Poetry and Censorship: November 23, 1966

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This panel was convened by SFSU faculty in response to two events that took place in San Francisco in 1966: a police action that closed down the initial production of Michael McClure's play The Beard, and the police seizure of Lenore Kandel's The Love Book from City Lights Bookstore. The intent of the event, as stated by SFSU professor Leonard Wolf, was to provoke the police into arresting professors for reading censored works in defiance of the City's police censorship squad. About 300 people were in attendance.

Originally Recorded By
APA
Location
San Francisco State University
Date
11/23/1966
Total Run Time
01:44:40
Contributor
James Schevill, Maurice Bassan, Jack Gilbert, Patrick Gleason, Mark Linenthal, Leonard Wolf, Kenneth Anger, Robert Duncan, Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Rights
©© American Poetry Archives. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. For all other uses please email poetry@sfsu.edu
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2913
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  • James Schevill makes introductory comments and remarks on Michael McClure's play The Beard (00:04)
  • James Schevill reads the initial portion of The Beard (02:11)
  • Schevill remarks that he will skip ahead to the last ten pages of the play (11:39)
  • Schevill reads from the last ten pages of The Beard (11:58)
  • James Schevill introduces Mark Linenthal (24:01)
  • Mark Linenthal makes opening remarks and says he will read from the first section of The Love Book (24:28)
  • Mark Linenthal reads "God Love Poem" (24:45)
  • An unidentified speaker (Maurice Bassan?) reads "To Fuck with Love" phase one (25:58)
  • Second unidentified speaker (Patrick Gleason?) reads "To Fuck with Love" phase two (27:51)
  • Third unidentified speaker (Jack Gilbert?) remarks on the quality of the poem and the essence of poetry (29:42)
  • Third unidentified speaker reads "To Fuck with Love" phase three (30:50)
  • Fourth unidentified speaker (Leonard Wolf?) reads "The lust of hermaphroditic deities doing inconceivable things to each other" (32:19)
  • James Schevill remarks on poetry as a way of celebration, investigation, and praising life. He quotes the psychologist Theodore Rice, Mephistopheles from Goethe's "Faust" , and Carl Shapiro's poem "The Dirty Word" (34:11)
  • Mark Linenthal remarks on his objection to present obscenity laws and their applications. He defines pornography, distinguishes between the pornographic and the obscene, and remarks on the transcendent possibilities of sexual experience (36:53)
  • Maurice Bassan remarks that his comments speak only for himself, and notes areas of disagreement on the meanings of terms such as obscenity and pornography. He highlights key historical attempts to suppress ideas in books from ancient Greece to present time (42:40)
  • Maurice Bassan reads an excerpt from D.H. Lawrence (46:17)
  • Patrick Gleason remarks on police ignorance of poetry, William Blake, sexual suppression, civil rights of young girls, and absurdity (47:30)
  • Jack Gilbert remarks on his disagreement with Mark Linenthal and his lack of concern with distinctions between obscenity and pornography -- he is in favor of both. He appeals to audience members Lenore Kandel, Jeff Burner, Robert Duncan, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Kenneth Anger to share their views with speakers (51:51)
  • Leonard Wolf remarks on his anger with Jack Gilbert's invitation to the audience to speak out and reinforces the intent of the panel as a forum for college professors to address the group (53:02)
  • Leonard Wolf reads Dylan Thomas (54:02)
  • Leonard wolf reads "Silvia the Fair" by John Dryden (54:24)
  • Leonard Wolf remarks on his own introductory comment (55:57)
  • Leonard Wolf reads "It's time to Make Love" by Conrad Aiken (56:06)
  • Leonard Wolf remarks on his role as a college teacher, living in an unpoetic world, his belief in the possibility of a human state, living in a sexual century, our post-post-post romantic lifestyle and Victorian language (56:30)
  • Leonard Wolf explains his earlier outburst by relating the original intent of the forum, which was for academics to take a stand by creating an event in which police would be required to arrest professors for reading censored works--and not a public discussion of obscenity. He requests that audience only pose questions. (1:04:00)
  • James Schevill remarks on the format and proposes that The Poetry Center sponsor a public discussion later on (1:05:15)
  • Audience member remarks on format and negotiates for time during the event (1:06:04)
  • Audience question about 20th Century mass media and sensationalism (1:06:50)
  • Audience remark about busting poets not professors (1:07:18)
  • Schevill responds that separation between poets and professors is a phony separation (1:07:50)
  • Panel member speaks to point of poet/professor separation (1:08:07)
  • Schevill comments on financing of Poetry Center through student fees and community support. Inaudible question is deemed out of order (1:09:00)
  • Panel member (Leonard Wolf?) responds that reading poetry is a skill (1:09:59)
  • Schevill asks for more questions (1:10:35)
  • Audience question about content of the police complaint (1:10:38)
  • Audience question -- why can't we use this room for informal discussion? (1:11:20)
  • Audience comment about increased polarization of society, Governor Reagan, and the alienation of intellectuals (1:12:00)
  • Panel member remarks on the obscenity of the San Francisco Chronicle (1:12:44)
  • Panel member (Schevill?) remarks on respectability and dirty words (1:12:59)
  • Audience comment: I'm asking about communication (1:14:00)
  • Panel member (Wolf?) Get an education! (1:14:40)
  • Audience member: For God's sake let's hear what Lenore has to say (1:15:40)
  • Schevill: You're out of order... You're always trying to spoil the situation (1:15:57)
  • Schevill: One more question... (1:16:10)
  • White noise (1:16:17)
  • Female audience member asks about definition of obscenity (1:16:25)
  • Schevill remarks 'We can agree about pornography...I disagree with Jack about Lenore's poem...' (1:16:40)
  • Schevill remarks on obscenity, references a great obscene poem by Richard Crashaw, 17th Century metaphysical poet, and contrasts Crashaw's work with the poetry of John Donne (1:17:27)
  • Schevill reads and comments on a four-line poem by Crashaw (1:19:30)
  • Schevill closes the official meeting and opens floor to informal statements from audience (1:21:17)
  • Jack Gilbert apologizes to Michael McClure for neglecting to mention him earlier and clarifies his previous statement vis a vis Leonard Wolf (1:22:10)
  • James Schhevill invites Robert Duncan to speak (1:22:50)
  • Robert Duncan remarks on a letter he wrote to the San Francisco Chronicle attesting to the importance of Lenore's poem and her stature as a 'true poet' (1:22:54)
  • Lenore Kandel remarks on the importance of the discussion and what is at stake. She takes a question from a female member of the audience about police oppression and remarks on the importance of reaching the police as well (1:26:00)
  • Crowd noise (1:27:35)
  • Lenore Kandel remarks 'They were the correct words to use...' (1:28:11)
  • Michael McClure remarks on the law, freedom of speech, the arrests of Shig, Jay Thelen, and Allen Cohen, and the nature of the charges levied against them (1:28:57)
  • Lawrence Ferlinghetti remarks that City Lights is putting The Love Poem back on sale. (1:33:33)
  • Kenneth Anger introduces himself, remarks on being a college drop-out, his love of working in San Francisco, and his next film Lucifer Rising (1:34:10)
  • White noise (1:36:07)
  • Unknown speaker remarks on censorship as violation of freedom of the press (1:36:07)
  • Unknown speaker remarks on censorship as violation of freedom of the press (1:36:15)
  • Joe Pachinko remarks on publishing The Love Book, visiting Prague, and police harassment in Prague and San Francisco (1:36:36)
  • Off-mic question from audience regarding Vietnam (1:38:38)
  • Schevill remarks on US State Department denying Margaret Randall entry to the US (1:39:44)
  • James Schevill reads letter from Margaret Randall and remarks on upcoming benefit performances for the magazine El Corno Emplumado (1:40:18)
  • Off-mic audience comments (1:42:45)
  • Audience comment, 'Turn on, tune in, drop out...' (1:43:04)
  • Off-mic comment from female audience member fades into crowd noise (1:43:40)

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