Janine Pommy Vega (1942-2010). Courtesy Dangerous Minds.
Janine Pommy Vega (February 5, 1942 - December 23, 2010)[1] was an American poet associated with the Beats.
Life[]
Vega was born Janine Pommy and grew up in Union City, New Jersey.
She left home at age 15 to seek out the Beats, and moved to Manhattan to become involved in the Beat scene there. She was close to Gregory Corso, Herbert Huncke, Allen Ginsberg, and Peter Orlovsky. Whe was Orlovsky's lover, and they lived together until Ginsberg took Peter him to India.[2]
In 1962 she moved to Europe with her husband, painter Fernando Vega. After his sudden death in Spain in 1965, she returned to New York, and then moved to California.
Her 1st book, Poems to Fernando, was published by City Lights in 1968 as part of their City Lights Pocket Poets Series.
During the early-1970s, Vega lived as a hermit on the Isla del Sol in Lake Titicaca on the Bolivian-Peruvian border. Out of this self-imposed exile came Journal of a Hermit (1974) and Morning Passage (1976).
Following her return to the Americas, she has published more than a dozen books, including Tracking the Serpent: Journeys to four continents (1997) which is a collection of travel writings. Her last book of poetry was The Green Piano.[3]
In the 1970s, Vega began working as an educator in schools through various arts in education programs and in prisons through the Incisions/Arts organisation. She has served on the PEN Prison Writing Committee. Pommy Vega was a pioneer of the women's movement in the United States. She had worked to improve the lives, conditions, and opportunities for women in prison. (Citation needed)
Vega had traveled throughout the North American and South American continents, all throughout Europe, including Eastern Europe, countries in the Middle East, often alone. She made friends everywhere, approaching all on the same, basic, human level, with love and compassion.
By 2006, Vega was living near Woodstock. She spent the last 11 years of her life with poet Andy Clausen.
Publications[]
- Poems to Fernando. San Francisco, CA: City Lights (Pocket Series #22), 1968.
- Journal of a Hermit (edited by C. & P. Plymell). Cherry Valley, NY: Cherry Valley Editions, 1974.
- Morning Passage (edited by Owen). New York, NY: Telephone Books, 1976.
- Here at the Door (edited by DeForge). Brooklyn, NY: Zone Press, 1978.
- Journal of a Hermit & Under the Sky. Cherry Valley Editions.
- The Bard Owl (edited by Hornick). New York, NY: Kulchur Press, 1980.
- Apex of the Earth's Way (edited by Maloney). Buffalo, NY: White Pine Press, 1984.
- Skywriting (edited by Peters & Ferlinghetti). San Francisco, CA: City Lights Books, 1988.
- Drunk on a Glacier, Talking to Flies (edited b Brandi). Santa Fe, NM: Tooth of Time Press, 1988.
- Island of the Sun (edited by Arnold). Green River, VT: Longhouse, 1991.
- Threading the Maze (edited by Drake). Old Bridge, NJ: Cloud Mountain Press, 1992.
- Red Bracelets (edited by Hirsh). Chester, NY: Heaven Bone Press, 1993.
- The Road to your House is a Mountain Road (edited by Landes-Levi). Arcidoso, Italy: Il Baggato, 1995.
- Tracking the Serpent (edite by Peters). San Francisco: City Lights, 1997.
- Mad Dogs of Trieste: New and selected poems (edited by Martin). Santa Rosa CA: Black Sparrow Books, 2000.
- The Walker (edited by Mirabito). Woodstock, NY: Shivastan Publishing, 2003.
- The Green Piano (edited by Carduff). Boston, MA: Black Sparrow Press, 2005.
Janine Pommy Vega Reads Prisoner's Poetry in Willow, NY
Bibliographical information courtesy JaninePonnyVega.com.[4]
See also[]
References[]
Notes[]
- ↑ http://www.janinepommyvega.com/quickinfo.htm
- ↑ Anne Waldman, "Janine Pommy Vega, Beat Sister," Poetry Project, January 7, 2011. Web, Feb. 1, 2019.
- ↑ Vega, Janine Pommy (2005), The Green Piano: New Poems, David R. Godine, Publisher. ISBN 1-57423-207-X
- ↑ Books, JaninePommyVega.com, Web, May 31, 2012.
External links[]
- Poems
- "Which Side Are You on?"
- Janine Pommy Vega 2 poems in The Sun magazine
- Books
- Janine Pommy-Vega at Amazon.com
- About
- "Janine Pommy Vega, Beat Sister," by Anne Waldman, at the Poetry Project
- Janine Pommy Vega R.I.P. at Dangerous Minds
- "Janine Pommy Vega, restless poet, dies at 68, New York Times
- Janine Pommy Vega Official website
- Janine Pommy-Vega (1942-2010) - this cyber tombeau by poet Pierre Joris includes the opening poem of her first book, Poems to Fernando (City Lights Books, 1968) and a homage-poem by Valery Oişteanu called "The Drum Circle for Janine Pommy Vega".
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