Local poet Thomas Rain Crowe presents his new book “Starting from San Francisco” — about his role in the San Francisco beat poet renaissance of the 1970s — at two events: Firestorm Books on Saturday, Sept. 1, 3 p.m., and Malaprop’s on Saturday, Sept. 8, 6 p.m.
Press release from the author:
Back in the 1970s when I was living in San Francisco I found myself in the midst of a true literary renaissance the bredth and depth of which had never been seen in this country before, or seen since. A small group of us in our twenties resurected the mimiograph Beat literary magazine beatitude from the 1950s and 60s and in the company of the older and more well-known Beat poets were living a life we referred to as “the university of the streets”. Great poems were being written. Great events were being staged. Huge audiences were being created and cultivated. It was nothing short of a literary explosion and some of us that were there and lived and contributed to this experience knew of its importance and dreamed of its positive reverberations and ramifications for the future. Now, forty years later, the story of this renaissance and the generational continuation of the Beat Literary Tradition is coming to light.
-Thomas Rain Crowe
from Starting From San Francisco
Before you comment
The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.