Six Gallery reading

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The Six Gallery reading ( Six Gallery reading ) was a reading (by some as jamming) from and poems on 7. October 1955 at the Six Gallery in San Francisco took place. It was the first major public reading by Beat Generation writers and the beginning of the San Francisco Renaissance .

Five more or less unknown authors and poets took part in the reading and presented their works. Kenneth Rexroth , a local poet of the older generation, who was also a kind of father figure for the younger generation, took over the moderation . Rexroth had previously presented young authors in its weekly salon for a long time.

Speakers were Allen Ginsberg , Philip Lamantia , Michael McClure , Gary Snyder , and Philip Whalen . Often, Rexroth himself is also included and the event is called "Six reading at the Six Gallery". Jack Kerouac had been offered to perform too, but he preferred to sit in the audience and collect money for a few bottles of wine before the reading began in order to lighten the atmosphere in the audience.

Lamantia, a surrealist, was the first to step in front of the audience and read some poems by his friend John Hoffman, who had recently died of a peyote overdose . Kerouac later made fun of Lamantia's “delicate Englishy voice”. Second, McClure Point performed Lobos: Animism and For the Death of 100 Whales . He wrote the latter after learning that bored soldiers had slaughtered whales senselessly. Third, Whalen Plus presented Ca Change .

Ginsberg appeared in front of the audience as fourth, as the only representative of the New York Beat Generation, which by now had almost completely settled in San Francisco. 29 years old, previously unpublished, his poem Howl , still consisting of only one part, which was not just a few weeks old, but on which he had worked for many months, was previously unheard. It was a lamentation , a kaddish , looking like a spontaneous outburst of emotion and yet so compact and full of allusions. During the lecture, Ginsberg's confidence grew and he sang the words like a chasan . The audience was petrified, only Kerouac shouted “Go! Go! ”And Rexroth was moved to tears. For Allen Ginsberg it was the beginning of his career as a successful writer.

After this literary outburst from Ginsberg, Snyder wisely took his time before he recited his poem A Berry Feast , complex and mystical.

literature

  • Dharma Lion: A Biography of Allen Ginsberg , Michael Schumacher also describes the reading here.
  • Dharma Bums , Jack Kerouac dedicates a section in his book to the event.