San Francisco Renaissance

The term San Francisco Renaissance is used as a global designation for a range of poetic activity centred around that city and which brought it to prominence as a hub of the American poetic avant-garde. However, others (e.g., Ralph J. Gleason, Alan Watts) felt this renaissance was a broader phenomenon and should be seen as also encompassing visual and performing arts, philosophy, cross-cultural interests (particularly those that involved Asian cultures), and new social sensibilities.

The Beats

Around the same time that Duncan, Spicer and Blaser were at Berkeley, Gary Snyder, Philip Whalen and Lew Welch were attending Reed College together. These three, along with Kirby Doyle, a native San Franciscan, were to form the nucleus of the West Coast wing of the Beat generation.

Related Topics:
Gary Snyder - Philip Whalen - Lew Welch - Reed College - Kirby Doyle - Beat generation

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In 1953, Lawrence Ferlinghetti established the City Lights Bookstore and started publishing from City Lights Press two years later. Snyder and Whalen, along with Michael McClure, were among the poets who performed at the famous poetry reading at the Six Gallery in San Francisco on October 13 (or October 7, sources vary), 1955. This reading signalled the full emergence of the San Francisco Renaissance into the public consciousness and helped establish the city's reputation as a centre for countercultural activity that came to full flower during the hippie years of the 1960s. A short fictional account of this event forms the second chapter of Jack Kerouac's 1958 novel The Dharma Bums. Kerouac had attended the reading with some of his poet friends.

Related Topics:
1953 - Lawrence Ferlinghetti - City Lights Bookstore - Michael McClure - Poetry reading at the Six Gallery - San Francisco - October 13 - October 7 - 1955 - Hippie - Jack Kerouac - 1958 - The Dharma Bums

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