Ferlinghetti’s Birthday

Lawrence Ferlinghetti, “Godot,” 2008, Oil paints on canvas, 11 x 14 in. Photo by Ron Jones

Two Moscow memories from the recently-published Writing Across The Landscape

“On the walls of the Writers Union Cafe, I saw Allen’s three-fish symbol, drawn by him here in summer 1965 & I drew woman nude with inscription, “The door to the invisible is visible”

“Zoja Voznesensky concluded, after a discussion of Ginsberg (who had visited Moscow, summer of ’65) that Ginsberg was concerned with the interior world while I was concerned with the outside world and therefore my poetry was “more comprehensive” (or something like that – this was through an interpreter). I asked why, then, was his poetry so much more universal than mine. She replied that because the interior was more important than the exterior………. Later I reflected that if she knew Allen better, she might realize that it was Allen who is in fact the extrovert, I the introvert….”

Lawrence Ferlinghetti turns, believe it or not, ninety-seven today.
Happy Birthday, Lawrence! –

Check in on all-things-Ferlinghetti on Lawrence’s City Lights page – here.
(and his Facebook Fan Page – here)

Ferlinghetti interviewed by Jonah Raskin for the local San Francisco newspapers (in June of last year)

Recent interviews – (and Beat-international interviews) – Following up our recent notice of an Italian one, the ever-sprightly Lawrence Ferlinghetti interviewed in Spanish – here.

Here’s Lawrence’s elegy (from 1977) on Allen:

And don’t forget, of course, this book:

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