Allen Ginsberg, anti imperialist poet


This video from Britain says about itself:

Allen Ginsberg reads his anti-war poem ‘Hum Bom!!’ on stage in London at Heaven nightclub WC2N 6NG, on October 19 1995. It was his last stage reading in the UK, at ‘megatripolis’ club-night. Filmed by Steve Teers of Diva Pictures (megatripolis archivist)(www.divapix.co.uk) A great reading to about 1000 people.

From The Mossadegh Project:

Allen Ginsberg: Iran Was OUR Hostage!

Poet, professor, activist, and counterculture icon Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997) is most famous for his expansive poem “Howl” (1956) which chronicled the fate of his peers in the Beat Generation. Ginsberg was a shrewd observer of American imperialism; and U.S. intervention abroad shaped his political beliefs significantly.

Perusing his writings and interviews, it becomes apparent that the overthrow of Mossadegh left a strong imprint, influencing him throughout his lifetime.

In 1960, he skewered anti-Mossadegh propaganda in his poem “Subliminal”. During the hostage crisis of 1980, Ginsberg took the opportunity to point out that Iran itself was the hostage of the U.S. for the previous quarter century in his anti-establishment manifesto, “Capitol Air“. And in 1991, during the Gulf War [see also here] in Iraq, Ginsberg linked the coup with America’s prior support for Saddam Hussein in his poem “Just Say Yes Calypso”.

Here is a chronology of relevant writing and commentary by Allen Ginsberg from 1960 to 1996.

Film on Ginsberg’s poem Howl: here.

THE Bases Of Empire is a detailed and passionately written work that charts the spread of US military bases across the world over the past century or so: here.

4 thoughts on “Allen Ginsberg, anti imperialist poet

  1. Pingback: English poet Michael Horovitz interviewed | Dear Kitty. Some blog

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  3. Pingback: African American poet and activist Amiri Baraka dies | Dear Kitty. Some blog

  4. Pingback: Poet Walt Whitman’s bicentenary in New York | Dear Kitty. Some blog

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