First Thought Best Thought Book

Allen Ginsberg, Anne Waldman, William Burroughs, and Diane Di Prima-is there an aspiring poet or prose writer today who would miss a chance to meet and learn with these literary mentors face-to-face, sharing the secrets of their craft? That irresistible opportunity is now available with First Thought, Best Thought, the first landmark release from Naropa University s treasured audio archives.

Selected from thousands of hours of performances and teaching sessions, First Thought, Best Thought offers listeners four rare gems of inspiration and practical wisdom, including:

Allen Ginsberg on how we discharge the spontaneous energy of genuine

  experience onto the page

Anne Waldman on living your poetic practice by melting the boundaries

  between poetry on the page, performance, and every act of expression you

  choose to commit

William Burroughs on breakthrough methods for generating fresh

  writing-including the cut-up method, chance operations, and dream work

Diane Di Prima on how to survive as an artist: preserving your

  sensibility; creating a supportive artistic community; approaches to getting

published, self-publishing, and more

First thought, best thought was the phrase that Allen Ginsberg used to describe the kind of spontaneous, fearless writing taught here-a way of telling the truth that arises from naked and authentic experience. In these thought-provoking sessions, anyone with a passion for words is sure to discover a wealth of insights for expressing themselves with greater

immediacy and creativity