Performance: When Cherry Blossoms Fall: SF Poet Laureate Genny Lim and Friends

San Francisco Poet Laureate Genny Lim, together with fellow Chinese American poet, Nellie Wong, will address the themes of life, death and renewal in the historical and personal contexts of their poems, accompanied by the Del Sol String Quartet violinist Hyeyung Sol Yoon. 

Genny Lim, San Francisco’s 9th Poet Laureate, is the first Chinese American appointed to the city’s three-year laureate position. She was born and raised in San Francisco’s Chinatown and North Beach neighborhoods and is a graduate of San Francisco State University and Columbia University. Her writing has been widely published and has received many awards. 

Nellie Wong is a poet who confronts social problems such as racism, sexism and labor issues through her poetry and community activism. Celebrating her 50th year as a published poet, her works include Dreams in Harrison Railroad Park (1977), The Death of Long Steam Lady (1986), Stolen Moments (1997), Breakfast Lunch Dinner (2012) and Nothing Like Freedom (2024). 

Hyeyung Sol Yoon is an artist at the margins of her American and Korean identities who plays the violin, composes, teaches, and organizes arts communities in a career that spans over two decades. Her experience of immigrating to the U.S. from Korea at the age of seven and later traveling to her motherland to experience its shaman rituals and folk performances continue to inspire and inform her own creative work. Hyeyung joined the Del Sol String Quartet in April 2023 after performing for 18 years as a violinist in the Chiara String Quartet.