He talks about William Burroughs, Brion Gysin, Tangiers, the Villa Deliria, the Thousand and One Nights, Naked Lunch, cut-ups, Minutes to Go, the Beat Hotel, Jean Fanchette, Ian Sommerville, the Dream Machine. It’s an unbeatable discovery.
Gary Cummiskey, co-editor of Who Was Sinclair Beiles? and the publisher of Dye Hard Press, tipped me to this hidden treasure, which he has also posted on his blog. In an email message, he writes: “It was filmed by some chap who was visiting South Africa at the time [1994] – there were two previous short clips on YouTube, Sinclair reading two poems and talking about the Jung Institute, but this is the first time I have seen this (fairly lengthy) clip on YouTube!”
Postscript: About that hornet’s nest in Gysin’s restaurant, Gerard Bellaart writes in an email: “Sinclair always maintained it fell on Burroughs’ head. It is in a letter to me as well. He was a genius at revision!” Which makes the story even better. Such mastery is to be envied. At least it fell on somebody’s head.
a superb poet/wordsmith and raconteur of things
essential and bloody hilarious.
I am glad Sinclair’s life and work are being appreciated on Straight Up and in other spaces (particularly Cold Turkey Press in France) because here in South Africa there is probably no more than a handful of people interested.