KEROUAC: ON THE VERGE OF FAME
After hand-delivering the final manuscript of On the Road to Viking Press in Jan. 1957, Jack Kerouac spent...
The Beat Generation
The Beat Generation
DOCTOR SAX AND THE GREAT WORLD SNAKE: KEROUAC’S FORGOTTEN OPUS
Written in Mexico in 1952 but not published until 1959, Dr. Sax is Jack Kerouac’s most enigmatic novel....
ALENE LEE: THE HEART OF A SUBTERRANEAN
Jack Kerouac based his muse/lover “Mardou Fox” in The Subterraneans on Alene Lee, a mixed race (Black/Cherokee) bohemian...
JACK KEROUAC AT 100: HIS MAGICAL JUKEBOX
Music was the food that fueled Jack Kerouac’s soul, drove his writing and brought him his rare moments...
FILMMAKER GUS VAN SANT ‘NEVER LEFT THE BEAT INFLUENCE’
As an aspiring teenage artist, Gus Van Sant had his head turned by the writing of Jack Kerouac...
TEA IN THE SAHARA WITH PAUL BOWLES
While a college student on a semester abroad in Spain, Ken Krayeske made a quixotic trip to Morocco...
DAVID AMRAM: ON KEROUAC, GINSBERG, MINGUS, SPIRIT AND FAMILY
Composer David Amram, now 90, has worked with some of the jazz greats, including Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins,...
GREGORY CORSO: STREET PUNK & BEAT TURNED POET & PLAYWRIGHT
Because he was often seen as a character in one of Kerouac’s writings, Gregory Corso has been given...
DIANE DI PRIMA: HER LIFE AS A BEATNIK AND WOMAN
Diane di Prima (1934-2020) was a poet, artist, activist and teacher who navigated countercultural landscapes of both the...
BEAT SURRENDER: RECLAIMING THE LEGACY OF LUCIEN CARR
Lucien Carr wasn’t just the person who brought Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William S. Burroughs together in...
YOU CAN’T WIN: WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS AND THE REAL JACK BLACK
Jack Black was a burglar, rambler, jailbird and writer whose lone published memoir, You Can’t Win (1926), was...
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS: A WORD FROM THE WISE GUY
Billy Hough is a longtime fan of William S. Burroughs. He sees parallels between Burroughs’ writings and our...
REMEMBERING MICHAEL MCCLURE: THE REAL LIZARD KING
The late poet Michael McClure (1932-2020) was always associated with the original Beat circle of Kerouac, Ginsberg, Snyder,...
CHARLEY PLYMELL: OUTLAW POET & ORIGINAL PUNK
Poet, publisher, provocateur and people-connector, Charley Plymell is, like fellow Midwesterner Ed Sanders, a floater among contingents of...