Friday’s Weekly Round-Up – 339

October 27, 2017Simon Pettet

[Allen Ginsberg, photographed by  Kiyohide Hori]

Never did get around to mentioning Kiyohide Hori’s photo-show of Allen and of the Howl manuscript that took place (sadly now it’s down) in Japan this past summer

More Japanese news… “the Allen Ginsberg-inspired capsule”? – Some fervid debate in the “Comments” section here – “This is everything Allen Ginsberg stood against. These guys obviously know nothing about Allen Ginsberg or what he was all about. The poor guy must be turning in his grave” – (which elicits the response: “Please enlighten us. He was against materialism, which could be related … Read More

Allen in Peru 1960

October 5, 2013admin

  [Robert Frank  – Peru, 1948 – from Peru – Photographs by Robert Frank]

Beat scholarship – Pedro Casusol Tapias‘  “Visiones Divinas (Divine Visions) – Allen Ginsberg’s Peruvian Trip”, an illuminating account of a key episode in Allen’s early (post Howl)  biography, his journey to Peru, in the Spring of 1960, may be read here (in bilingual form) on the European Beat Studies Network  (Rebecca L Thompson provides an English translation)  – “como la sociedad no puede tocar con sus sucias manis mi alma, no hay peligro de que la aniquile” – “Since society is … Read More

Friday Weekly Round-Up – 129

June 7, 2013Simon Pettet

Ginsbergian Zeitgeist – We’re, admittedly, a little late in putting this up – but here‘s (recently-deposed) Russian power-broker/politician, Vladislav Surkov reading Allen Ginsberg (in English!) – “Sunflower Sutra” (the English begins approximately two minutes in) – [thanks too to “Cloudpine” – we should point out, entirely unrelated – for his fantasy Alexander-Rodchenko-inspired Howl cover!]

“No hope Communism/No hope Capitalism” – Here’s another surprising sighting, Gary Silverman’s “I saw the best taxes of my generation..”, [sic], an extended Ginsbergian metaphor in..(of all places) The Financial Times!

So, looking back on last week, birthday week… First, the New York

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Spontaneous Poetics – 38 (Reading List 9) (Charles Olson, Pablo Neruda)

February 19, 2013admin

[Charles Olson (1919-1970)]

AG: I was thinking originally, when I came in to move on from ballads to those songs – (Thomas Nashe, James Shirley – and I will get, I think, to Shirley at any rate), but I want to just finish off with this list up to, let us say, Charles Olson, because it’s up to that point that, after (Robert) Creeley, from Creeley on up, at least half the class has read something, so I’ll leave any further suggestions to a written list that I’ll make up. But of Olson, I‘d suggest the

… Read More

Spiritual Poetics – 5

August 4, 2011admin

[Pablo Neruda – (1904-1973)]
 
Student: Do you find that even just transcribing down straight thoughts tends to focus your attachment to your thoughts sometimes? I found that…

AG: Focus your attachment? What do you mean?

Student: Yeah, with journals. I found that keeping journals, I got so attached to thoughts, so aware of thoughts that I would, I think, actually, subtly manufacture more to make a more pleasing journal.

AG: Well, yeah, there’s a certain amount of baroque elegance that can be indulged in, playfulness. If it’s playful enough, it’s alright. … Read More