A poet sitting on a stool reading hard-hitting truth. Jazz musicians playing with emotion. Add some harsh words of observation and a New York City underground attitude. Shockingly liberal breaking-of-rules and social mores underlies Beat Poetry, the next scheduled evening for Poetry Speaks.
The event, Beat Poetry & Jazz Scene, on September 23, 6:30 PM at the Main Branch of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library, is a celebration of the first public reading of Allen Ginsburg’s famously provocative 1955 poem, “Howl.” Local poets will read works from Beat poets like Ginsberg, Ferlinghetti, Baraka and Kaufman. Live jazz background music by Henryk and Magda Kress during the evening will add to the mood. Local poets Tom Barden, Michael Grover, Leonard Kress, Jonie McIntyre and Kerry Trautman will lend a voice to the Beat Generation.
Defining a Movement
Beat poetry is most-often associated with the counterculture movement of the 50s and 60s. However, the movement has earlier origins, starting as part of an underground, anti-conformist youth movement, born primarily on the campus of New York City’s Columbia University. The movement then relocated to San Francisco, participating in the city’s mid-century renaissance.
Ginsburg’s poem “Howl” premiered in 1955 as a quintessential example of the emerging social unrest of the 1950s. The poem’s famous opening lines strike the definitive chords of ire-filled provocation and crushing disappointment that is the legacy of the Beat movement: “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness/starving hysterical naked/dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix…”
Beat poets fought against anything they viewed as socially and humanly corroding. This concept is shown in Kaufman’s opening stanza in “Believe, Believe” — “Believe in this. Young apple seeds,/in blue skies, radiating young breast,/not in blue-suited insects,/Investing society’s garments.” At a time when the primary engine of American 1950’s prosperity was large corporations headed by people in blue…or sometimes grey suits, these are pointed and deliberately insulting words.
Many of these poets struck contrast with what they saw around them. Using juxtaposition as a blunt instrument, Beat poets jostled the stability of emerging America. From Ferlinghetti’s “The World is a Beautiful Place” — “The world is a beautiful place.to be born into/if you don’tmind some people dying/all the time.” This poem makes a wonderful performance piece, giving the reader a perfect chance to set the listener into a positive mood then reminds us that all is not as it seems.
From Page to Spoken Word
The Poetry Speaks series, originally conceived and run by Joel Lipman, Professor Emeritus at the University of Toledo and the first Poet Laureate of Lucas County (2008-2013), was run by UT interns after Lipman’s retirement. It has now fallen under the direction of April Schwarzkopf in the Humanities Department of the Main Library. “When I came to the department and was given stewardship of the Poetry Speaks program I was very excited,” relates Schwarzkopf. “Professor Lipman and his students did a wonderful job. With the addition of a career staff librarian to the program, it will now receive the consistency it deserves.”
The fall series encompasses five nights. Future programing includes local poets Sandra Gill, Arnold Koester, and The Raven along with an evening of poetic inspiration. “The exciting thing about these types of community partnerships is the energy they generate,” claims Schwarzkopf. “Many local poets are becoming excited about the series, ensuring its success for years to come.”
Beat Poetry & Jazz Scene is open to all ages. 6:30pm Wednesday, September 23.
Toledo-Lucas County Public Library Huntington Room, 325 Michigan St.
419-259-5218, email [email protected], blogs.toledolibrary.org
See more opportunities to learn and listen with Poetry Speaks in Focus on the Arts (pages 10-11), which will guide you through the best local arts events coming up in October-December.
