Eugenia Butler begins an installment of “Fire in the Library,” by introducing poet Jerome
Rothenberg, editor of Technicians of the Sacred and Poems for the Millenium, and artist George Herms who was involved in the traveling exhibition Beat Culture and the Making of America 1950-1965. Herms compares the upcoming generations with the Beats, and argues that his own generation has an obligation to pave the way for the next. Rothenberg discusses the different generational values regarding nature and technology. Herms discusses the work of various poets included in Jerome Rothenberg’s anthology, stressing Kurt Schwitters, Kenneth Patchen, and Diane Di Prima. Rothenberg and Herms both read poetry for the audience. Herms shows slides.