Name: ELECTED and EJECTED: Allen Ginsberg King of May ‘65
Start: 2024-05-01T19:00:00-04:00
End: 2024-05-01T20:30:00-04:00
Location: Bohemian National Hall

$ELECTED and EJECTED: Allen Ginsberg King of May \u201865$

Remembering Allen Ginsberg as the king of Majáles ’65 in Prague
About this Event

Join us for an evening moderated by Vít Hořejš, who will share his memories of Majáles ’65 as a teenager, accompanied by archival photos and videos. Other witnesses and friends of Ginsberg will also contribute their recollections, offering a unique glimpse into this moment in history.

In 1965, amidst the belated de-Stalinization movement slowly evolving in Prague, Allen Ginsberg, the renowned poet of the Beat Generation, found himself unexpectedly crowned as the King of May during the Majáles - the recently and briefly revived medieval student tradition of celebrating May, mocking professors and electing a king. (It was banned, first by Nazis, then by the Communists.) However, his reign was short-lived, as the Czech/Soviet Secret Police swiftly put him on a plane to London just days later. But Ginsberg, ever the poet, used the flight time to compose a poignant poem titled 'Král Majáles' ('King of May'), reflecting on his experience. This event marked not only a milestone in Ginsberg's life but also played a role in the broader context of the thaw that culminated in the fervor of the Prague Spring.

VÍT HOŘEJŠ grew up in Prague and escaped from the toxic political climate in 1978. In 1990, he founded the Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre (CAMT) with fellow émigrés, using centuries-old Czech puppets discovered at Jan Hus Church in the Heart of the Little Bohemia in Manhattan. A resident artist at La MaMa Theater, Vít translated, wrote, and directed over two dozen plays for CAMT. His film roles included Krojak in Woody Allen’s “Don’t Drink the Water” and the lead role in Onur Tukel’s feature film “Scenes from an Empty Church.” He co-produced "Faust on a String," an award-winning documentary. His published works include Twelve Iron Sandals (Prentice‑Hall, 1985); Pig and Bear (MacMillan, 1989), and the lead essay for Czechoslovak-American Puppetry (GOH, 1994). Vít received the international 2018 SVU Award in recognition of a lifetime achievement in fostering the art of Czech and Slovak puppetry and the 2019 NY ACKER Award at Theater for the New City.

This event is organized by Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences (SVU), new York, with the support of the Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association (BBLA).