Ferlinghetti, Lawrence; Dahi, Soheyl

Lawrence Ferlinghetti Sits Down with Soheyl Dahi

San Francisco, CA: Sore Dove Press, 2005. First Edition. Softcover. Signed by both Lawrence Ferlinghetti & Soheyl Dahi. “Lawrence Ferlinghetti jumped into San Francisco in the early 1950s, smitten by the way it perched on its peninsula like it was somehow not part of the rest of the nation. Very quickly he found North Beach and with Peter D. Martin miraculously conjured City Lights Bookstore and publishing house out of the foggy morning atmosphere. The lights have been on there now for more than fifty-two years and Lawrence remains faithful to the old bohemian rhythms that suffuse much of his own poetry. He is a true San Franciscan, our first poet laureate, yet Coney Island, the Left Bank of Paris, echoes of the Cuban Revolution, and so many other places and states of mind around his world remain part of him and are key to his Li Po-like longevity. For the founder of Taoism, a long life had more to do with a spiritual dimension, not a physical one. Lawrence has had both in good measure.”--Neeli Cherkovski, “On Ferlinghetti,” Lawrence Ferlinghetti Sits Down with Soheyl Dahi. Today we are pleased to present to you, our dear customers, a wonderful rarity from the late, great Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1919-2021). Lawrence Ferlinghetti Sits Down With Soheyl Dahi (2005), is half interview and half collection of poetry. Ferlinghetti, as many may know, was a poet, painter, activist, co-founder of the legendary City Lights Books, and deeply enmeshed in both the Beat Generation and the Second San Francisco Renaissance/Baby Beat Generation. Ferlinghetti was a prolific poet and is perhaps most well known for his famous collection, A Coney Island of the Mind (1958), which has sold well over one million copies in America and abroad. He was the author of over 30 other collections of poetry, including Time of Useful Consciousness (2012) [see item #7451], Poetry as Insurgent Art (2005), San Francisco Poems (2001) [see item #7495], How to Paint Sunlight: Lyric Poems and Others, 1997–2000, A Far Rockaway of the Heart (1997), These Are My Rivers: New and Selected Poems, 1955–1993, and Endless Life: Selected Poems (1981). In Lawrence Ferlinghetti Sits Down With Soheyl Dahi the great poet has an interestingly intimate and deep conversation with Iranian-born poet, artist, publisher & founder of Sore Dove Press, Soheyl Dahi (b. 1954). The two talk about the poetic form, San Francisco, the rich literary tradition of S.F., politics, and their personal lives. The second portion of this book is a collection of six new (at the time of publication) poems by Ferlinghetti: “Speak Out!,” “Totalitarian Democracy,” “Viva!,” “Dragon’s Teeth,” “Cries of Animals Dying,” and “Brainwashed Poet.” The humor, candor, insights, and depth of Lawrence Ferlinghetti Sits Down With Soheyl Dahi is not only deeply refreshing, but also profoundly entertaining and interesting. From the library of the late, great Lawrence Ferlinghetti, poet & founder of City Lights Books, publisher of many of the Beat Generation writers. Signed by Ferlinghetti in in thick black ink above his printed name (“Ferlinghetti”) and signed in thin black ink by Dahi beneath his printed name (“Soheyl Dahi.”) Softcover original. “First Edition, First Printing” as stated at copyright page. In very fine condition with minimal wear to fine edges, and slight smudging to front and back covers. Very Fine. [Item #7750]

Price: $90.00