Presentation: Insurgent Beatitudes: The History of City Lights

With beguiling stories and images Peter Maravelis explores the multilayered histories of the unique cultural hub known as City Lights Bookstore. Renowned for its role in the cultural and literary life of San Francisco and the nation, as both bookstore and a publisher, City Lights has served as a beacon to book lovers everywhere. Its significant role in the freedom-of-speech battles of the previous century, for example, opened the way for independent publishers to feature works that had previously been suppressed. From the Beat generation to the punk experience, the zine explosion and today's resistance to censorship, City Lights continues to fight for progressive values, to encourage critical thinking and to serve as a cultural hub where ideas percolate. Under its roof, as also on the internet, City Lights brings the public together in dialogue with diverse artists, filmmakers, musicians, poets and thinkers, and deepens our discussions around culture, politics and the Zeitgeist. 

Peter Maravelis is the Community Outreach Director of City Lights.