Anne Waldman was born on April 2nd, 1945 in Millville, New Jersey, and she grew up in Greenwich Village. Her mother was formerly married to the son of Greek poet Anghelos Sikelianos, whom she also translated for. She also knew Isadora Duncan. At the age of 6, Anne joined the Greenwich Village Children's Theatre, performing regularly until the age of fourteen. In her teens, she recalls seeing Gregory Corso around Greenwich Village. At the age of sixteen, she met composer David Amram while working with the American Shakespeare Festival. One year later, she met Diane DiPrima. During this time of her life, she also met ALlen Ginsberg, Joanne Kyger, Lew Welsh, Philip Whalen, Michael McClure, Brenda Frazer, Robert Duncan, and Frank O'Hara. In 1967, she met Gary Snyder, while in 1968, she met William S. Burroughs. At the age of eighteen, she met the Mongolian Lama Geshe Wangyal. Later, she was to spend time in Nepal with the Tibetan Lama Chatral Sangye Dorji Rinpoche. Being a student of Bennington College, she was influenced by Howard Nemerov, Stanley Edgar Hyman, Bernard Malamud, and Barbara Hernstein Smith. During her first trip abroad, she traveled to Greece and Egypt. In 1974, she was invited with Allen Ginsberg to found the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado. She was heavily featured in Bob Dylan's cubist film "Renaldo and Clara."
Diane DiPrima Carolyn Cassady Gregory Corso Gary Snyder Kenneth Rexroth Lucien Carr
Michael McClure John Clellon Holmes Philip Lamantia Bob Kaufman Jan Kerouac LeRoi Jones
Bob Dylan Charles Bukowski Joanne Kyger Herbert Huncke
Peter Orlovsky Philip Whalen
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