Use BBC.com or the new BBC App to listen to BBC podcasts, Radio 4 and the World Service outside the UK.

Find out how to listen to other BBC stations

Episode details

World Service,05 Oct 2018,9 mins

Howl: The Poem That Revolutionised US Writing

Witness History

Available for over a year

Allen Ginsberg first read his poem Howl, at an art gallery in San Francisco in October 1955. It marked a turning point in American literature and is credited with starting the "Beat Generation" of American writers. Michael McClure, a fellow poet, took part in the reading that night. The programme was first broadcast in 2012. Photo: Allen Ginsberg, front row centre, with other poets in 1965. Express/Getty Images.

Programme Website
More episodes