A report on Six Gallery reading

Placed before the location of Six Gallery on the 50th anniversary of the first full-length public reading of HOWL.

Important poetry event that took place on Friday, October 7, 1955, at 3119 Fillmore Street in San Francisco.

- Six Gallery reading
Placed before the location of Six Gallery on the 50th anniversary of the first full-length public reading of HOWL.

17 related topics with Alpha

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Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Beat Generation

10 links

Literary movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-war era.

Literary movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-war era.

Lawrence Ferlinghetti
A section devoted to the beat generation at a bookstore in Stockholm, Sweden

When asked by Wally Hedrick to organize the Six Gallery reading, Ginsberg wanted Rexroth to serve as master of ceremonies, in a sense to bridge generations.

Allen Ginsberg

8 links

American poet and writer.

American poet and writer.

First edition cover of Ginsberg's landmark poetry collection, Howl and Other Poems(1956)
Ginsberg with his partner, poet Peter Orlovsky. Photo taken in 1978
Portrait with Bob Dylan, taken in 1975
Allen Ginsberg greeting A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada at San Francisco International Airport. January 17, 1967
The Mantra-Rock Dance promotional poster featuring Allen Ginsberg along with leading rock bands.
Allen Ginsberg, 1979
Protesting at the 1972 Republican National Convention
Allen Ginsberg, Timothy Leary, and John C. Lilly in 1991

Wally Hedrick—a painter and co-founder of the Six Gallery—approached Ginsberg in mid-1955 and asked him to organize a poetry reading at the Six Gallery.

Hedrick, Peace, 1953, Oil on canvas, 18 × 14", Collection: Paul McCarthy, Los Angeles, CA. Hedrick "began painting flags in the 1950s, years before New York's Jasper Johns did."

Wally Hedrick

4 links

Seminal American artist in the 1950s California counterculture, gallerist, and educator who came to prominence in the early 1960s.

Seminal American artist in the 1950s California counterculture, gallerist, and educator who came to prominence in the early 1960s.

Hedrick, Peace, 1953, Oil on canvas, 18 × 14", Collection: Paul McCarthy, Los Angeles, CA. Hedrick "began painting flags in the 1950s, years before New York's Jasper Johns did."
Wally Hedrick, War Room, c. 1967, Exterior View. Installing Hedrick's, War Room at SSU in 2002.

Hedrick was also a key figure in the first important public manifestation of the Beat Generation when he helped to organize the Six Gallery Reading, and created the first artistic denunciation of American foreign policy in Vietnam.

Snyder in 2007

Gary Snyder

6 links

American man of letters.

American man of letters.

Snyder in 2007

Snyder read his poem "A Berry Feast" at the poetry reading at the Six Gallery in San Francisco (October 7, 1955) that heralded what was to become known as the San Francisco Renaissance.

Howl and Other Poems was published in the fall of 1956 as number four in the Pocket Poets Series from City Lights Books.

Howl (poem)

6 links

Poem written by Allen Ginsberg in 1954–1955 and published in his 1956 collection Howl and Other Poems.

Poem written by Allen Ginsberg in 1954–1955 and published in his 1956 collection Howl and Other Poems.

Howl and Other Poems was published in the fall of 1956 as number four in the Pocket Poets Series from City Lights Books.
The administrative board of Yleisradio is getting ready to discuss the broadcast of “Howl” in December 1969.

The poem was first performed at the Six Gallery in San Francisco on October 7, 1955.

McClure during the video taping of "Add-Verse", 2004

Michael McClure

3 links

American poet, playwright, songwriter, and novelist.

American poet, playwright, songwriter, and novelist.

McClure during the video taping of "Add-Verse", 2004

After moving to San Francisco as a young man, he found fame as one of the five poets (including Allen Ginsberg) who read at the famous San Francisco Six Gallery reading in 1955, which was rendered in barely fictionalized terms in Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums.

Kenneth Rexroth

6 links

American poet, translator, and critical essayist.

American poet, translator, and critical essayist.

Kenneth Rexroth Street in San Francisco, California

With Rexroth acting as master of ceremonies, Allen Ginsberg, Philip Lamantia, Michael McClure, Gary Snyder, and Philip Whalen performed at the famous Six Gallery reading on October 7, 1955.

San Francisco Renaissance

5 links

Used as a global designation for a range of poetic activity centered on San Francisco, which brought it to prominence as a hub of the American poetry avant-garde in the 1950s.

Used as a global designation for a range of poetic activity centered on San Francisco, which brought it to prominence as a hub of the American poetry avant-garde in the 1950s.

Snyder and Whalen, along with Michael McClure, were among the poets who performed at the famous Six Gallery poetry reading that Kenneth Rexroth organized in San Francisco on October 13 (or October 7, sources vary), 1955.

Philip Whalen

4 links

American poet, Zen Buddhist, and a key figure in the San Francisco Renaissance and close to the Beat generation.

American poet, Zen Buddhist, and a key figure in the San Francisco Renaissance and close to the Beat generation.

He read at the famous Six Gallery reading in 1955 that marked the launch of the West Coast Beats into the public eye.

Lamantia in 1981

Philip Lamantia

3 links

American poet and lecturer.

American poet and lecturer.

Lamantia in 1981

He was on the bill at San Francisco's Six Gallery on October 7, 1955, when poet Allen Ginsberg read his poem Howl for the first time.