Allen Ginsberg’s Last Soup

“Probably the single greatest influence on the American poetical voice since Whitman.” So said Bob Dylan of Allen Ginsberg. To mark the centenary of his birth, and the 70th anniversary of his great poem, Howl, Ian Sansom explores the character and oeuvre of the Beat poet by recreating one of his final works – Allen Ginsberg’s Last Soup.

On 19th March, 1997 Ginsberg wrote a shopping list for the fish soup that he cooked and served to friends that evening. Ginsberg died two weeks later, on 5th April. Bob Rosenthal, for two decades Ginsberg’s friend and secretary, came across the left-over soup in the freezer, and couldn’t bring himself to throw it out – partly because Ginsberg had sought Rosenthal’s wife Shelley’s advice on how to make it.

The soup went on to have a saga of its own. It was to have become an exhibit, cryonically preserved in a museum. Bob and Shelley Rosenthal tell its story to Ian Sansom, who delves into the character and work of Ginsberg and pays homage - by recreating one of the generous poet’s last creative acts. He cooks Allen Ginsberg’s Last Soup.

Ian visits Deptford Market – the kind of place Ginsberg would have enjoyed – locally sourcing the ingredients. He’s joined in the kitchen by food historian Dr Annie Gray and the editor of Ginsberg’s Selected Poems, Professor Mark Ford. Chopping leeks, celeriac, shallots and garlic; frying smoked bacon and simmering potatoes, they talk and come to an understanding of the importance of food and feeding people to Ginsberg, his concern with the ethics and politics of food. This finds expression in poems such as A Supermarket in California; Howl; the great elegy for his mother, Kaddish; and the remarkable C’mon Pigs of Western Civilisation Eat More Grease.

As the soup is served, Professor Ford recalls a memorable meeting with Ginsberg when he was a student, and the meal they shared. Mark, Ian and Annie consider the parallels of the processes of writing poetry and cooking, while fully engaging with one of the poet’s final works: eating Allen Ginsberg’s Last Soup.

Presenter: Ian Sanson
Producer: Julian May
A Whistledown production for Radio 4