Poets Keep Memories of Iraq Alive 20 Years After US Invasion
Poetry graduate student and Iraqi native Zêdan Xelef and other poets discuss the 20th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Alumni
‘Soulmates with Paws’ author’s leash to John Steinbeck
Author and alumna Cal Orey wrote an article about how author John Steinbeck inspired her to write her book “Soulmates with Paws: A Collection of Tales & Tails.”
Campus community pays tribute to women of Iran through music, poetry
San Francisco State University students, faculty and alumni are coming together for two events this month supporting women’s rights in Iran. Admission is free.
SF State alum, author Ernest J. Gaines honored with USA stamp
Gaines (B.A., ’57) is most known for his novels ‘The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman’ and ‘A Lesson Before Dying’
A San Francisco State University alumnus is the latest American to be honored with a first-class stamp from the U.S. Postal Service. The late novelist Ernest J. Gaines is the face of the 46th stamp in the Black Heritage Series.
Gaines (B.A., ’57) is known for writing about the people in small-town Louisiana where he was raised, often exploring enslaved people, their descendants and their enslavers. He rose to fame in 1971 with “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,” a historical novel chronicling the recollections of its 110-year-old Black protagonist, whose life spans from slavery to the civil rights era. After garnering a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize, it was adapted into an Emmy Award-winning television movie starring Cicely Tyson. His novel “A Lesson Before Dying,” about a Black man on death row for a murder he did not commit, not only won the 1993 National Books Critics Circle Award, but was also an Oprah’s Book Club selection. President Barack Obama awarded Gaines the National Medal of the Arts in 2013. Gaines died in 2019 at age 86.
“Ernest J. Gaines remains an important role model for Creative Writing students at San Francisco State,” said May-lee Chai, associate professor and acting chair of the Creative Writing Department. “We remind our students that his first short story was published in our undergraduate journal, Transfer Magazine, which he later said led to multiple opportunities for him as a writer. His legacy as a literary giant and advocate for social justice is deeply inspiring.”
Gaines was born in 1933 on a plantation in Oscar, Louisiana. He lived in the same former slave quarters where his family had been residing for five generations. At age 15, he moved to the Bay Area — the Navy town of Vallejo — due to a lack of educational opportunities in the South. His region of rural Louisiana lacked both a high school and a library where Black people were welcome. After Vallejo Junior College and the Army, Gaines enrolled at SF State.
“It was there that I really got seriously into the writing,” Gaines said in a 2016 interview with the Academy of Achievement of his time at SF State. “I had some wonderful teachers on the campus at that time who were writers as well. And they encouraged me to write.”
Learn more about the SF State Creative Writing Department.
U.S. Postal Service releases Ernest J. Gaines stamp
U.S. Postal Service honors the work of author and alumnus Ernest J. Gaines with new stamp as part of its Black Heritage Series.
A Street Like Herb’s: A Story of Bad Luck
An essay by alum Eric Maisel revisits an occasion when he met with Professor Herb Wilner at his home.
Creative Writing Alumni named first-ever executive director of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass
Creative Writing Department alumnus John Caldon is the first-ever executive director for the San Francisco-based music festival Hardly Strictly Bluegrass
K.M. Soehnlein memorializes the early and intense years of AIDS activism in 'Army of Lovers'
Alumnus K.M. Soehnlein was interviewed about his new book “Army of Lovers.”
Piercing the Book Bubble: Litquake celebrates 23 years of bringing literature to the people
Litquake Operations Manager Hunter Thomas, an alumnus, was quoted in an article about the event’s 23rd anniversary.
The journey from Napa Valley journalist to poet: Michael Waterson's world of words
Journalist and poet Michael Waterson, an alumnus, was interviewed about publishing his first book of poetry, “Cosmology of Heaven & Hell”