Allen+Ginsberg+-+F08



I, Allen Ginsberg, grew up in Newark, New Jersey, where my father was a high school teacher and a poet. As a young boy, I used to write into the New York Times about issues such as workers rights and World War II, or which I had strong viewpoints with. I was in contact with many artists, young and old, including Walt Witman, Jack Keroauk and many others while I worked in the Gotham Bookstore. I grew up under the Jewish faith but when i became more independent, changed my faith to Catholicism and then looked westward to Asia and Buddhism.

In my years, I have written many famous poems including "America" and "Kaddish". I was the leader of the Beat Generation, that was basically a bunch of traveling poets preaching the rights of everyone. The Beat Generation bridged the way for the Hippie movement in the 1960's, bringing along with it some of the most influential hippies ever, including Bob Dylan and Timothy Leary. My book "The Fall of America" won the National Book of The Year Award.

I am against very many wrongs and corruptions in America, which i have written about extensively. But, when I was 28, I met a man named Peter Orlovsky and shared my beliefs with him. He became my life-long lover and we led active roles in the gay-rights community together. Gays have been persecuted world-wide for hundreds of years and nobody has known about it because many newspapers would not and continue to not print stories about homosexuality. My stance: Stop the persecution of gays the world over.

Primary Source - "America" (Poem) "Ginsberg, America." __CPCW: The Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing__. 2007. 22 Dec. 2008 .

Secondary Sources "Allen Ginsberg." __Allen Ginsberg Project - Home__. 2005. 22 Dec. 2008 .

"Allen Ginsberg's Life." __Welcome to English « Department of English, College of LAS, University of Illinois__. Modern American Poetry. 22 Dec. 2008 .