Yesterday was Diane Di Prima‘s 81st birthday.
Here’s the extraodinary class she gave last May (with Professor Steven Goodman) at the California Institute of Integral Studies – in two parts, here and here
Earlier Diane Di Prima birthday shout-outs on the Allen Ginsberg Project here, here, and here
Here‘s a two-part story on another prominent Italian-American – Lawrence Ferlinghetti – here and here
and an excerpt from his forthcoming book – Writing Across The Landscape
(a further excerpt may be found – here)
& keeping the Italian theme, Gregory Corso’s Gasoline appears in a new edition in Italian
Here’s Fred Misurella and George de Stafano considering Gregory’s Italian-ness and reviewing The Whole Shot
Here’s Gregory on Italian tv (appearing approximately half-way through – he’s interviewed (he speaks in English), and reads (“The Whole Mess..Almost”), appearing in a sympathetic forum, (“Blitz” – un programma innovativo“), alongside the great and much-lamented Fabrizio de Andre)
Another wonderful piece of vintage footage on You Tube – William S Burroughs and Alex Trocchi, in London in the early ‘Sixties, in a seemingly well-attended Project Sigma gathering – “I’d like to make a rather unpopular statement here…”
Burroughs suggests a true “underground” figure should consider dressing like him, straight, invisible, inconspicuous – Trocchi’s not buying it.
Beat fetishists – check out these items
and – (Beat exploitation corner) – oh, dear, oh dear !
Not to be perceived as a thanato-blog – but it (inevitably) keeps happening – the “best minds” – (Lee Harwood last week) – keep fading away. Ken Irby’s passing to report on this week (he actually died eight days ago, but we omitted mention last week).
The magisterial Collected Poems – The Intent On was expertly and lovingly compiled by Kyle Waugh and Cyrus Console for North Atlantic Books> in 2010. Kyle was also instrumental in the gathering (along with William J Harris) in 2014 of a special feature for Jacket
Invaluable are his readings on Pennsound (Lee Harwood is featured there too)
and Irby poems and commentary – here and here. A chronology – here,
and a note from good friend, Pierre Joris
