"Poet Laureate of Deep Ecology" Speaks at the NYPL

American poet Gary Snyder ascended the podium of the New York Public Library’s South Court Auditorium on Saturday slowly—a sign of both age and accomplishment—while the eyes of everyone in the room glistened with admiration. Before the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet began reading from and discussing his work, he insisted that the computer screen in front of him be removed from the podium. This, a reflection of his Buddhist spirituality and nature, drew laughs from the audience.

Snyder’s good friend, American writer and translator Eliot Weinberger, emphasized the poet’s activism in his opening remarks: “You can’t introduce Gary Snyder without using the word ecosystem in the first sentence, like I just did.” Snyder was an environmental activist, sometimes referred to as the “poet laureate of Deep Ecology,” who along with other San Francisco poets, incorporated the American Western landscape into his poetry.

Snyder began Saturday’s talk by discussing the differences between the West Coast and the Atlantic Seaboard, describing San Francisco as a habitat for 20th century American poetry and fiction writers. He described the differences between the two coasts as a model of process versus product in crafting creative work—the West Coast (process) observes and studies consciousness and language, while the East Coast (product) takes these things for granted and instead builds on previously existing forms to make its poetry.

After the general discussion about San Francisco and American poetry, Snyder read some of his own work. However, the majority of the poetry he read was from other Beat writers and poets of the San Francisco Renaissance, including Jack Spicer, Kenneth Rexroth, Robert Duncan, Philip Whalen, and Robin Blaser. He also noted, “If San Francisco is famous or notorious today for its tolerance of the homosexual community, it is because of Robert Duncan, a key figure in the San Francisco Renaissance who came out very early in the 1940s.”

To conclude the reading, Snyder read two unpublished poems that were somewhat prosy with long lines, and one of which, “Stories in the Night,” is a reference to the cultural tradition of native Californians. In so doing, he provided his captive audience with the rare experience of actually hearing poetry from the one person who knows how it should be read.