Lawrence Ferlinghetti, is a poet, painter, liberal activist, and the cofounder of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers, a gathering place for the literary avant-garde and a focal point of the Beat movement. Author of poetry, translations, fiction, theater, art criticism, and film narration, he is best known for A Coney Island of the Mind (1958), a collection of poems that has been translated into nine languages.

Jack Hirschman is a poet and social activist who has written more than fifty volumes of poetry and essays. He is affiliated with the North Beach Beat generation. In 2006 Hirschman was appointed Poet Laureate of San Francisco by Mayor Gavin Newsom and named Poet-in-Residence with Friends of the San Francisco Public Library. Hirschman continues his work supporting the literary community and is the key organizer for the now biennial San Francisco International Poetry Festival.

About California Countercultures
Thinking Through the Arts and Design at Berkeley: California Countercultures is a UC Berkeley course cotaught by Natasha Boas, independent curator and critic of contemporary art and theory, and Michael Cohen, associate teaching professor in the African American studies department. The Wednesday public lecture series is organized by Natasha Boas. California Countercultures is sponsored by UC Berkeley’s Big Ideas program and the Arts + Design Initiative, with additional support from Cal Performances and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.