Poet and essayist Gary Snyder is something of a living legend. He first rose to prominence in San Francisco in the 1950s as a central figure in the Beat Movement and San Francisco Poetry Renaissance. He read his poem “A Berry Feast” at the reading at which Allen Ginsberg debuted the poem “Howl,” and he was the inspiration for the character Japhy Ryder in Jack Kerouac’s 1958 novel, The Dharma Bums. In the more than half-century since he broke onto the national stage, he’s written many books, and has had a profound influence on American Culture--not just as a Pulitzer Prize winning poet, but also as an environmental activist, translator of Chinese and Japanese literature, and serious practitioner and proponent of Zen Buddhism. And at 84 years old, he's still writing, with a new collection of poems, This Present Moment, out this month.
Snyder will be speaking on Wednesday, April 22nd, at 7pm, in the Celeste theater at the Colorado College Cornerstone Arts Center. Click HERE for more information. Also, tune to The Big Something Radio Programme on KRCC this Friday at 7pm or Sunday at 4pm to hear an extended version of that interview, in which Snyder discusses his work as an environmentalist, his reluctance to be called a "nature poet," and much more.
