Allen Ginsberg first publicly read “Howl” at San Francisco’s Six Gallery in 1955.
The reading took place at the former Six Gallery, an artists’ cooperative in the city’s North Beach area. Ginsberg was one of several poets on the program, which also included Philip Lamantia, Michael McClure, Gary Snyder, and Philip Whalen. Jack Kerouac attended and helped collect money for wine.
The event became a landmark in Beat literary history because Ginsberg’s performance made “Howl” memorable before its first book publication. Lawrence Ferlinghetti later published Howl and Other Poems through City Lights in 1956.
Six Gallery is sometimes confused with City Lights Bookstore, where the poem was published and where Ginsberg worked with Ferlinghetti. The reading itself happened at the gallery, not at the bookstore. The building was later used for other purposes, but the 1955 event remains known as the Six Gallery reading.