Beat poet Allen Ginsberg was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1926.
Ginsberg was born on June 3, 1926, to Louis Ginsberg and Naomi Ginsberg. Newark, a major industrial city near New York City, was the setting for his early life before he attended Columbia University in Manhattan.
His Newark upbringing is sometimes overshadowed by his later association with New York’s literary circles and San Francisco’s poetry scene. Ginsberg became one of the best-known figures of the Beat Generation, especially after the 1956 publication of Howl and Other Poems.
Newark also connects him to the wider cultural history of New Jersey. The city produced or was associated with several important American artists and writers, but Ginsberg’s later work ranged far beyond his birthplace, incorporating Buddhism, political protest, sexuality, and international travel.