The Poetry Deal

Streaming video - 2011

THE POETRY DEAL is an impressionistic documentary about legendary poet Diane di Prima, the most famous woman poet of the Beat Generation. Still actively writing in San Francisco where she is poet laureate, di Prima is fierce, funny and philosophical. She is a pioneer who broke boundaries of class and gender to publish her writing; her friend Allen Ginsberg called her “heroic in life and poetics.” THE POETRY DEAL opens a window looking back through more than 50 years of poetry, activism, and cultural change, providing a unique women’s perspective of the Beat movement. Much of the story is told through di Prima’s recorded readings, including a deeply moving reading of her unpublished poem The Poetry Deal, reflecting on her relationshi...p with her art. Essential for women’s studies, poetry studies, women’s history courses and more, THE POETRY DEAL puts di Prima’s life and work on screen in a unique, beautiful portrait using rare archival footage, impressionistic scenes and powerful stories told by friends and colleagues. more