English Language and Literature Commons^™

Diane Di Prima: A Beat Poet?, Shelby K. Miller

Student Scholar Showcase

The Beat Poets were a group of men who wrote counterculture poetry that committed on society. They embraced themes of open sexuality, Buddhism and Eastern religions, and activism. Diane di Prima, called by most literary scholars but not by her contemporaries, was one of those Beat Poets who embraced those themes. Her focus on motherhood and female empowerment is what caused her contemporaries to reject her as an equal. A second focus will the continued rejection of di Prima from the literary canon.