Allen Ginsberg Centennial

Allen Ginsberg was a world-renowned Beat Generation poet, a photographer and songwriter, a spiritual seeker who helped expand Buddhist meditation in the West, and an effective advocate for civil, gay, and human rights. From his outspokenness against 1950s sexual repression to his protests against the Vietnam war, from his willingness to sit on Rocky Flats railroad tracks to stop plutonium manufacturing to his opposition to censorship and ecological destruction East and West, Allen always put his voice and his body on the line. Through his wide-ranging progressive work, Allen has inspired and influenced artists and activists throughout the globe for seven decades. Today, during an era filled with too many authoritarian leaders at home and abroad, and with too many young people unsure about the possibility of creating meaningful social change, Allen Ginsberg's historic poems seem as crucial for American consciousness-raising as ever. Allen was also an important figure in the founding and growth of The Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church, and gave multiple readings through the decades of the project's history. In conjunction with the Allen Ginsberg Estate, The Poetry Project is excited to host a celebration of Allen Ginsberg’s centennial on the actual date of Allen’s 100th birthday, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. The event will feature poets and musicians who worked with Allen, as well as younger poets and musicians who have been influenced by Allen’s work.

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