Which Beat writer co-wrote the 1963 novel The Yage Letters with William S. Burroughs?

Allen Ginsberg co-wrote the 1963 novel The Yage Letters with William S. Burroughs.

The Yage Letters brings together correspondence between Burroughs and Ginsberg about yage, also called ayahuasca, and Burroughs’s search for the plant in South America. The book is based on letters exchanged between the two writers rather than being a conventional linear novel. Its form makes the work an important example of how Beat authors mixed travel, experiment, autobiography, and altered-state exploration.

Burroughs had traveled in South America while pursuing reports of yage, which he believed might have unusual psychic or transformative effects. Ginsberg later traveled in the region as well, and their correspondence became the foundation for the book. The text reflects the era’s fascination with consciousness and nontraditional experience, but it also records uncertainty, danger, and the practical difficulties of travel.

The book is sometimes mistakenly attributed only to Burroughs because its subject and travel narrative are closely associated with him. Ginsberg’s letters and participation are essential: he is the second author named in the book’s title and publication history.