Philip Lamantia – part 2

September 14, 2013Simon Pettet

[Philip Lamantia (1927-2005)]

Allen Ginsberg on Philip Lamantia continues

AG: Well, let’s get on to the actual texts, finally. One line I liked (page 39 0f Selected Poems).. did any of you get to read any of this? in advance? – Raise your hand if you did. Anybody not familiar with it at all?  Are these books unavailable or something? They were in the library, or two of them..

Student: No, they are walking off the reserve shelf. AG: There is a back. You have to go in the back and look. It’s the same thing, except you go in

… Read More

Friday’s Weekly Round-Up – 120

April 5, 2013admin

April 5 – Allen Ginsberg’s Parinirvana – April 5, 1997 – the date when Allen’s spirit left its bodily form. 

Big poetry celebration event tomorrow-night in Los Angeles (at Beyond Baroque) – Claiming Ginsberg – An Evening of Allen Ginsberg and Friends (featuring Ronee Blakely, Rick Overton, S.A. Griffin, Marc Olmsted, and a whole lot more). 

And speaking of the West Coast, a heads-up for the upcoming Hal Willner Kaddish performances (the performance at the San Francisco Jazz Festival is pretty much sold out, but you can still get tickets for the April 17 date at UCLA… Read More

The Responsibility of Allen Ginsberg

June 15, 2010admin

Really been itching to post this poem that Helen Weaver wrote a few years ago and posted on her blog for Allen’s birthday this year. So, finally here it is!  While we’re on the subject of Helen Weaver, be sure to check out her recently published memoir, The Awakener published by City Lights. A fantastic fun read.

The Responsibility of Allen Ginsberg

for a friend who said she couldn’t put “Allen Ginsberg” and “responsibility” in the same sentence

Clearly I have a different definition of the word

I think Allen was one of the most responsible people I’ve known

He … Read More

Helen Weaver: The Awakener

October 28, 2009admin

screen-shot-2016-11-18-at-11-40-35-am Helen Weaver’s book The Awakener: A Memoir of Kerouac and the 50s is now in stores, after nearly 20 years in the making. Weaver, whom Kerouac immortalized as Ruth Heaper in Desolation Angels, was one of the “two Helens” who awoke one snowy, cold December morning in 1956, to Allen, Peter and Jack freshly returned from Mexico with no place to stay. More details and information at City Lights – here

Steve Silberman’s written an informative review for SFGate/SF Chronicle – here… Read More