Ferlinghetti's 100th birthday party, Stroud, UK

The US poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti is 100 today! There will be parties all over San Francisco. We had one in Stroud too, with readings by the insurgent poet, and food and drink. The great and the good were there, it was like a gathering in Stroud 25 years ago. My friend J thought we might not see such a gathering under one roof again. In 25 years I shall only be 80, so maybe I'll be organising poetry gigs.

This is Adam Horovitz reading. Adam is an established poet in his own right, and the son of the (in)famous Michael Horovitz, who organised The Happening at Royal Albert Hall in the 1960s, and the talented poet Frances Horovitz, who died young. They used to live near here, in the Slad valley.

I read a poem.with some Spanish words and Mexican place names in it, but I managed not to fluff any of the non-English words. I chose it because of my Mexican connections (my father lived and died in Mexico, and I have half-siblings there), and because I thought it was unlikely that any other reader would have chosen it. I was right!

Much socialising followed. I shall now go and find a link to Ferlinghetti:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42869/i-am-waiting-56d22183d718a