Welcome to The Poetry Center

The Poetry Center's Mazza Writer in Residence for Spring 2024, poet Priscilla Wathington, is joined for this mid-afternoon occasion by poet Sam Sax. The two of them each read from their work then engage in conversation with one another and their audience. This is the first of two public programs during Wathington's week-long residency, where she'll be visiting classes across the SF State campus as guest artist. Co-presented with Race & Resistance Studies. Supported by the Sam Mazza Foundation. 

The Poetry Center presents Mazza Writer in Residence Priscilla Wathington, reading her poetry that draws from her experiences as a Palestinian American and her past human rights advocacy work with local Palestinian organizations, and joining in conversation with filmmakers Colette Ghunim and Sara Maamouri. Their work-in-progress film Traces of Home (2024) explores the impact of exile (from Palestine and Mexico), through the lives of Ghunim's parents. Supported by the Sam Mazza Foundation. 

The Poetry Center's Tripwire Cross-Cultural Poetics Series welcomes poet and filmmaker Safaa Fathy, presenting her work in both poetry and film, and joining in conversation with her audience. This rare appearance by the Egyptian-born artist, visiting from her home in France, is presented with our gratitude to UK and US publishers Pamenar Press (Ghazal Mosadeq) and Litmus Press (E. Tracy Grinnell), whose translated editions of Safaa Fathy's works, Al Haschiche, and Where Not to Be Born, recently appeared. Her work appears also in Another Room to Live In: 15 Contemporary Arab Poets (ed. Omar Barrada & Sarah Riggs, Litmus, 2024). Program presented in conjunction with Tripwire journal and ATA.