Correspondence #76: Oliver Harris

Ginsberg reading signature occasion

Leading Beat scholar Oliver Harris remembers a gathering at St. John’s College, Oxford, in April 1985, an occasion mentioned both in last week’s BBC Radio 4 documentary Allen Ginsberg’s Last Soup and today’s R&BG correspondence from artist Roger Bygott, whose new book on Ginsberg comes out in September. Harris also provides some photographs from the poet’s well-attended campus reading that day…

Dear Simon,

I hope all goes well!

Roger Bygott’s very recent post, about his new book Ginsberg & Manchester, took me back to 1985 – April 29th, to be precise – when I met Ginsberg in Oxford (while he was being interviewed on the radio) and then helped him set up his reading at one of the colleges (St John’s, I think: it was rammed!).

Some snaps from that day below…

All my best,

Oliver

All images: Oliver Harris

Pictured above: Allen Ginsberg reading at Oxford, 1985

Pictured above: Oxford students gather to hear Ginsberg

Pictured above: Ginsberg’s signature on Oliver Harris’ own edition, signed that day

See also: ‘Correspondence #75: Roger Bygott’, June 9th, 2026