Gordon Ball (whose iconic photograph of Virginia military academy students in a classroom reading Howl we featured, here on The Allen Ginsberg Project, a few weeks back), is a photographer, filmmaker, author, and the accomplished editor of several volumes of Allen’s journals, (notably Journals – Early ‘Fifties, Early ‘Sixties, and Journals – Mid Fifties 1954-1958, as well as the earlier (1975) Pulitzer-Prize-nominated Allen Verbatim: Lectures on Poetry, Politics, Consciousness.)
He is also, more recently, (2012), author of East Hill Farm – Seasons with Allen Ginsberg, a unique and wonderful memoir of his time spent as custodian of Allen’s up-state Cherry Valley Farm. (see our notice on that book – here)
David Wilk at WritersCast recently featured that book in a phone conversation with the author – listen in on the 30-minute podcast
From their conversation:
DW: I felt that that impulse (sic) was, without doubt, so much a part of Allen’s personality. He wanted to help people, in so many different ways, (but a lot of these were friends of his who were maybe not suited to the life of the land, as we might say)..
GB: That’s true, and.. After we’d been there a while, he told me that he got the farm for Kerouac.
DW: Right. And, of course, by the time the farm was really developed in any form, Kerouac was dying.
GB: Yeah, after a year and a half he died – yeah.
DW: Also it brought Orlovsky out of the city..
GB: Yes
DW: And you talk about Herbert Huncke being there and a number of people, and, of course Corso showed up…
Listen to the full program – here
Cape Cod Poetry Review‘s 2018 Summer issue is a double-issue. guest-edited by John Landry.
Beautiful works in it, like this (from John Wieners)
Chop Yr Lips
I’ve got some new kind of instrument in my mind
must be the moon coming up
got a long handle and golden strings
with Count Basie on ivory –
oh Charlie Parker how many forgotten
drew your old man into town
It broadcasts a short-wave radio set
backwards no lessons
just feeling Saturday’s ballroom.
Five poems from John Wieners, six from Gregory Corso, Joanne Kyger on Bill Berkson, Larry Fagin, Antler, Hettie Jones.., just some of the poets, 333 pages.
“Things I’ll Not Do (Nostalgias)” and “What Would You Do If You Lost It” translated into Spanish
The Essential Allen Ginsberg is now available in Spanish
sad to hear of the closure of The Village Voice but good to see this write-up of Village Voice photographer, Fred W McDarrah in yesterday’s New York Times. (more iconic photos).