1957 in Poetry - Events

Events

  • Howl obscenity trial in San Francisco brings significant attention to beat poetry, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Allen Ginsberg
  • This year, Ginsberg surprised the literary world by abandoning San Francisco. After a spell in Morocco, he and Peter Orlovsky moved to Paris at the suggestion of Gregory Corso, who introduced them to a shabby lodging house above a bar at 9 rue Gît-le-Coeur, where they were soon joined by William S. Burroughs and others, including young painters, writers and black Jazz musicians. The building became known as the Beat Hotel. The writers' time there became a productive, creative period for many of them. There, Ginsberg finished his poem "Kaddish", Corso composed "Bomb" and "Marriage", and Burroughs (with Ginsberg and Corso's help) put together "Naked Lunch", from previous writings. Corso returned to New York in 1958. The "hotel" closed in 1963. Ginsberg and Orlovsky left for travels to India in 1967.
  • Shi'r ("Poetry") magazine is founded in Beirut by Syrian-born poets Yusuf al-Khal and Ali Ahmad Said (a.k.a. Adonis) The journal is a showcase for experimental Arabic poetry as well as translations of poetry from European languages.
  • Black Mountain Review literary magazine folds.

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