presents Kenneth Rexroth, reading translations as well his own selected works.

Date: 2/23/1965

Kenneth Rexroth: July 2, 1974

The Poetry Center presents Kenneth Rexroth, reading from his poetry and from his translations from classic Japanese...

Date: 1974-07-02

Cristina Rivera Garza and Kit Schluter: March 4, 2021

The Poetry Center presents Cristina Rivera Garza and Kit Schluter, reading and in conversation. Schluter reads three...

Date: 2021-03-04

Ted Greenwald and Al Robles: November 10, 1976

The Poetry Center presents Ted Greenwald and Al Robles, reading their work in succession for this New York–San...

Date: 19761110

Jerome Rothenberg: November 14, 2017

The Poetry Center presents Jerome Rothenberg, reading and in conversation. Rothenberg reads works from several of his...

Date: 11/14/2017

Muriel Rukeyser: July 16, 1958

The Poetry Center presents Muriel Rukeyser reading from her poetry and translations of Octavio Paz.

Date: 07/16/1958

Vanessa Angélica Villarreal and Raquel Salas Rivera: November 21, 2019

The Poetry Center presents Vanessa Angélica Villarreal and Raquel Salas Rivera, reading and in conversation....

Date: 2019-11-21

Raquel Salas Rivera and Vanessa Angélica Villarreal: November 22, 2019

The Poetry Center presents Raquel Salas Rivera and Vanessa Angélica Villarreal, at Moe’s Books in Berkeley....

Date: 2019-11-22

Gary Snyder: November 29, 1964

The Poetry Center presents Gary Snyder reading translations of Kenji Miyazawa and his own work, mostly unpublished at the...

Date: 11/29/1964

Gary Snyder: December 10, 1969

The Poetry Center presents Gary Snyder reading from his translations of Japanese and Chinese Poetry, as well as...

Date: 12/10/1969

Gary Snyder with Wang Ping: November 13, 2021

Gary Snyder, after reading from his Cold Mountain (Han Shan) Poems and his poem "Axe Handles," with Wang Ping...

Date: 2021-11-13

Charles Alexander and Susan Thackrey: February 2, 2017

The Poetry Center presents Charles Alexander and Susan Thackrey reading and in conversation. Alexander reads from Pushing...

Date: 02/02/2017

“Tin Tan” Magazine Reading — Alma Luz Villanueva, Wilfredo Castaño, Alejandro Murguía: October 25, 1978

The Poetry Center presesnts a reading in celebration of  Tin Tan magazine , featuring readings by contributing...

Date: 1978-10-25

Tomas Tranströmer: March 4, 1974

The Poetry Center presents Tomas Tranströmer, reading his poetry in translations by May Swenson, Robert Bly, and...

Date: 1974-03-04

Monique Wittig and Jayne Cortez: April 12, 1985

The Poetry Center presents Monique Wittig and Jayne Cortez, reading their work on the opening night of the three-day...

Date: 1985-04-12

James Wright: April 26, 1965

The Poetry Center presents James Wright sharing his favorite poetry and reading from The Branch Will Not Break .

Date: 04/26/1965

New Voice Series, featuring Raul Ruiz, Zêdan Xelef, Alexiz Angel Romero, and Bianca White: May 5, 2022

The Poetry Center presents the New Voice Series, in its second annual iteration. The series features a poet...

Date: 2022-05-05

Nobuyuki Yuasa: November 15, 1966

The Poetry Center presents renowned Japanese scholar-translator Nobuyuki Yuasa talking on Basho and the haiku tradition,...

Date: 11/15/1966

Maged Zaher reads Egyptian Poets: April 23, 2015

The Poetry Center presents poet, editor, and translator Maged Zaher reading from The Tahrir of Poems: Seven Contemporary...

Date: 04/23/2015

Tatiana Luboviski-Acosta and Daisy Zamora: October 4, 2018

The Poetry Center, with support by the Sam Mazza Foundation, presents Mazza Writer in Residence Tatiana Luboviski-Acosta...

Date: 10/04/2018

Louis Zukofsky — USA: Poetry, NET Outtakes Series: March 16, 1966

The Poetry Center presents Louis Zukofsky, March 16, 1966, speaking of his work and its background, of literary...

Date: 1966-03-16

Raúl Zurita and William Rowe, with Nuri Gené-Cos: April 9, 2009

The Poetry Center presents renowned Chilean poet Raúl Zurita, together with poet, scholar of Latin American...

Date: 2009-04-09