The Beat of His Own Drum

On October 7, 1955, five young poets read at an art gallery on Fillmore Street at an event that would change the face of American poetry. While the debut of Allen Ginsberg's infamous "Howl" is widely considered to be the night’s highlight, the event also launched the career of Gary Snyder, whom Lawrence Ferlinghetti dubbed "the Thoreau of the Beat Generation," and who is often described as the preeminent American pastoral poet. "Far Out Friends: Poetry & Music" celebrates Snyder's five-decade career as well as the worldwide premiere of four Snyder poems set to music by composers Fred Frith, Allaudin Mathieu, Robert Morris, and Roy Whelden, as performed by contralto Karen Clark and the Galax Quartet. Snyder himself will open the evening with introductory comments and also close the event — accompanied by the quartet — with a reading of "The Berry Feast," the same poem he read at the landmark Six Gallery reading back in 1955.
Wed., June 4, 8 p.m., 2008