Barney Rosset’s passing, on Tuesday, continues to seem like a watershed moment in the history, certainly in America, of literary censorship (see our posting here and Rosset’s New York Times obituary here). Louisa Thomas’ 2008 Newsweek profile of him can be found here and Loren Glass’s two-part piece for the Los Angeles Review of Books here.and here
Emeritus professor at the University of Massachusetts, Jules Chametzky, in Jewish Currents, honors Allen as a “pioneering poet and activist”, and concludes with a personal testament, saluting (his) “candor yes, courage, yes, and most assuredly, heart”.
The Boo-Hooray Gallery in New York City, we’ve spoken of before, in the context of their rich miscellaneous Angus MacLise show. Time to do so again – this time focusing on another plethora of artifacts, having to do with Ed Sanders, author of the recently-published memoir, Fug You. Video of Ed reading at the opening may be viewed here. The show closes March 8.
Steve Miles’ bunker. The noted Boulder, Colorado based photographer, Steve Miles (see here for one of his many iconic Ginsberg shots) gives a quick video-tour of his darkroom.
East Hill Farm – Marc Olmsted reviews Gordon Ball’s new book.
“..Grâce à Allen Ginsberg. Il était venu dans mon appartement lire un poème, ça m’avait beaucoup touché. Je lui ai montré mon portfolio, ce que j’avais fait. Il a regardé, il m’a dit qu’il aimait bien. Mais il ajouté : Weiwei, je n’arrive pas a imaginer qu’aucune galerie puisse jamais montrer a New York un artiste chinois, ou l’art chinois.”
(Thanks, Allen Ginsberg. He came to my apartment to read a poem, that greatly moved me. I showed him my portfolio, that I’d compiled. He looked, he told me that he liked (my work) very much. But he added: Weiwei, I can’t imagine that any gallery in New York could ever show a Chinese artist, or Chinese art.)
Fast forward to June 2011!
Finally, a sound-byte from Michael C Hall (that’s right, t.v.’s Dexter) slated for the David Kammerer role alongside Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter)’s Allen, in the soon-to-begin-shooting Kill Your Darlings:
“While living in the East Village during the early 90s, I had the honor of meeting and visiting with Allen. To be counted among the actors charged with breathing life into this story gives me a gratifying sense of serendipity. His life and work are a continuing inspiration to me.”
– and to prove he’s not fibbing, there’s a snap of the two together here.