Six Gallery reading
The Six Gallery reading ( Six Gallery reading ) was a reading ( by some referred to as jamming ) of poems, which took place on 7 October 1955 in the Six Gallery in San Francisco. It was the first major public reading by writers of the Beat Generation and was the start of the San Francisco Renaissance.
At the reading of five more or less unknown authors and poets participated and presented their works here. The discussion was Kenneth Rexroth, a local poet of the older generation, which represented a kind of father figure to the younger ones. Rexroth had previously presented for quite some time young writers in his weekly salon.
Speakers were Allen Ginsberg, Philip Lamantia, Michael McClure, Gary Snyder, and Philip Whalen. Often Rexroth itself is still counted it and called the event " Six reading at the Six Gallery". Jack Kerouac was indeed offered, also occur, but preferred to sit in the audience and did not show it take to collect before the reading of money for a few bottles of wine to loosen the mood in the audience.
First llama Tina, a surrealist, stepped forward the audience and read a few poems from his recently deceased from an overdose of Peyote friend John Hoffman. Kerouac made later on Lamantias " delicate Englishy voice" funny. Second wore McClure Point Lobos: Animism and For the Death of 100 Whales ago. The latter he had written after he had learned that bored soldiers had slaughtered whales pointless. The third alleged Whalen Plus Ca Change.
Ginsberg came in fourth in front of the audience, as the sole representative of the New York Beat Generation, which had now almost entirely gathered in San Francisco. 29 years old, previously unreleased, his poem Howl, still consisting of only one part that was not about only a few weeks old, but on which he had worked for many months, was previously unheard of. It was a wailing, a Kaddish as a spontaneous outburst acting and yet so compact and full of allusions. During the lecture, Ginsberg's self-confidence grew and he sang the words like a Chasan. The audience was petrified, only Kerouac called "Go! Go! " And Rexroth was moved to tears. For Allen Ginsberg, it was the beginning of his career as a successful writer.
After this burst of literary Ginsberg Snyder had prudently time until he recited his poem A Berry Feast, complex and mystical.