- Janine Pommy Vega
Janine Pommy Vega (born
February 5 , 1942) is an Americanpoet associated with the Beats.Vega grew up in
Union City, New Jersey . At the age of fifteen, inspired by Jack Kerouac's "On the Road ", she travelled toManhattan to become involved in the Beat scene there.In 1962, Vega moved to
Europe with her husband, painter Fernando Vega. After his sudden death, she returned toNew York , and then moved toCalifornia . Her first book, "Poems to Fernando", was published by City Lights in 1968 as part of theirCity Lights Pocket Poets Series . During the early-1970s, Vega lived as a hermit on theIsla del Sol inLake Titicaca . Out of this self-imposed exile came "Journal of a Hermit" (1974) and "Morning Passage" (1976). As of 2006, Vega lives inWillow, New York , a small hamlet near Woodstock. She continues writing and performing, working for human rights, writing letters and poetry.Since returning to the Americas, she has published more than a dozen books, including "Tracking the Serpent: Journeys to Four Continents" (1997) which is a collection of travel writings. Her most recent book of poetry is "The Green Piano". [Vega, Janine Pommy (2005), "The Green Piano: New Poems", David R. Godine, Publisher. ISBN 1-57423-207-X]
In the 1970s, Vega began working as an educator in schools through various arts in education programs and in prisons through the Incisions/Arts organisation. She has served on the PEN Prison Writing Committee. Pommy Vega is a pioneer of the women's movement in the United States. She has worked to improve the lives, conditions, and opportunities for women in prison.
Vega has traveled throughout the North American and South American continents, all throughout Europe, including Eastern Europe, countries in the middle east, often alone. She makes friends everywhere, approaching all on the same, basic, human level, with love and compassion.
Notes
External links
* [http://www.twc.org/writers/pp_jpvega.html Biography/bibliography]
* [http://www.alpswriters.org/bios/vega.shtml A poem]
* [http://www.womenofthebeat.org/JaninePommyVega/JaninePommyVega.htm Women of the Beat Biography Page for Janine Pommy Vega]
*worldcat id|id=lccn-n80-17904
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