San Francisco has had four poets laureate.
Mayor Willie Brown created a committee to pick the San Francisco poet laureate in 1998.
Poets laureate are required to deliver a major address. They get a $5000 stipend.
The current poet laureate is Jack Hirschman, who was appointed by Gavin Newsom on January 12th, 2006.
Previous poets laureate were:
- Lawrence Ferlinghetti (appointed 1998)
- Janice Mirikitani (appointed 2000)
- devorah major (appointed 2002)
City Lights Bookstore's website has a list of SF poets laureate's work.
Poetry is an important part of San Francisco's history. See San Francisco Renaissance and beat poets.
