b. 1919
Biography
Born in Yonkers, New York, in 1919, Lawrence Ferlinghetti is a member of the Beat movement who, in addition to authoring more than 30 books of his own poetry, published the early work of writers like Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and Gary Snyder. He was a founding owner of City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco, California, which quickly was established as a key artistic centre of activity for the city’s exciting literary scene. Ferlinghetti’s innovative poetics incorporates slang, pop cultural references, and wry humour to examine the human condition.