Colin Wilson, Poetry & Mysticism

Colin Stanley (University of Nottingham)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Gina Lyle (University of Glasgow), Graham MacPhee (University of Manchester), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1970

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Essays/ Lectures (any)

Resources

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After spending six months as Visiting Professor at the University of Washington in Seattle, Colin Wilson moved on to lecture in San Francisco in March 1968. There, sitting in a bar with the Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti [1919- ], discussing the use of psychedelic drugs to enhance consciousness, Wilson argued against the use of such drugs insisting that mystical experience is “a normal potentiality of everyday consciousness, and not something that has to be snatched by inducing states over which we have no control” (13*). Ferlinghetti suggested that Wilson write a short book about this which he offered to consider for publication under his famous City Lights imprint. Feeling that this would be a “good vehicle for an ‘interim report’ on certain ideas I had developed since the…

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2471 words

Citation: Stanley, Colin. "Poetry & Mysticism". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 September 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=23936, accessed 18 April 2024.]

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