We are very pleased to be able to publish a great new interview with A. Robert Lee by Kurt Hemmer about the long awaited publication of Neal Cassady’s ‘Joan Anderson Letter’ via The Black Spring Press Group.
See also Jan Herman’s review article in International Times.
Congratulations to Professor Joan Qionglin Tan who has relaunched her “Center for Gary Snyder Studies”, which has moved from Hunan University to the Shanghai University of Economics and Finance. If you are interested to learn more please email Professor Tan – <joantan@hotmail.co.uk>
Read Matthew McLaughlin’s great review of Beat Scrapbook, accompanied by some magical photos contributed by Nicosia himself- here.
We have just published a wonderfully touching and articulate tribute to Diane di Prima by Estíbaliz Encarnación-Pinedo – please do check it out: This kind of bird flew backwards: Diane di Prima (1934-2020)
We are deeply saddened to hear the news of Diane di Prima’s death. A powerful, yet often delicate poet and writer, as well as a tireless teacher and activist who was instrumental in publishing Beat works.
More from The Allen Ginsberg Project here: https://allenginsberg.org/2020/10/diane-di-prima-1934-2020/
EBSN members Benjamin J. Heal and Erik Mortenson are co-organizing a seminar titled “Beat Internationalism” for next year’s American Comparative Literature Association’s virtual conference (April 8-11 2021). If you are interested in submitting an abstract time is short – please follow the instructions to upload here by 31st October 2020: https://acla.secure-platform.com/a/solicitations/2/sessiongallery
Outline:
The Beat Generation as literary movement is usually regarded as quintessentially American, rooted in the great American tropes of free expression, border crossing and anti-materialism. Often overlooked in favor of other literary movements, this seminar proposes to look beyond the familiar figures of Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs to investigate the relations between their works, aesthetics and techniques and those of Beat voices from across the globe. The shock waves of the radical poetics of Howl, publicized via the anti-obscenity court case, and the success of On the Road reverberated globally, and can be seen to form a foundation for experimental, politically radical works published around the world. Building on the developing and widening formulations of ‘Beat’ by scholars such as Jimmy Fazzino, this seminar will work towards a definition of ‘Beat Internationalism’ as applied to the works examined, and consider areas of convergence. More theoretical questions pertaining to the transnational turn in American literary studies, and the para-textual nature of Beat literature are also welcome. The Beat legacy continues to be felt across popular culture; with retrospectives and exhibitions featuring work by the Beats continuing to be a success. What do the Beats mean to contemporary audiences, and how are their techniques and styles employed in the works of contemporary writers and artists? How has the radicalism of the Beats manifested internationally?
Soft Need 23 will be the final issue of a little mag founded by Udo Breger back in 1973. Planned as another mag, Soft Need 23 ended up as a book of 260 pages with more than 80 contributors from all over the world & 190 illustrations.
Soft Need 23 is a book conceived in the spirit of friendship. Dedicated to Ian Sommerville, mathematician, friend & collaborator of William Burroughs & Brion Gysin, it will contain literary essays, photographs, poetry, visual art, caricature, memories & and all kinds of bits & pieces.
After two years of intense work, Soft Need 23 is now ready for printing. As to its production the editors have gone to their limits already, investing more than CHF 35’000 so far. They do hope that this wonderful project will meet your benevolent consideration and support, so the funds can be assembled to finally print Soft Need 23.
To find more details, please click on the link below:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/softneed23/soft-need-23
First episode in a planned regular feature for the EBSN website. “Playback – The EBSN Podcast” will attempt to fill some of the void left by Covid 19, by providing our members with some new and varied content.
In this episode Harris discusses the postponed CUT-UPS@60 conferences, his new editions of Burroughs’ classic cut-up texts, the future for the EBSN and more. Find out more and listen here.
We are very saddened to hear about the passing of ruth weiss, the Berlin-born Austrian-American performance poet who pioneered jazz performance poetry, inspired Jack Kerouac’s experiments with Haiku, and whose delicate, abstract works defied easy definition.
weiss’ work has been central to the studies of several EBSN scholars, notably Estíbaliz Encarnación-Pinedo, Stefanie Pointl, and Thomas Antonic, whose interview with ruth can be found here, and his touching obituary here.
EBSN Board member Frida Forsgren also co-edited the 2015 book Out of the Shadows with Michael J. Prince, in which weiss’ work is featured.
Thomas and Estíbaliz are also the editors of a soon to be published collection of essays on weiss which also features work by several EBSN members including Benjamin J. Heal, Polina Mackay, Frida Forsgren, Chad Weidner, Lars Movin and Stefanie Pointl.
Also upcoming is Thomas’ feature length documentary film “ruth weiss: One More Step West Is The Sea” (2021), and a full biography of weiss’ life and works.
Unfortunately, no orders can be taken after the August 1 deadline, so please help to keep the EBSN going, and grab a piece of Coronavirus memorobilia by buying one of our awesome shirts, HERE.
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