Beats at Naropa Anthology edited by Anne Waldman and Laura Wright.
Amassed from the riches of the Naropa University audio archives, this collection offers an exciting new look at the Beats—whose influence lives on in the art and politics of our time. In these conversational talks and interviews readers are introduced to the hard truths behind being a Beat woman, the haunting accuracy of William Burroughs's world-view, the passion and energy of Allen Ginsberg and Anne Waldman, Jack Kerouac's innovative musicality, Diane di Prima's foray into small press publishing, Michael McClure's account of the famous first reading of “Howl,” and, most of all, the inspirations behind America's most provocative and prescient thinkers. http://www.coffeehousepress.org/beatsatnaropa.asp The text below about 'Beats at Naropa' was written by Socialfiction. "The Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics was founded by Allen Ginsberg and Anne Waldman at the Naropa Institute for Buddhism in 1974. This school was a fascinating experiment in which middle-aged media star poets (and their unknown friends) sought to create a self-institutionalized community for radical politics, experimental lifestyles, poetry and Buddhism. It is still going but without the lure of the notorious and famous (they all died) but I can fully recommend the lecture archive which includes Burroughs, Snyder, Hakim Bey and many others. The Beats at Naropa is a genuinely worthwhile small press attempt to document the spirit of the good years. All pieces are exceptional and it gives you a good insight into the way avant-garde movements operated and organized across vast distances long before the net. My favourite piece is a hilarious discussion in which Burroughs holds his own against the Rinpoche, the Lama who founded Naropa. My only complaint is that this books reads more like a pamphlet than a book, more a snack than a meal. It is not definitive but it could have been with a few more texts and better background." http://socialfiction.org/?n=1876 _______________________________________________ NetBehaviour mailing list [email protected] http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour
