New Release Spotlight: Howl on trial: The Battle for Free Expression

Howl on trial: The Battle for Free Expression Edited by Bill Morgan and Nancy J. Peters

Before reading Howl on trial, I didn't know a lot about Allen Ginsberg's Howl and Other Poems. Sure I had a vague understanding that this book of poems represented a significant time in literary history, but I was unprepared for the raw power of the work.

The book is a hodgepodge of letters, newspaper clippings, court transcripts, photographs and editorials written about the censorship of Ginsburg's Howl and Other Poems. Originally published by City Lights Pocketbook Shop in San Francisco in 1956, the overseas second printing was seized and confiscated by a U.S. Customs Agent on the grounds that the book was obscene and a danger to children. The owner and publisher of City Lights, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, was later arrested and put on trial for continuing to sell Howl. An employee of City Lights, Shigeyoshi Murao, was also arrested when he sold a copy of Howl to an undercover police officer. A civil trial ensued where Ferlinghetti and Murao were defended by Jake Ehrlich, notorious defense lawyer, and other members of the ACLU.

Featured letters in the book include correspondence between Ginsberg and Ferlinghetti during the time of the trial, as well as Ginsberg's correspondence with family and friends, including Jack Kerouac and Gregory Corso. Editorials written by Morgan and Peters outline the censorship of Howl in a broader historical context of obscenity issues, and compare it to the ways the fight against censorship in literature continues today.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this collection is the way it shows its context within a larger framework of banned books. Another strength is its accessibility to both those who have never heard of the Howl controversy as well as seasoned Howl veterans; no matter how you define yourself, everyone stands to learn something new. All in all, what makes this collection so innovative is its ability to give the reader so much information in one thin volume, information that does more than just give us the facts of what happened during the Howl trial, but gives further texture to the lives of Ginsberg and his fellow Beats.

Review by Andrea Deeken, Indigo Editing, LLC