(1934–)

American poet, essayist, playwright, screenwriter, translator, and editor.

In the male-dominated Beat Generation, di Prima stands out as a prominent female voice. In addition to her many works of poetry and prose, she was influential as an editor involved with Yugen and Kulchur, two magazines that featured Beat authors, and with The Floating Bear, a newsletter she coedited with LeRoi Jones.

Biographical Information

Di Prima was born in Brooklyn, New York, on August 6, 1934, the eldest of three children born to Francis and Emma di Prima. She was raised in a middle-class Italian-American household, and both of her parents had graduated from college. Di Prima graduated from Hunter College High School, an elite public college preparatory program in New York City, and later attended Swarthmore College for two years. She left Swarthmore in 1953 to pursue a more unconventional lifestyle in Greenwich Village, joining a...