There are few female poets with the literary stature and importance of a Diane Di Prima. As Bob Arnold has described her to me in a recent email, "In the 60s Diane di Prima was for me the truest and boldest and freest sort of individual, woman, and poet. She wrote, she loved, she published, she printed others, she swung, she danced, she was in with the guys (Beats), she was with women activists, she was a feminist, she was a mother, she was alive. Truly alive. And it's never let-up. A Collected Poems so long ago now already and she's lived many lives to have more and more Collected Poems in the works. Something's gotta give."
And yet sadly one of America's most respected literary figures needs financial help in order to cover the costs of expensive medical treatment. I am grateful to Bob Arnold for bringing this to our attention today. I vacillate between sadness and anger: sadness at the failing health of a great poet and anger (especially anger!) at a goddamn American run-for-profit health care system that lets its national treasures suffer these indignities. I love Di Prima's poetry, I love her spirit and passion for life and yes, I particularly love her beautiful Italianness.
Donations to Diane Di Prima may be given here.
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