Diane di Prima

born in Brooklyn, New York, she is, undeniably, the most well  –  known female Beat poet. She attended Swarthmore College, then moved to Greenwich Village to become part of the Bohemian intellectual culture. She is the author of 43 books of poetry and prose. Loba: Books I & II  was published in the Penguin Poets Series in August 1998. Her autobiographical memoir, Recollections of My Life as a Woman, was published by Viking in April 2001. Recent poetry chapbooks include Towers Down (with Clive Matson), published by Eidolon Editions in 2002; The Ones I Used to Laugh With, Habenicht Press, San Francisco, 2003, and TimeBomb, Eidolon Editions 2006. Her work has been translated into over 20 languages. She has received writing grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, an Award for Lifetime Achievement in Poetry from the National Poetry Association, and an honorary doctorate from St. Lawrence University. In 2002, she was one of three finalists to be named the first Poet Laureate of California. She has taught poetry and spirituality courses at New College of California, California College of Arts and Crafts, and the San Francisco Art Institute.  She has lived in San Francisco since 1968 where, in 2009, she was named Poet Laureate.