Poetry by Frank O’Hara, Allen Ginsberg, Bill Berkson and John Ashbery
Introduction by A. G. Pettet
Ashbery Berkson Ginsberg O’Hara. Frank O’Hara played a part in creating what is known as the ‘New York School’ of poets. Heavily influenced by surrealism and modernism the poetry of the New York School was serious, but also ironic, and incorporated an urban sensibility into much of the work. O’Hara’s poetry shows the influence of Abstract Expressionism, Surrealism, Russian poetry, and poets associated with French Symbolism. Ashbery says, “The poetry that meant the most to him when he began writing was either French – Rimbaud, Mallarmé, the Surrealists: poets who speak the language of every day into the reader’s dream. Known throughout his short life for his extreme sociability, passion, and warmth, O’Hara had hundreds of friends, many from the New York art and poetry worlds including Allen Ginsberg and Willem de Kooning.
In the early hours of July 24, 1966, O’Hara was struck by a jeep at Fire Island beach Long Island. He died at the age of 40.
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