Douglas Field in the TLS (regrettably behind a firewall) notes Allen’s prescience about posthumous celebration – “In the title poem of Death & Fame: Last poems, 1993–1997,
Allen Ginsberg’s final, posthumously published collection, the speaker declares a wish for “a big funeral”. Written in the knowledge of the poet’s impending death, the poem imagines an assembled crowd of mourners: family, friends, spiritual teachers – including the Dalai Lama if he happened to be in town – and, “most important, lovers over half-century / Dozens, a hundred, more …”. .
He goes on, noting the extraordinary energies of the Ginsberg Estate (notably the Estate’s manager, Peter Hale and the tireless unsung production/curation work – heroic and continuing – by cohort, Jesse Goodman)
“Had Ginsberg divined the celebrations marking his centenary on June 3 this year”, he might have recognized in them the scale and spirit of the funeral he imagined. In the months surrounding his centennial year, his presence has been revived through a series of performances that echo his cultural afterlife”
He proceeds to iterate some of them:
“In San Francisco, where he lived during the early 1950s, the Kronos Quartet joined poets in a reading of Howl, while in New York, the Poetry Project at St Mark’s Church – long a focal point of the downtown avant-garde – marked his birthday with performances of poetry and music featuring figures closely associated with his milieu. (That setting itself carries a sense of continuity: Ginsberg first read there in 1968, sharing the stage with his father, Louis.) Further commemorations are set to follow in London on July 12, (Fields was writing before the event) where the Southbank Centre’s “Allen Ginsberg at 100” event promises to extend the convergence of poetry and music that was central to his career”
Indeed it was – and indeed it did. Last Sunday’s Centennial gathering was a dazzling success. “Electric and eclectic, dynamic and dialectic”, Simon Warner presents an enthusiastic review/description – here
Similarly subsequent events (at London’s Swedenborg House) were thrillingly received
And more Allen Ginsberg Centennial events to come.
Ongoing celebrations:
Friendship and Community, Allen’s photo-show at the University of Toronto’s Thomas Fisher Library, the Centennial photo show – which opened there May 1st – remains up through to the end of this month. Yehyun Lee reviews it at length for artoronto – here
and Notes From The Margins – Allen Ginsberg and Vivian Maier continues at New York’s Howard Greenberg Gallery (up till September 12th) – see here
Nova ’78, Aaron Brookner’s extraordinary archival retrieval (we’ve noted it before on the Allen Ginsberg Project) is currently playing (this weekend) in Australia (tomorrow night’s screening at the Perth International Film Festival). We’ve already drawn your attention to this but here’s two further interviews with the director – here and here
It’s Hunter S Thompson‘s birthday tomorrow! See our guest posting by David S Wills on Allen Ginsberg and Hunter S Thompson – here. He would have been 78 years old had he decided to live on. What would Hunter have said/written about the current shit-show? One can only imagine.
Well there’ll be a fair bit of imagining this weekend, at least in New York City, since today marks the second day of the hugely ambitious GonzoFest 2026 NYC (today, through till Sunday – full details here)
David S Wills will be among those participating, speaking on a panel Saturday night at Howl Happening on “Hunter S Thompson and The Beat Generation”, alongside Kurt Hemmer, Brian Hassett, Peter Richardson, Jeff Weiss, and poet-impresario Ron Whitehead
He’ll also be traveling to Woodstock and reading and speaking at the Shivastan Poetry Ashram Bookshop, Monday, from 5 to 8pm.
More David S Wills – don’t miss his most recent essay – (he’s a prolific contributor) – on the equally un-missable Beatdom Substack – “Peotl – Eaters of the Hip Generation – An in-depth essay on the Beat writers’ experience with peyote, 1950-1959”
& Ron Whitehead will be performing Saturday night alongside Lee Renaldo, Imogen Poots, and David Amram and his Quintet, following the Howl Happening “Beat Generation” panel, at “The Gonzo Ball!” at Joe’s Pub – “in support of the Hunter S. Thompson Scholarship for Veterans at Columbia University, with the kind assistance of the Gonzo Foundation” – just one of the many Gonzo experiences celebrating Hunter S Thompson this weekend.
“Holy! holy! holy!..” – Patti Smith last Sunday at the Folies Bergère in Paris: