Allen Ginsberg

Biography

Allen Ginsberg was a leading figure of the Beat Generation and counterculture movement of the 1950s and 60s. As a student at Columbia University, he befriended influential writers like Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs, and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of this artistic circle. Ginsberg's poetry, particularly "Howl," denounced capitalism and conformity, sparking a 1957 obscenity trial that drew widespread attention due to its frank language on sexuality and social issues.