Allen Ginsberg Reading at The Intersection, San Francisco, 1971

July 29, 2017Simon Pettet

[Allen Ginsberg, 1971]

Another archived reading today (courtesy the irreplaceable PennSounds) – Allen Ginsberg reading at The Intersection for the Arts in San Francisco in 1971

AG: I’ll begin. Most of what I’ll read tonight is poetry from the last twelve months (sic), but I want to begin, prefatory, by a poem written in 1949, part of a book called Gates of Wrath, which will be published by Four Seasons Press, “Stanzas Written at Night in Radio City”      (“If money made the mind more sane…”…”Man runs after his own shadow”) – “Gary Snyder Reading Poesy … Read More

1974 – Scottish International Interview

June 24, 2017Simon Pettet

[Allen Ginsberg – Photograph(s) by Ian Dryden]

We’ve previously featured here footage from Allen’s 1973 visit to Scotland     ( a reading for the Center for Contemporary Arts in Glasgow). We also featured some grainy footage (and some transcription from his press conference). Here (with some duplication) is the interview that appeared in Scottish International, September 1973. Allen, as a note in the magazine reveals, had been visiting with Chogyam Trungpa (in exile then in Scotland)  and the Buddhist community at Samye Ling monastery at Eskdalemuir, near Dumfries, as well as giving readings and traveling around.  He had also taken time … Read More

Meditation and Poetics – 16

December 4, 2014admin

 [“Rarely, Rarely, Comest Thou Spirit of Delight (Portrait of Keats and Shelley)”- Gregory Corso, c.1994, (31 1/2″ x 35″), oil on canvas (originally collection of Allen Ginsberg)]

AG: Those who studied with me before or who have worked with me before this may be repeating some matter. Has anybody here read Shelley’s “Adonais”? Can you raise your hand? Has anybody here not ever heard of it? Raise your hand if you haven’t. Come on, you never heard of it there. So (raise your hand). You never heard of it, did you? Okay, so you can raise your hand … Read More

Meditation and Poetics – 15

December 3, 2014admin

[Sri Ramakrishna  (1836-1886]

AG: More breath would be in (Percy Bysshe) Shelley.  See, now, spirit.. divagating a little.. the reason that’s interesting (meditation poetics) is poetry is vocalized.  The vocalization is out on the breath.  So, in any case, we’re going to be dealing with the out-breath, one kind of out-breath or another – whether a silent out-breath or an out-breath full of vowels and consonants.  An out-breath full of vibrations or (whatever)  We’ve still got to recognize the breath as the ultimate spirit of poetry and breath is spirit.  Spirit – spiritus.  Latin.  What is spiritus? Student:(Latin?)

… Read More