Launch of Pat Thomas’s book Material Wealth: Mining the Personal Archive of Allen Ginsberg, with a discussion between the author and Peter Hale, representing the Allen Ginsberg Estate. Pat and Peter will join in conversation with Rozemin Keshvani, followed by performances from poet Aidan Dun and legendary guitarist Wizz Jones.
Doors: 6.30pm
This is a free event but booking is required
The Ginsberg In London exhibition and events programme is proudly supported by The Wire magazine.
Ginsberg was a prolific collector, meticulously saving letters, postcards, draft notes and manuscripts, photographs and snapshots, appearance bills and rally broadsheets, not only featuring him personally, but also his fellow poets, singers, lovers, writers, journey companions, friends, and agitators.
Countercultural historian Pat Thomas, in collaboration with the Allen Ginsberg Estate's Peter Hale, has compiled and annotated an astounding volume of this material, documenting Allen’s life as a young man, breakaway poet, expansive spirit, curious intellectual traveler, and relentless enthusiast of the provocative and the profane.
Pat and Peter will join in conversation with Rozemin Keshvani to launch 'Material Wealth - Mining the Personal Archive of Allen Ginsberg’ (Powerhouse books) followed by performances by poet Aidan Dun and legendary guitarist Wizz Jones.
Pat Thomas is a San Francisco-based music producer, journalist and author of Material Wealth - Mining the Personal Archive of Allen Ginsberg. His previous book was Listen, Whitey: The Sights and Sounds of Black Power centering on the Black Panther Party with a concurrently released CD and double LP recording of speeches and protest songs. Pat is the compiler of reissues of many artists including albums by Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield and Television.
Peter Hale is the executor of the Ginsberg Estate. He grew up in Italy, Germany, and then Boulder, Colorado, where he earned a BA in Classics, Greek & Latin, from the University of Colorado, all the while attending classes in music, poetry and meditation at Naropa Institute where he met Allen in 1985 (and took ecstasy with him shortly afterwards) before becoming part of the staff at the Ginsberg office in 1992. On Allen’s death in 1997, he became the mainstay of the organization. A long-time practicing Buddhist, he is also an accomplished musician and DJ and most recently was co-producer with Jesse Goodman of two Allen Ginsberg tribute albums – The Fall of America Vol I & II
Rozemin Keshvani is a curator, lawyer and author. Her pioneering book and show Better Books, Art Anarchy Apostasy Counter-culture & the New Avant-garde explores London’s 1960s counter-culture scene centred on the legendary independent bookstore Better Books, the hub for Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Alexander Trocchi, John Latham, Jeff Nuttall, Bob Cobbing, Barry Miles, Gustav Metzger and countless others.
Aidan Andrew Dun is a poet and musician. He grew up in the West Indies, returning to London as a teenager. On the rooftop of a derelict house in Kings Cross he had a visionary experience which involved the psycho-geographical reinterpretation of the poem Promontoire by Arthur Rimbaud. Twenty-three years later, his epic poem Vale Royal was launched at the Royal Albert Hall with Allen Ginsberg in attendance and Paul McCartney on guitar.
Wizz Jones, inspired by hearing Big Bill Broonzy and Ramblin' Jack Elliot, learnt his guitar style from the likes of Davy Graham and Long John Baldry whilst playing in the coffee bars of London's Soho in the late 1950’s. He then followed the time-honoured buskers' trail from the streets of Paris to the markets of Marrakech during the early 1960's and returned to Britain with a unique acoustic guitar style and an eclectic repertoire. John Renbourn, Clapton and Keith Richards and Bruce Springsteen have all named him as an important early influence. Furthermore, in October 2019, Wizz was presented with a life-time achievement award at the BBC Radio Two Folk Awards held at The Bridgewater Hall in Manchester. With a career now spanning more than 60 years Wizz is officially retired but is joining us for this very special event