American beat poet Allen Ginsberg would have turned 100 this year, according to columnist Mirko Lauer, who used the anniversary to revisit Ginsberg's 1960 trip to Peru and his bond with Peruvian poet Martín Adán.
Lauer wrote that Ginsberg's 1960 visit brought both modernity, through works quickly translated and published in Peru, and affection, directed at Martín Adán. Ginsberg recognized Adán as a peer of equal stature and drama, and dedicated three lasting poems to him, translated by Antonio Cisneros for the magazine Amaru No. 7.
The two poets met at the Cordano cafe, opposite the Desamparados train station, on the ground floor of the Hotel Comercio, introduced by Jorge Capriata. Capriata described the encounter in his account published in Hueso Húmero No. 32, calling it a complicated meeting, though Lauer said both poets recalled it warmly, Ginsberg more so than Adán.
Three poems for a Peruvian poet
The three poems Ginsberg dedicated to Adán were titled 'A un viejo poeta en el Perú', 'Muere en su soledad con grandeza' and 'La inteligencia deslumbrante'. Lauer noted that Javier Sologuren also published Ginsberg's poem 'América' in the magazine La Rama Florida.
Ginsberg's wider legacy
Ginsberg died in 1997. Lauer described him as a political poet and effective activist despite his mastery of English, noting that many consider him a mentor to Bob Dylan, with whom he collaborated extensively. Lauer said Ginsberg was present at the major social mobilizations of his era and that his poems were bestsellers among young readers from the start, continuing to circulate today.
Lauer suggested that the poems dedicated to Adán, Cisneros's translation, Capriata's account and Sologuren's publication of 'América' could together form a strong booklet, potentially alongside poems Ginsberg wrote elsewhere in the region during the same period.
