The archive of West Coast photographer/photojournalist Clay Geerdes (1934-1997) is now (and has been for the past five years and more) in the capable hands of his close friend
David Miller. All manner of great (and important) documentary images. For his page on Allen Ginsberg – see here
Thanks to Jerry Cimino and The Beat Museum (which will be re-opening soon) for a heads-up on this one – Allen’s early poems at Columbia, 1947 – “The Proposal” and “Love Letter – Easter Sunday 1947″, both of which appear in this very scarce edition of the Columbia Review (dated, May 1947).
Neither piece is included in the Collected Poems, nor, it is noted, even in the Uncollected, Wait Till I’m Dead.
Early Ginsberg – Remember this?
Ginsberg’s Karma – Ram Devineni and Bob Holman‘s Ginsberg documentary that we wrote about here last week gets an early review by Sandip Roy in First Post (see also his podcast (from “Dispatches from Kolkata” – here )
and don’t miss the pre-recorded discussion with Devineni and Holman, joined by biographer, Deborah Baker (author of A Blue Hand) and Beat scholar, Tony Trigilio – here
In our notification of the latest print issue of Beatdom, we may have failed to note this (from Beatdom on-line) – Mike Breger‘s essay “Metropolitan Greetings – Allen Ginsberg Behind the Iron Curtain (from Havana to Moscow)” – “No matter where on the globe he is, or who he is with, Ginsberg attempted to relate to himself and others on a human level, as a part of the world-soul, rather than as an American. It is this insistence on humanity that cements Ginsberg’s status as a true world citizen”.
…which brings us to another (deserving) plug for Beatdom editor, David S Wills‘ 2019 book, World Citizen: Allen Ginsberg as Traveller
Michael McClure‘s posthumous last collection Mule Kick Blues continues to garner great reviews. Read John Aiello‘s recent assessment of the book in the Electric Review
Marianne recites Wordsworth (from The Prelude Book First – Introduction – Childhood and School-Time)
As you may have heard, an unmarked grave of 215 First Nations children was discovered recently at a former Residential School in Kamloops, BC (Canada). “Chief Rosanne Casimir of the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc First Nation said the remains of the children, some believed to be as young as 3, were confirmed with the help of ground-penetrating radar.”
This article has an interesting connection with Allen Ginsberg. It interviews a survivor of the residential school: “Garry Gottfriedson, whose poems and books explore Indigenous identity”.
“Mr. Gottfriedson, who provides counsel and curriculum advice to Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops on Secwepemc Nation protocols and cultural practices, said his residential school experiences formed the basis of his life’s work.
“American beat poet Allen Ginsberg took him under his wing after reading his poems about the fear and rage drawn from the residential school experience, said Mr. Gottfriedson, who studied creative writing at Naropa University in Boulder, Colo. He said the anger, horror and determination to rise above the circumstances facing Indigenous people in his poems appealed to Mr. Ginsberg, who taught at Naropa University.”
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-kamloops-residential-school-survivor-says-canadian-outpouring-can/?fbclid=IwAR3mWb4xiN4B0XYJ0GmxG5a5kxdxJhW6b7lDyF8hJhdfOek0u9agx5FGmUM