From San Francisco to Europe & Back

Former San Francisco Poet Laureate, painter & translator, Jack Hirschman performs with Swedish-born San Francisco poet, Agneta Falk and special guest, George Long on saxophone.


Jack HirschmanJack Hirschman is a poet and painter and has translated over two dozen books from German, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Albanian, and Greek. He is an assistant editor at the left-wing literary journal Left Curve and is a correspondent for The People’s Tribune. In 2006, Hirschman was appointed Poet Laureate of San Francisco by Mayor Gavin Newsom. In his Poet Laureate inaugural address, Hirschman envisioned creating an International Poetry Festival in San Francisco, reprising a great tradition from the City’s literary past. The Festival came to pass in 2007 and Hirschman was later named Poet-in-Residence with Friends of the San Francisco Public Library in 2009. Hirschman continues his work supporting the literary community and is the key organizer for the now biennial San Francisco International Poetry Festival. Hirschman is active with the Revolutionary Poets Brigade and curates the Poets 11 Anthology, which collects poetry from each of the City’s 11 districts.

Agneta FalkAgneta Falk was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1946. She is a poet, visual artist, editor and translator. In her twenties she moved to England, and in 1998 she moved to San Francisco. A former educator and co-director of a literature development agency, she’s organized and participated in many international poetry festivals. Her poetry is translated into many languages, and she exhibits her art internationally. Her latest book, Heart Muscle was published in 2009 by Multimedia Edizioni, Italy. She’s a member of the Revolutionary Poets Brigade.

George LongAbstract painter and jazz saxophonist, George Long has been living in San Francisco since 1977. A student of the abstract expressionist painting movement, he also studied Jazz Saxophone under the great alto sax player Sonny Simmons. Over the years, he has developed a unique style of solo saxophone, which stems from his experience with classical music, jazz, meditation and the poets he has known. The term “The Saxophone Poet” has been used to describe his playing. He has performed in San Francisco on the same stage with a variety of local and international poets including Lawrence Ferlenghetti, Jack Hirschman, Agneta Falk, ruth weiss and Amiri Baraka. Artwork and performance video can be seen on his website, georgelongartist.com.


This event is free of charge, and is happening at the Top of the Mark at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel

999 California Street (at Mason Street)
San Francisco, CA 94108
(415) 616-6916

MUNI 1 California