A wonderful portfolio of photos (connected to Allen’s current photography show at the Fahey-Klein Gallery in Los Angeles, Muses and Self, appeared this past week in The Guardian. Don’t miss it!
Patti Smith has always taken time out to acknowledge and spread the word about Allen, reading and performing his work. Here she is quoted in a recent article about a gig in Martha’s Vineyard:
“When we’re feeling low and we feel disconnected, there are people all through history (and) the sense of them is still with us…He was a great teacher, a great poet who was anti-war (and) put himself on the line for human rights over and over,”
and for recent footage of her reading (August 15, in Portland, Oregon), see here
Shocking that right now (as part of disturbing anti-LGBTQ initiatives) not only Howl but The Collected Poems of Allen Ginsberg, 1947-1980 are under threat of being banned in Texas.
Fortunately, some librarians and booksellers have been organized and have been fighting back – and (happy to report) with some success.
Yesterday, they were granted a last-minute temporary reprieve
The situation of book-banning in America however remains appalling. See PEN America‘s reporting – here
Texas tried to enact more book bans last year than any other state, but Texas is far from alone.
Harry Smith – “the cosmic scholar”, “a jack of too many trades” – John Szwed, his biographer, is interviewed on the radio by Christopher Lydon – here
A brief excerpt from his biography can be read here
Ed Sanders from a delightful interview that ran recently in the local Woodstock (Hudson Valley) paper:
“Howl”, you know, changed my life when I read it… Yeah, so I memorized “Howl”…. I grew up in a small farm town in Missouri, and there were cows on the field next to my house and I used to stand out in my yard and shout lines of “Howl” to the cows and bulls, you know, “I saw the best minds of my generation – MOO!”
Adam Snyder, the interviewer, naturally, collapses with laughter.
Born on this day (1896 in Kolkata, India) Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta, Swami Prabhupada. the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON,
Hare Krishna
Ginsberg and the Krishna’s – here and here
Wang Ping on Gary Snyder. We’ve featured this combination a number of times before (see, for example, here, here, and here). This week on Simon Warner’s Substack, Ping, in her essay, ‘Kitkitdizze & Gary Snyder’s 赤子之心 – Heart of Child’, writes, at length, about their special relationship:
“赤子之心chi zi zhi xin – heart of a red child, a person with integrity, purity and faith who can’t be destroyed by politics, rumor or dust of this world.
That is Gary Snyder, his joy flowering like a lotus, out of the muck. He’s that red child, the new-born, arriving with nothing but love, innocence and faith.
No wonder he can laugh like a child, under any circumstances. No wonder he knows everything. No wonder his poetry flows like rivers and mountains. No wonder so many people love him, in response to his unconditional love for life.”
upcoming September in Rome (more next week) – Gregory Corso events
Speaking of Gregory, here’s Bobby Yarra‘s new chapbook – Gregory Gave Me The World, out soon (available circa September 10) from Counter Culture Chronicles
Remembering Diane di Prima‘s long-time partner, Sheppard Powell who passed away, sadly, at the end of last week
and The Fall of America (Allen’s prophetically-named The Fall of America)
– The previously-announced The Fall of America Vol II – A 50th Anniversary Musical Tribute comes out next month. All proceedings to go to PEN/PEN America
Here‘s a little early taster: – Seb Taylor and “Over Denver Again”
“Following my reinterpretation of ‘Wales Visitation‘ (as Kaya Project on Fall of America Volume 1), I was once more drawn to the intimate nature of Allen’s recording. Blessed with a literal connection (as my own flight to Denver circled the city upon its approach) and with the melancholy reference to Neal Cassady‘s passing acting as a bittersweet theme, I knew this had to be a simple, thoughtful & evocative piece. A 1972 Telecaster Guitar, Valve Amplifier + Allen’s Recording was all the inspiration & equipment required”.