Kenneth Patchen, poet and novelist, was born 111 years ago today.
Patchen experimented with different forms of writing and incorporated painting, drawing and jazz into his works, which were often compared with those of William Blake and Walt Whitman.
Patchen's biographer wrote that he "developed in his fabulous fables, love poems and picture poems a deep yet modern mythology that conveys a sense of compassionate wonder amidst the world's violence."
Along with his friend and peer, Kenneth Rexroth, he was a central influence over the San Francisco Renaissance and the Beat Generation.
He died in January, 1972 at age 60.