I am hearing so many stories of male popular writers and the like who have essentially stolen the life and creative works of the women around them. To put focus on these women is a necessary act in reclaiming history for all women.
An almost forgotten powerhouse, rewritten as a behind the scenes figure, relegated to a footnote. A recurring theme that always ends up being the woman.
Right on. Thank you for honoring Joan here. Her story and influence are important, to say the least!
If you haven't read much about or from Diane di Prima, do so. Her *Recollections of My Life As a Woman* offers keen insights into a woman Beat life in mid-1950s NYC.
Goodness! I am today's old finding out that he killed a person. I went to my public library's website to borrow a book called "Don't Hide The Madness", by William S. Burroughs in Conversation with Allen Ginsberg, and there, in the book's description, this: "The visit coincided with the shamanic exorcism of the demon that Burroughs believed had caused him to fatally shoot his common law wife, Joan Vollmer Burroughs, in 1951-the event that Burroughs believed had driven his work as a writer."
What? He killed someone? How come I never ever heard of this before? And shamanic exorcism? What?
I'm so glad you wrote this. God, I truly hate Burroughs (and his writing -- drivel). Ginsberg was a proud pedophile; Kerouc, a hack. Imagine if we could have been blessed Joan's work instead! If only.
Sheesh. Yikes. And other expressions of disbelief and horror. Thanks for re-assembling this piece of literary history. It’s a relief to put concrete facts behind the casual misogyny which snakes through the words of beat writers.
I am hearing so many stories of male popular writers and the like who have essentially stolen the life and creative works of the women around them. To put focus on these women is a necessary act in reclaiming history for all women.
It will take an army of us to uncover all of the stories!
An almost forgotten powerhouse, rewritten as a behind the scenes figure, relegated to a footnote. A recurring theme that always ends up being the woman.
So true!
"But judging by her letters, her lack of literary output is our loss."
So true. She clearly had an incredible mind and could have become a great writer.
Right on. Thank you for honoring Joan here. Her story and influence are important, to say the least!
If you haven't read much about or from Diane di Prima, do so. Her *Recollections of My Life As a Woman* offers keen insights into a woman Beat life in mid-1950s NYC.
Love Diane di Prima! Thank you for the suggestion!
"I shot my wife, and huzzah, it turned me into a writer!" Geesh. Thanks for this one!
Right?! Unbelievable.
Right? I was so happy to find out who she really was beyond just being an anecdote in her husband's writing!
wow, thanks Iris. I knew about the incident, but not much about Joan. Incredible.
I almost didn’t write about her. The details about her life were so hard to find -which of course made me want to research her more!
Touchè! A troubling episode among others I have read of during the Beat Generation.
Goodness! I am today's old finding out that he killed a person. I went to my public library's website to borrow a book called "Don't Hide The Madness", by William S. Burroughs in Conversation with Allen Ginsberg, and there, in the book's description, this: "The visit coincided with the shamanic exorcism of the demon that Burroughs believed had caused him to fatally shoot his common law wife, Joan Vollmer Burroughs, in 1951-the event that Burroughs believed had driven his work as a writer."
What? He killed someone? How come I never ever heard of this before? And shamanic exorcism? What?
So I looked this up online and found this post.
Thanks for this x
I'm so glad you wrote this. God, I truly hate Burroughs (and his writing -- drivel). Ginsberg was a proud pedophile; Kerouc, a hack. Imagine if we could have been blessed Joan's work instead! If only.
Thank you for reading!
Thank you for this. Everything about this tragedy tears at me. So much lost in her death.
so much! I'm so glad I could share what I found out about her.
thank you @Iris for bringing her back!!
Thank you for reading!
Sheesh. Yikes. And other expressions of disbelief and horror. Thanks for re-assembling this piece of literary history. It’s a relief to put concrete facts behind the casual misogyny which snakes through the words of beat writers.
It’s unbelievable. We have so much to learn about the rest of the story!