Youth Speaks. By making the connection between poetry, spoken word, youth development and civic engagement, Youth Speaks aims to deconstruct dominant narratives in hopes of achieving a more inclusive, and active, culture. Believing that young people have the tools to take control of their lives through language, Youth Speaks encourages youth to express themselves using their own vernacular.
SF State Poetry Center and American Poetry ArchivesThe Poetry Center organizes and presents some 30 public readings, performances and poetry-related talks each year, on the SF State campus and at other Bay Area venues, featuring outstanding poets and writers from across the literary spectrum. The Poetry Center Reading Series, founded in 1954, is one of the longest-running such programs in the country, with roots in the 1950s San Francisco Poetry Renaissance. The Poetry Center houses the American Poetry Archives, an historic collection of over 5,000 hours of original audio and video recordings documenting the Reading Series up to the present. Open access to available audio/video at Poetry Center Digital Archive.
SF State Poetry Center Digital ArchiveThe Poetry Center's dedicated online archive makes available new original video recordings (with audio downloads), plus early original audio recordings from the 1950s onward. Digital documents are drawn from unique original magnetic-tape and film recordings, housed on-site in The Poetry Center's American Poetry Archives collection at San Francisco State University. New recordings are added as programs occur each season, Fall and Spring, in The Poetry Center Reading Series. Historic recordings are added incrementally as digital files are prepared and cataloged from throughout the collection.
The Beat MuseumThe Beat Museum has been independently owned and operated since its inception in 2003. We are dedicated to carrying on the Beat’s legacy by exposing their work to new audiences, encouraging journeys—both interior and exterior—and being a resource on how one person’s perspective can have meaning to many.
Poetry Flash: Literary Review & Calendar for the WestPOETRY FLASH, LITERARY REVIEW & CALENDAR FOR THE WEST builds community through literature, providing literary writing, access to literary activities, information, and inspiration to writers and the public through publishing and events.