We’ve featured his work here before. Here’s Jonathan Collins‘ 2023 portrait of Allen Ginsberg
This weekend (Sunday June 16) at the Tyneside Irish Center, Newcastle, England, Tom Pickard and friends will be celebrating the 60th anniversary (marking the anniversary of the first poetry reading there) of the legendary venue, Morden Tower
An “all day bash” (on Bloomsday, no less – and James Joyce’s Ulysses begins in a tower!),
the events will include poetry, music, film, an open mic, and a Q&A with Pickard and Alex Niven, “in which audience members will be encouraged to share memories of the tower and the city in the 1960s and 1970s”.
Allen gave a number of readings at Morden Tower, most notably, a fondly-remembered reading in 1965 (his first reading in Europe of his epic poem “Kaddish” and the occasion of his first meeting with a major poetic hero, Basil Bunting).
“I learned more reading at Morden Tower than I had at a hundred universities”, he famously declared.
Also this weekend, Harry Smith celebrations in his old home state – “Harry Smith -Portland’s Prodigal Son” – “A three-day celebration in Portland, Oregon beginning on Saturday night at the Hollywood Theatre with a program of short films and music curated by Mississippi Records. On Sunday afternoon\, the next day, a Turn, Turn, Turn with Darrin Daniel, Chuck Pirtle and Rani Singh about Harry’s Pacific Northwest roots. and on Monday evening (June 17) at the Clinton Street Theater the “Oregon Territory premiere” of Harry’s magnum opus, Mahagonny“.
Thursday June 20th, 6 to 8 pm, (next Thursday) – another date for your calendar. Ginsberg archivist and more, Pat Thomas celebrates at the Record Archive, Rochester, New York (his old stomping grounds). He’ll be interviewed/in conversation with Pete Conners (author of White Hand Society – The Psychedelic Partnership of Timothy Leary and Allen Ginsberg, among other titles).
Mark Mothersbaugh (ex-Devo) on William Burroughs (from a lively interview on the occasion of the former’s Apotropaic Beatnik Graffiti
“He (Burroughs) actually gave us lyrics..I have to say, we kind of messed up. We were so busy at the time, we never turned them into a song. I regret that. We should have turned his lyrics into a song. They were pretty good. I could still do it. I’d have to do it with Devo because he gave it to Devo. Maybe we’ll do another record, and if we do, we’ll pull those out and memorialize him.”
– Yes. Great idea!
Meanwhile for more on Devo-and-William-Burroughs
Marc Olmsted pulls no punches (sic) reviewing Anne Murphy’s Neal Cassady book for Sensitive Skin