Los Angeles Times Book Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 3 (1982) Winner
Allen Ginsberg
アレン・ギンズバーグ
Aren Ginzubāgu
Aliases:
Irwin Allen Ginsberg
Pen Names:
Allen Ginsberg（Used as his published name）
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1926-06-03 （Newark, New Jersey, U.S.）
- Died
- 1997-04-05 （New York City (East Village), U.S.） age 70
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Religion
- Buddhism (Tibetan Kagyu, teacher: Chögyam Trungpa) and engagement with Krishna/Hare Krishna practices
- Residence History
- Paterson, New Jersey (raised) → New York (Columbia University; later East Village residence) → San Francisco (base during 1950s/Beat movement) → Paris (Beat Hotel period) → India (extended visits/residences) → Boulder, Colorado (Naropa University / Jack Kerouac School)
Career
- Occupations
- poet, writer, social activist, professor, performer/reader
- Active Years
- 1943-1997
- Affiliations
- American Academy of Arts and Letters, PEN American Center
- Memberships
- PEN American Center (long-term affiliation)
- Influenced By
- William Blake, Walt Whitman, William Carlos Williams, Jack Kerouac, Jazz (especially bebop influence)
- Influenced
- Beat Generation poets and writers, Anne Waldman and subsequent poets, Influence on musicians such as Bob Dylan
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montclair State University (Montclair State College) | — | — | — | 短期間在籍（高等教育進学前の在籍） | United States |
| Columbia University | — | English and American Literature | BA | 1944–1948（学士取得） | United States |
| University of California, Berkeley (attended) | — | — | — | 在籍（年月不詳） | United States |
Montclair State University (Montclair State College)
Period:
短期間在籍（高等教育進学前の在籍）
Country:
United States
Attended briefly before entering Columbia University
Columbia University
English and American Literature
Degree:
BA
Period:
1944–1948（学士取得）
Year of Graduation:
1948
Country:
United States
Majored in literature; active in Philolexian Society and other campus literary groups
University of California, Berkeley (attended)
Period:
在籍（年月不詳）
Country:
United States
Associated with UC Berkeley; degree information not primary
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | National Book Award (Poetry) | The Fall of America: Poems of These States | 詩 | National Book Foundation | shared |
| 1986 | Robert Frost Medal | — | — | Awarding poetry organizations | winner |
| 1979 | National Arts Club gold medal | — | — | National Arts Club | winner |
| 1986 | Golden Wreath (Struga Poetry Evenings) | — | — | Struga Poetry Evenings International Festival | winner |
| 1993 | Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres | — | — | French Ministry of Culture | honor |
| 1995 | Pulitzer Prize (Poetry) | Cosmopolitan Greetings: Poems 1986–1992 | 詩 | Pulitzer Prize Board | finalist |
National Book Award (Poetry)
1974
Work:
The Fall of America: Poems of These States
Category:
詩
Organization:
National Book Foundation
Result:
shared
Robert Frost Medal
1986
Organization:
Awarding poetry organizations
Result:
winner
National Arts Club gold medal
1979
Organization:
National Arts Club
Result:
winner
Golden Wreath (Struga Poetry Evenings)
1986
Organization:
Struga Poetry Evenings International Festival
Result:
winner
Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres
1993
Organization:
French Ministry of Culture
Result:
honor
Pulitzer Prize (Poetry)
1995
Work:
Cosmopolitan Greetings: Poems 1986–1992
Category:
詩
Organization:
Pulitzer Prize Board
Result:
finalist
Awards & Nominations
Golden Wreath of Struga Poetry Evenings
1 appearances
-
Edition 21 (1986) Winner
Works
Major Works
Howl / Howl and Other Poems
1956 Poetry, Beat literature 48 pagesA long poem denouncing conformity and materialism in 1950s America, portraying friends and contemporaries destroyed by society; its explicit sexual language led to an obscenity trial and a landmark free-speech ruling.
alienationanti-conformitysexualitymadnessfriendship and memory
Adaptations
- [Film] Howl / Rob Epstein / Jeffrey Friedman (2010)
Translations
- Howl (Japanese translation available)
Kaddish for Naomi Ginsberg (Kaddish)
1961 Long autobiographical poem 64 pagesA long autobiographical poem focused on his mother Naomi's schizophrenia and death, drawing on childhood memories, hospital visits, and her letters.
familymental illnessmourningmemory
The Fall of America: Poems of These States
1973 Poetry collection, social commentary 120 pagesA collection of poems functioning as travelogue and social report on America, combining political criticism and road-poetry elements; shared the 1974 National Book Award.
political critiqueAmerican societytravel poetry
Bibliography
- Howl and Other Poems (1956)
- Kaddish and Other Poems (1961)
- Reality Sandwiches (1963)
- The Yage Letters (1963) – with William S. Burroughs
- Planet News (1968)
- Indian Journals (1970)
- The Fall of America: Poems of These States (1973)
- Mind Breaths (1978)
- Plutonian Ode (1981)
- Collected Poems 1947–1980 (1984)
- White Shroud Poems (1986)
- Cosmopolitan Greetings: Poems 1986–1992 (1994)
- Illuminated Poems (1996)
- Selected Poems: 1947–1995 (1996)
Adaptations
- Howl (2010 film)
- Hydrogen Jukebox (song cycle by Philip Glass)
Translations of Works
- Howl – translated into multiple languages including Japanese
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- colloquial long-line free verseuse of anaphora (repetition)autobiographical/confessional toneBeat-era idiom
- Recurring Motifs
- madness and mental collapseMoloch as symbol of system/materialismsexual liberation and homosexualityEastern religious practice and mantracities and travel
Health
-
Hepatitis (contributed to later liver cancer)1960年以降（1960年の治療が発端とされる）Contributed to eventual liver cancer and decline; factor in cause of death in 1997.
-
Minor strokes / Bell's palsy–like facial paralysis1970年代Caused facial paralysis/drooping on one side and affected health.
-
Hypertension晩年まで継続Chronic condition affecting his later-life activity.
-
Long-term tobacco smoking生涯を通じてAdversely impacted general health and contributed to later problems.
Legacy
Allen Ginsberg, as a leading Beat poet, promoted freedom of expression, visibility for sexual minorities, and countercultural ideals through his poetry and activism. His techniques and social critique influenced generations of poets, musicians and activists.
Museums
- National Gallery of Art (exhibition: Beat Memories: The Photographs of Allen Ginsberg) Washington, D.C., United States Opened in 2010
- Tibet House US (exhibition: Transforming Minds: Gelek Rimpoche and Friends) New York City, United States Opened in 2021
Academic Societies
- American Academy of Arts and Letters (member)
Archives
- Stanford University Special Collections (Allen Ginsberg papers)
- Columbia University: related archival materials
- University of Delaware Special Collections (related materials)
In Popular Culture
- Good Will Hunting (1997) dedicated to Ginsberg (among others)
- Collaborations and mutual influence with musicians (Bob Dylan, The Clash, etc.)
Quotes
-
I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness...
Source: Poem 'Howl' (1956) (1956) -
Would there be any freedom of press or speech if one must reduce his vocabulary to vapid innocuous euphemisms?
Source: Judge Clayton W. Horn (ruling on Howl obscenity case) (1957)
Trivia
- Howl was seized and subject to an obscenity trial in 1957; the ruling protected freedom of expression.
- Lifelong partner was poet Peter Orlovsky (1954–1997).
- He engaged with Tibetan Buddhism and the Hare Krishna movement, bringing mantras into public events.
- His association with NAMBLA and sexualized writings about minors sparked major controversies.
- He continued public readings and activism into the 1990s; one of his last readings was in late 1996.