At the front of or a participant in multiple literary, political, and cultural revolutions during the mid twentieth century, Diane di Prima is perhaps best known for being a poet of the Beat Generation. Additionally, she is also a novelist, playwright, photographer, publisher, editor, activist, teacher, director, and mother of five. At the heart of her work is the “di Prima dilemma”, described by Anthony Libby as “her refusal to fit neatly into the progressive assumptions she herself played a major part in creating” (49). Feminist before “feminist” was a word and a force in an artistic space dominated by men, di Prima remains an active and powerful voice in the world of poetry.
Born in 1934 in Brooklyn and raised close to her Italian-American atheist, anarchist grandfather, di
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Citation: Anderson, Jill E.. "Diane di Prima". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 September 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12961, accessed 03 December 2024.]
