Dear Poet.
I finally got my Walt class together… maybe you could join us as a guest speaker at some point, tell us what you thought of him.
But if you are indeed interested/curious about Diane di Prima, I’d suggest the following process of dipping your toe in the water.
Take a month to read her book, The Poetry Deal (109 pages, it’s available at the St. Louis Public Library and I could also get a copy through Mobius Inter-library Loan through Maryville). It contains her most recent poems and her San Francisco Poet Laureate address. If you dig her, we could get together and chat about it, and I can make a follow-up suggestion if you want more (that could be enough, of course!).
Among other books to check out—
Recollections of My Life as a Woman (memoir)
Revolutionary Letters (poems spanning 50 years)
Spring and Autumn Annals: A Celebration of the Seasons for Freddie (a journal on loss and grief)
Conversations with Diane di Prima (interviews over the decades, she’s great talker; also have an audio lecture by her from Naropa in 1997)
We could do one more or all of ’em. Or, this may be more information than you want or need!
Anyway, you know my mantra is “share the wealth” and di Prima is a magic and marvelous being who is worth several or many of your mindful hours of engagement.
Lemme know if you have any questions!
Palms together,
Mark
