Part 1: Ron Whitehead interviews Lawrence Ferlinghetti my longtime friend Lawrence Ferlinghetti was born March 24, 1919. yes hes 95 now. i got him nominated for The Nobel Prize in Literature. years ago he and i discussed me writing an in depth biography of him. i did many interviews with Lawrence before realizing i simply had way too many creative projects on my plate to devote the necessary time to researching and writing the biography he deserves. he understood. heres an interview i did with him on his 80th birthday. due to the length of the interview im dividing it into 2 parts. heres Part 1: THE NEW KING OF POETRY Lawrence Ferlinghetti Turns 80 Part 1 (of 2) From Reykjavik to San Francisco & Beyond In 1953 Lawrence Ferlinghetti founded the first paperback bookstore in the United States. In four and a half decades City Lights, the bookstore and publisher, has become mecca for millions, for the worlds alternative voices. Ferlinghettis A CONEY ISLAND OF THE MIND (1958) is the number one selling volume of poetry by any living Amerikan poet. On March 24, 1999 the reluctant New King of Poetry turned 80. Poet Writer Editor Publisher Scholar Organizer Ron Whiteheads conversation with the private Ferlinghetti took place from Reykjavik, Iceland to San Francisco, California. Ron Whitehead: Lawrence, I asked you in a letter if you are interested in either A CONEY ISLAND OF THE MIND or A FAR ROCKAWAY OF THE HEART being translated into Old Norse, into Icelandic, and being published here in Iceland in a cooperative project with Bad Taste/Smekkleysa, the main record label, and Bjartnur, the main independent publisher. Lawrence Ferlinghetti: Of course. RW: Okay. Ill continue to pursue that. Ive already spoken with folks here and they are interested. Ill tell them you said okay and Ill open the doors for them to write you and communicate directly with you about it. Im doing the same for Lee Ranaldo and his new book. LF: Okay. RW: I love A FAR ROCKAWAY OF THE HEART and consider it to be not only one of your best works but a masterpiece of 20th Century poetry. LF: Well obviously youre a genius critic. RW: (laughter from both) I am. I am (more laughter). What are you doing now? I know youre continuing to write and paint. LF: Im not doing anything at the moment except lying on the bed. RW: Okay (more laughter), do you have any new book releases planned? LF: Well no. A FAR ROCKAWAY has just been out a year. But I now have enough poems for two books. But New Directions is saying they cant publish that fast. They want maybe one next year. One is a book called THE DIVINE BUTCHER, poems that were spoiled by humor. In other words, humor destroys sublimity in poetry. Im getting the title from Gregory Corso who said humor is the divine butcher. He said you cant have a sublime poem if you use a lot of humor. RW: I dont know if I agree with that. LF: Well I have some pretty ludicrous poems. I have a serious poem and then I put in this ludicrous image which completely destroys it but its fun. For the other book I have between thirty and forty non-humorous poems. Well with the usual humor but nothing too devastating. RW: Ive been listening to Allen Ginsbergs HOLY SOUL JELLY ROLL: POEMS AND SONGS 1949-1993. Have you been talking with anyone about a possible CD release? LF: This Saturday Im going to be recording for Ryko in Francis Ford Coppolas American Zoetrope Studios which is just a block from the City Lights Bookstore. RW: Fantastic. Just down the hill. LF: Yes. The producer is Jim Sampas, Jim Sampas of the Sampas family and the Kerouac Estate. RW: Yes Ive met Jim. LF: Jim is in his mid 20s I guess. Hes a musician. Hes coming out Saturday. Were going to record all of A CONEY ISLAND OF THE MIND. RW: Wonderful! Thats good news! LF: Hes got musicians back east hell have on separate tracks. Hes gonna blend their music with my voice tracks. RW: I guess David Amrams going to be on some of the tracks? LF: No, Jim and Ryko have their own musicians or group that they insisted on. I hope to do something with David Amram sooner or later. RW: I hope so too. Im reading an amazing 83-page text David wrote and sent to Sterling Lord and me titled This Songs For You Jack: Collaborating With Kerouac. Ive had the opportunity to read with David several times and hes a wonderful person and an incredible musician. LF: Yes he is. RW: You mentioned to me previously that youre working on an autobiography. Hows that coming along? LF: Ive given that up for the time being. Ive found that it only comes out like Samuel Beckett. RW: (laughter) So itll be a short autobiography. LF: Well, rather. RW: Part of the problem is that youve done so much. LF: Baffling and ambiguous is the way I see it. RW: It would have to be thousands of pages long. Weve discussed the possibility of me writing a new Lawrence Ferlinghetti biography. LF: Yeah I know. I wish youd do it. RW: Good. I was hoping youd say that. LF: But youre on the wrong end of the world there in Iceland. RW: But Ill be in San Francisco soon. And North Carolina and New York City and France and Italy. Im getting back on track on the biography. Ill do it. Ive already started. LF: You better hurry up. Im 80 years old (laughter from both). RW: I know but youre as healthy as ever. LF: Well I work out all the time. RW: Yeah anybody who sees your photos can tell that. Do you swim every day? LF: Im going to the gym in just a few minutes. RW: In 99 and 2000 Ill be working with folks in The Netherlands, Ireland, and Iceland to produce events. What are your travel plans? I want to invite you to those events. LF: Since I got appointed Poet Laureate of San Francisco Im getting invited to too many places. RW: Congratulations! LF: Im receiving invitations in all directions. At the moment I can go to Brazil, Argentina, Columbia, Cuba, France, Italy, Czech Republic. I cant go in all these directions at once. I went to Prague and they want me to come back and have a big art exhibition this spring but I cant. Theres so much happening now I have to be here. Im writing a regular column for THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE called Poetry as News. So I have to be here. I may go to Italy in June and if I do I may go to Prague too but I dont think so. Not this year. RW: I know you went to Prague last year for the Art Forum Exhibition. They celebrated you your life your work. LF: They built a complete replica of the outside of City Lights Bookstore at their Festival. It was extraordinary. And there was a 72-hour non-stop INSOMNIACATHON reading of my poetry by every poet in town. It was held in a big church in the old town. They had an exhibition of your work and The Literary Renaissance right next to the City Lights Exhibit. Have you been to Prague? RW: They invited me to the same event but I couldnt make it due to a prior commitment. LF: You should go! Its fantastic! RW: Yes. They kept all my work for their archives. I received a long letter afterwards from Karel. LF: Yes Karel Srp. Hes a great guy. RW: He told me about how the public responded to you. He said it was like a rock concert. When they opened the doors to the Exhibition thousands of people came running straight to your table. He said you signed books all day and way into the night. (end of Part 1. stay tuned for Part 2.)
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 12:15:43 +0000