Correspondence: Allen Ginsberg, Correspondence from Ginsberg, 1974-1975. Raymond Danowski Poetry Library collection, circa 1904-2013.

Allen Ginsberg’s career includes writing, political/social activism and mentorship. As it relates to mentorship, Ginsberg earned the reputation of being supportive of his generation of writers and those that followed him. This personal passion turned into to a profession when he helped found the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at the Naropa Institute in 1974.

This correspondence, from Ginsberg to a student named Jonathan Rollins in 1974, is to persuade Rollins to join the Naropa Institute for a summer session. Ginsberg sees potential in Rollins and credits him with “real, high, time poetry.” He wants to support his development and includes an application to the program with information about scholarships and grants. Ginsberg actively took part in the development of writers so that they could then use their prose to challenge and progress society, develop interesting minds, and contribute to collaborative poesy.