Allen Ginsberg

1. Allen Ginsberg “Poetry is the one place where people can speak their original human mind. It is the outlet for people to say in public what is known in private.” -Allen Ginsberg

2. Ginsberg’s Early Years • Born June 3, 1926 in Newark, NJ • His mother was a communist and often took her sons with her to the meetings • Life was unpredictable due to his mother’s mental illnesses

3. Early Years • Greatly admired Walt Whitman and William Carlos Williams • Experienced homosexual desires while in high school • Attended Columbia University at 17 where he became friends with Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs. • Joined the Marines in 1945 after being suspended from Columbia

4. Middle Years • Took part in many experiments with drugs • Befriended Neal Cassady, Timothy Leary, and Bob Dylan and the Beat Movement began • Traveled throughout the world and continued writing poetry • Began to express his liberal views including gay rights, recreational drug use, antiwar protests, and much more

5. Later Years • Continued writing poetry, traveling the world, and leading protests • Began to teach at Columbia College and took up photography • Died in 1997 from liver cancer caused by Hepatitis C

6. The “Beat Movement” • Ginsberg became the leading voice of the “Beat Movement” beginning in the 1950s • Celebrated non-conformity, spirituality, and creativity • Members of the movement were early forms of hippies • Other founders included good friends Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, Gregory Corso, and Peter Orlovsky

7. Lifestyle • Supported gay rights as he was gay • Supported recreational drug-use and sexual freedom • Studied Buddhism • Protested the Vietnam War • Supported free speech

8. Poetry • Ginsberg’s poems reflected his lifestyle • The writing of the style varied with every poem; most were free verse with words thrown onto a page, while some were constructed to make use of rhyme and meter.

9. Common Themes • Dislike of America • American conformity • America’s selfish desires • Protest of war • Sexual activity • Anti-nationalism

10. Poetry • Most famous poems include “Howl”- a biography of his life and reflects liberal views • “Kaddish”- written about mother and her mental demise • Other famous poems include: “America,” “A Supermarket in California,” and “Reality Sandwiches”

11. “Howl” • Ginsberg’s most famous poem first published in 1956 and was written for Carl Solomon • Gave him great popularity but caused much controversy because of its risqué topics • The poem’s publisher was arrested for knowingly publishing a poem with horrid obscenities, but he was found innocent • “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked.”

12. Others on Ginsberg • “Ginsberg came to represent opposition to any oppressive mode of thought and behavior” (Paschen 276). • “He rarely failed to provoke controversy” (Paschen 275).

13. Works Cited • Morgan, Bill. I Celebrate Myself, The Somewhat Private Life of Allen Ginsberg. New York: Pengiun Group, 2006. • Motion, Andrew. "Allen Ginsberg." The Poetry Archive. 2005. Poetry Archive. 17 Apr 2008 http://www.poetryarchive.org • Paschen, Elise. Poetry Speaks. Nashville: Sourcebooks MediaFusion, 2001.