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| The Allen Ginsberg Library at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. Source: Wikimedia Commons |
Naropa Poetic Audio
Archives
Website: Naropa Poetic Audio Archives
The Treasure: The
Naropa Poetics Audio Archives at Naropa University preserves over 5,000 hours of audio material
starring some of the greatest writers of the Beat generation and other
important literary movements from the 1970s to the present.
Accessibility: Much
of the audio material has been digitized and can be downloaded and enjoyed at
Naropa Poetics Audio Archives. As for the actual archives at the university, it is open to the
public by appointment only.
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| Allen Ginsberg in 1978. Source: Wikimedia Commons |
Background: Allen
Ginsberg (1926-1997) was still a young man when he exploded on the poetry scene
in 1955 with his long poem “Howl,” which famously opens: “I saw the best minds
of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked…” The intensity of the poem, its obscenity-laced language, and its widely-publicized legal
battles brought the Beat literary movement to national attention.
Important Beat writers included Jack Kerouac, William S.
Burroughs, Gregory Corso, and Ginsberg’s life partner, Peter Orlovsky. They
were often viewed as youth-celebrating iconoclasts, generally open to drug and
lifestyle experimentation, politically outspoken, and intensely personal in
their writings.
Ginsberg embraced Buddhism, the religion of his good friend
Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist who founded an alternative college
called Naropa Institute (now University) in Boulder , Colorado Kerouac
School
From the outset, the Kerouac
School sought to attract the leading
voices of the American literary avant-garde to Boulder , Colorado
If you know your poetry history, you’ll notice that it’s not
just the Beat movement that’s captured in these audio archives, but key
examples of other major 20th century American literary movements,
including the l-a-n-g-u-a-g-e school of poetry, New York schools of poetry, the
Black Mountain school of poetry, the Berkeley and San Francisco Renaissance,
the Black Arts movement, and other offshoots of postmodernism, surrealism,
dada, and the poetry of the Harlem Renaissance.
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| Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs at the Gotham Book Mart in New York City in 1977. Source: Wikimedia Commons |
Notes from the
Editor: You don’t even have to leave your computer to enter this
American treasure! Start at the Internet Archive’s finding aid to the Naropa Poetics Audio Archives. To find a poet, scroll down to Browse Collection by Creator. The poets and other literary artists are listed in alphabetical order,
with additional information on group presentations
Now settle back and sample the fireworks. Try Allen Ginsberg performing “Howl” in its entirety (a 72-minute reading with the “Howl” performance
beginning at the 40-minute point), or Ginsberg chanting William Blake poetry
accompanied by period instruments, or William S. Burroughs comparing his approach
to writing to Jack Kerouac’s, or a performance by the poet/punk rocker Jim Carroll which includes his underground hit “People Who Died.” And that’s just the start of 5,000 hours of
recordings…
A personal note: I like alternative universities.
There aren’t many—probably less than a couple of dozen in the country—but they
offer a refreshingly personal approach to education that contrasts well with
the 99% of standard-model colleges and universities. Alternative universities
are usually structured to encourage interdisciplinary approaches, seeking to
dissolve the arbitrary lines that separate the sciences from the humanities and
the arts. If this sounds like a cake-course approach, it’s not. Small college size
and low student-teacher ratios create intimate learning environments. There
are no giant lecture halls where students can hide in the back row. Everyone is
expected to participate and lazy thinking is immediately challenged. This is
where Socrates would feel at home in 21st century America .
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| Archival storage at Naropa University. |
I’m especially supportive of the alternative university
approach because my son attends one of these academic gems—College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor , Maine Naropa University
Other Recommended Sites: When
visiting Boulder , you’re very close to the
entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park . Don’t miss it! The rugged mountain
landscapes and alpine valleys are unforgettably magnificent. And if you’re a little
nervous (like me) when it comes to white-knuckle mountain driving, consider
taking advantage of their convenient shuttle services and tour buses.
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| Poet Anne Waldman, co-founder of the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, at the Miami Book Fair in 1988. Currently, Anne Waldman is the Distinguished Professor of Poetics at Naropa University and serves as Summer Writing Program Chair and Artistic Director. Source: Wikimedia Commons |
Tour America's History Itinerary
Wednesday’s destination: Chimney Rock Pueblo
© 2012 Lee Price
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