Poetry

Celebration: Poems Under the Dome

Friday, 4/24/2026
5:30 - 8:00
City Hall
Address

1 Dr Carlton B Goodlett Pl
San Francisco, CA 94102
United States


San Francisco Public Library presents Poems Under the Dome at San Francisco's majestic City Hall. The 21st annual event features an all-ages open mic to celebrate National Poetry Month. San Francisco Poet Laureate Genny Lim will read the first poem. All poets and poetry lovers are welcome to attend. Participants put their name in a hat for a chance to read one poem in under three minutes in the North Light Court of San Francisco City Hall. 

Organizers:

E.K. Keith is a poet in San Francisco and teacher librarian in San Francisco public schools. She makes fun things happen, like poetry open mics and writing workshops. She has been organizing and hosting Poems Under the Dome for 21 years. Her collection of poetry Ordinary Villains is available to check out at SFPL.

Val Ibarra is a homegrown and award-winning San Francisco poet, community radio host and event producer. She's been a featured performer at Litquake and the Word Party and has twice served on the San Francisco Poet Laureate Selection Committee.

Charlie Getter performs poems on the street corner at 16th & Mission in San Francisco every Thursday night and has for the last twenty-two years (23 in May!). He has an MFA in Poetics and his fourth collection of poems, Why... explained. will be released later this year from Seventh Tangent Press.

Richard Ivanhoe loves poetry, and he brings his dedication to the community as the host of On the Page/Off the Page, a popular poetry open mic at the Page Branch Library in the Haight. He also co-hosts the Sacred Grounds open mic. His poems will provoke your thinking and tickle your intellect.

Cat Bell puts the power in flower power. She will relentlessly encourage and gently inspire you. She reliably does the work that makes the world a better place.

Dan Brady is the wheels if poetry were a bike. He has kept poetry rolling through San Francisco by hosting Sacred Grounds open mic, co-hosting 1428 Poets Open Mic at the North Beach Branch Library, creating a global open mic calendar, and sharing his poems in person, online, and in books.

Connect with Find Poems Under the Dome on Facebook | Instagram | Website 

 


Connect with your community through Library gatherings.

Build connections with others in our local programs.

Programs designed to celebrate the art of the poem, including readings and talks.


This program is sponsored by Friends of the San Francisco Public Library.


Attending Programs

All programs are drop-in (no registration necessary) unless otherwise noted. All SFPL locations are wheelchair accessible. For accommodations (such as ASL), call (415) 557-4557 or contact accessibility@sfpl.org. Requesting at least 3 business days in advance will help ensure availability.

This program will be conducted in English unless otherwise noted.

Notice: This event may be filmed or photographed. By participating in this event, you consent to have your likeness used for the Library’s archival purposes and promotional materials. If you do not want to be photographed, please inform a staff person or the photographer. A sticker will be provided to help identify you so that we can avoid capturing your image.


Public Notice and Disclaimer

This program uses a third-party website link. By clicking on the third-party website link, you will leave SFPL's website and enter a website not operated by SFPL. This service may collect personally identifying information about you, such as name, username, email address, and password. This service will treat the information it collects about you pursuant to its own privacy policy. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of each third-party website or service that you visit or use, including those third parties with whom you interact through our Library services. For more information about these third-party links, please see the section of SFPL’s Privacy Policy describing Links to Other Sites.

The views and opinions expressed in programs presented by groups unaffiliated with SFPL do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SFPL or the City.