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





Evocative photos of the poet in his pomp- archeological specimens of A world of far away dreams of a society that aspired a utopian tinged view where poetry and art played an important part in shaping political and spiritual consciousness- American dystopian Trump propaganda has plunged world in toilet bowl Frisco Tony