Beat Periods and Movements Literature

Consciously non-conformist writing that embraced bohemian lifestyles, rejected so-called "bourgeois middle-class standards" and often celebrated alcoholism and recreational drug use. Began in late 1940s with group of New York writers centered around Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, and William Corso. Cross-fertilized by writers of the San Francisco Renaissance such as Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Kenneth Rexroth and Bob Kaufman. Associated with non-conformist music and visual arts, from folk music revivalists to more radical expermentation. Gradually supplanted by the hippie counter-culture of the 1960s.

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• Michael McClure: An Anthology of Poems - Selected by the author for the "Margins" symposium series in 1975. McClure is one of the five poets (including Allen Ginsberg) who read at the famous San Francisco Six Gallery reading in 1955.
  
• Salon Books | Breaking up with the Beats - Kerouac and company were David Gates' first literary loves -- but he had to get off their road.
  
• Six Poets at Six Gallery - October 7, 1955 reading with Michael McClure, Philip Lamantia, Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, Phil Whalen, Kenneth Rexroth, San Francisco. First reading of "Howl" by Ginsberg. Start of modern oral poetry tradition.
  
• Gordon Ball's Beat Generation - Ball teaches at the Virginia Military Institute -- a photo of Allen Ginsberg teaching Ball's class is now a classic.
  
• Huncke Times - Herbert Huncke, the original Beat; major influence on William Burroughs.
  
• The Poetry Center and American Poetry Archives - San Francsico State University; artist biographies and MP3 audio files; founded in 1954 on the basis of a gift by W.H. Auden.
  
• Beat Movement - An overview of Beat poetry, literature, history, and film.
  
• Back Beat - Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs's co-authored noir novel, "And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks" resurfaces. How the post-Beats make money, by infamous boxing sports writer, Beat George Kimball.
  
• Beat Generation and Bohemian Culture: digihitch.com - Subcultural stories and resources with book reviews, recommended links, original articles and event listings. Featuring Jack Kerouac and influential beat characters.
  
• Moody's Skidrow Beanery - In Wichita, Kansas, Moody Connell believed in a mix of hoboes and Beats and served them simple fare in a place to congregate, by Pat O'Connor.
  
• Harold Norse, Poet - Norse (1916- ) was among the American expatriates in Europe during the 1950's and early 1960's. He was an occupant of the Beat Hotel, Paris, where he first caught up with the Beat generation writers in 1960. Poet William Carlos Williams was his mentor.
  
• Ferus Gallery (1957-66) - A gallery of West Coast artist's of the 1950's, establishing many of them into various degrees of fame. Includes Robert (Bob) Alexander, John Reed, Wallace Berman, and Walter Hopps.
  
• Cultural Chronology of Early Beat Generation Literature - Annotated list of beat publication dates and events, by Larry Smith (Firelands College of BGSU)
  
• Characters In Beat and Bohemian Literature - Listing by person's last name to their fictional character name(s) in Beat literature. From Worchel Institute for the Study of Beat and Bohemian Literature.
  
• Larry Keenan - Beat Generation & Counter-Culture Photography Galleries - Featuring Keenan's famed fine art photographs of the Beat Generation and Hippies and counterculture, from 1964 to now. Includes a biography and exhibitions, publications. No photographer was closer to the Beats.
  
• Panopticon - Poems by Paul Farrar Lawless (1915-83), the forgotten beat poet. A dedicated pacifist, these poems reflect a spiritual journey to Mt. Shasta on the eve of America's involvement in WWII.
  
• Birth of The Beats is Born, 64 years later - James Grauerholz on William Burroughs and Jack Kerouac 1946 book, "And the Hippos Were Boiled in their Tanks," the first writing by later Beat literature giants, finally published in 2008.
  
• Bibliography of The Beat Generation - A list of books, articles and essays about the Beats from University of Maryland class: The Beat Begins - America in the 1950s.
  
• Wikipedia: Beat Generation - Detailed article lists principal writers in New York, San Francisco and elsewhere, and explains links to music, visual arts, and drug and alcohol use. With section on anti-Beats such as Norman Podhoretz.
  
• Corso - The Last Beat - Documentary film following Beat co-founder Gregory Corso, "on the road" in Europe retracing the early days of "The Beats".
  
• James Mechem, Beat Writer and Publisher, New York - Caprice magazine founder; interviewed on his 80th birthday in 2003 by poet Denise Low.
  
• Letters to Nanette - Reading by beat generation writer, Bob Biderman, of excerpt from his early 60s novel, "Letters To Nanette" set in Cafe Trieste, San Francisco. Video from YouTube.
  
• Brautigan, Richard (1935-1984) - Bibliography and information about the writer told in text, images, and other resources. Maintained by John F. Barber.
  
• The Wild Bohemian Home Page - Colin Pringle's articles and directory on wild cats and chicks, Hippies, the Beat Generation, Bohemian bands, outlaw bikers.
  
• PoLarity eMagazine - New American Bohemian Literature, George Wallace, editor. Fiction, photographs, Beat events
  
• Corban LePell letter on art - Beat artist LePell writes on art in a letter to student Sylvia Smith Kleindinst, 1955
  
• Henry Miller and William Burroughs: An Overview - Reality Studio's: the influence of Henry Miller on Burroughs at Harvard in September 1935, his senior year, when the Harvard Advocate printed Miller, his first publication in America.
  
• Ashcan Rantings and Kind King Light of Mind - Why the Beats Still Matter by actor J.C. Shakespeare
  
• Beat SuperNova - A large list of beats and people related to the beat movement.
  
• Ashleigh Brilliant - artist and writer, creator of pot-shots cartoons, famous for their 17-word limit.
  
• Taylor Mead - The Bowery Poetry Club - Part I - YouTube - Filmed December 22, 2006, at the Bowery Poetry Club, NYC, where Beat poet Mead still performs.
  
• Remembering William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg - Personal observations by poet Jim McCrary, a longtime friend of Burroughs, and his office manager for ten years.
  
• Michael McClure & Ray Manzarek Official Website - Beat poet McClure and former Door's band member Manzarek's website focuses on their collaboration of music and poetry projects and publications, performances, books, CDs, and videos.
  
• Goodie Magazine - Lost Beat poets
  
• Hibblen Radio - Beat Generation - A portfolio website for CBS News Radio reporter Michael Hibblen featuring sound clips of the Beat Generation
  
• Beatfootprints.com - A photographic essay of Beat Generation landmarks in New York City.
  
• Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl”: Fifty years later and in its own time - By Andras Gyorgy; World Socialist take on the conditions that the Beats wrote in versus current realites.
  
• William Burroughs interviewed by Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso - 1961 free-form discussion by three of the Beat Generation literary leaders.
  
• This is the Beat Generation - by John Clellon Holmes, A 26-year-old defines his times, New York Times Magazine, Nov. 16, 1952. Very early essay on Beats; Holmes also wrote novel "Go" in 1952, the first book to cover Kerouac, Ginsberg, et al.
  
• A Blackout Tavern - Study in 1960s Folklore, by Pat O'Connor. The 1960s hippie scene in Wichita, KS. Includes photographs, and covers the first large LSD bust in Kansas.
  
• Beat-L - An online discussion forum devoted to the study of the lives and works of the writers of the Beat Generation, especially Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William Burroughs.
  
• Cold War Correspondents: Ginsberg, Kerouac, Cassady, and the Political Economy of Beat Letters, - by Dr. Oliver Harris, Dept. of American Studies, Keele University, England, leading Burroughs scholar. [PDF]
  
• American Museum of Beat Art - Museum located in Pasadena, California. Featuring writers, poets, film, artists, photographs, manifestos, and critical writing.
  
• The Beat Papers of Al Aronowitz - A collection of interviews, memories and articles by the late Aronowitz, the infamous Black Listed Journalist, who was actually there; close friend of Ginsberg and introduced Bob Dylan to the Beatles.
  
• Beat Generation at the Gay, Lesbian, B, T, Queer Encyclopedia - The writers of the Beat Generation, many of whom were gay or bisexual, endorsed gay rights as a part of their rebellion against inhibition and self-censorship.
  
• Robert Cass, New Orleans Beat Legend - Dennis Formento interviews Robert Cass, New Orleans' oldest living beatnik, 1999. Cass published "Climax: A Creative Review in the Jazz Spirit" in 1955 and 1956 from the bar, A Quarterite Place, 733 Bourbon St. It was among the earliest of the B
  
• Denver's Beat Poetry Driving Tour - Official Denver, CO, site with driving tour, including directions to many different sites and buildings related to Neal Cassady and Jack Kerouac. Includes bars, buildings, and locations, with photographs.
  
• Beats In Kansas: the Beat Generation in the Heartland - Collection of links and original articles. Many Beats were from Kansas. Original photos of William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Michael McClure.
  
• Books by the Beat Generation - Nice review of major books (collectables) by the Beats, by Dr. Donald W. Miller, Jr.
  
• William Burroughs & Allen Ginsberg: PJs photograph - Morning in Burroughs' house, with Beat founders in old fashion cotton pajamas. 1984, by Pat Elliott, Lawrence, KS
  
• Ann Charters Interview - 1992 audio interview by Don Swaim with author of Beat Down to Your Soul: What Was the Beat Generation, and The Portable Beat Reader.
  
• Allen Ginsberg and his world: photos by Gordon Ball - Ball edited three books with poet Allen Ginsberg, including Pulitzer Prize nominee "Allen Verbatim."
  
• Beat Quotes - Quotes by or pertaining to a beat author.
  
• Amram, David. "A vanishing America?: - Kerouac memories, a Guthrie symphony and a trip to Nathan’s Coney Island hot dog emporium
  
• Beat Generation in Tangiers - Author Chuck Woww visits Tangiers and writes to Beat William Burroughs about it, with photographs of Cafe Centrale and the Tangier beach, 2008.
  
• Unspeakable Visions: The Beat Generation and The Bohemian Dialectic. - by Michael Haywood. 1991 paper on the history of the Beat writers in print, from their early stirrings in the underground press, through to their publication by mainstream publishers.
  
• A Short Guide to Denton Welsh - Author, painter. 1915-1948. Major literary influence on William Burroughs.
  
• The birth of the beatnik - By James Campbell, author of This is the Beat Generation, 1999. Excellent background to the naming of the beats by Herb Caen - post Sputnik.
  
• Blue Neon Alley: The Beat Generation - A directory articles and resources for authors of the beat generation.
  
• Paul Bowles Photographs - Literary friends of writer Bowles, visiting him in Tangier in 1950s and 1960s. Includes Ginsberg, Burroughs, Corso.
  
• Malcolm McNeill Interview on William Burroughs, Ah Puch Is Here - Emmy award winning artist McNeill worked with Burroughs in London during early 1970s, on comic series, The Unspeakable Mr. Hart, and graphic novel, Ah Puch Is Here (aka, Ah Pook is Here), from Beats In Kansas, 2007
  
• Shapes of Time: The Beats - by Marshall Mateer, Belfast; memories of buying Seymour Krim's "The Beats" in Northern Ireland in 1962, by the then 17-year old Mateer.
  
• Death Of The Beat Generation - Gay Today magazine article by Jesse Monteagudo, written following the deaths of gay Beat writers William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg and Herbert Huncke, on their impact on modern culture.
  
• Stuart Perkoff / Philomene Long - Death Bed Conversation - A central figure in the Venice Beat scene, poet Perkoff died at age 44 on June 24, 1974. Beat Poet Long was his lover.
  
• Observed While Falling: Bill Burroughs, Ah Pook and Me - Excerpts from new book by artist Malcolm McNeill on the 1970s, London, and working with Burroughs on a graphic novel.
  
• How Beat Happened - by Steve Silberman. Article from SF Weekly.
  
• Herbert Huncke Interviewed - Exclusive interview of Beat Generation icon by author Johnny Strike
  
• Aram Saroyan, writer, poet, playwright - An international writer with ties to the Beats; author of "The Saga of Lew Welch and the Beat Generation"
  
• Ruined Time: The 1950s and the Beat - Memoir of the Great Depression, World War II, and the 1950s with an uniquely Beat outlook.
  
• Beat Generation Trading Cards - Unique renderings of Beats by Jesse Crumb (son of R. Crumb) on promotional cards. Includes Lenny Bruce, William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and Thelonious Monk.
  
• Philomene Long -- Interview for Ruta 66 - By Jordi Pujol Nadal. Greenwich Village native and the Beat Queen of Venice, CA, poet Long and her late husband, poet John Thomas, helped create the Los Angeles poetry scene.
  
• The Beat Page - Biographies, photos and included works of Beat Generation writers.
  
• Celestial Homework - Reading list with links for "Literary History of the Beat Generation," a course taught by Allen Ginsberg at Naropa Institute in 1977
  
• Ah Puch Is Here - Malcolm McNeill and William Burroughs - art work for unpublished image novel (aka, Ah Pook Is Here) created in early 1970s in London.
  
• Timothy Leary on William Burroughs, Brion Gysin, and Bou Saada - interview, Pataphysics, October 17, 1989. On beats in Algiers, Tangiers, cut-ups, and the "Dream Machine." From INTO-GAL, 2006
  
• Semiology: Beats Vs. Beatniks In 1950s American Culture - by Grant L. Allen. Transition from beat idea to beatnik myth distorted the original almost beyond recognition.
  
• Haight Ashbury Song Book - by Ashleigh Brilliant, 1967, San Francisco's "Songs of love and haight." Beat Generation to hippie transition.
  
• Naropa University - Audio Archive Project - Massive oral collection from Buddhist university; includes Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, William S. Burroughs, Philip Whalen, Michael McClure, Gary Snyder, Diane DiPrima, Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
  
• Beatscene - Magazine which documents and highlights the writers, poets, musicians and artists of America's Beat Generation.
  
• Dharma Beat Links - A directory on writer Jack Kerouac, and his friends, including Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, and Neal Cassady.
  
• the beats: new york - University of Virginia. Sharp cover images of first-edition books by William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and Neal Cassady.
  
• A brief introduction to the beat (in) film - An Analysis of Beat Cinema
  
• San Francisco Renaissance - 6 Poets at 6 Gallery by Al Aronowitz.
  
• Oliver Harris on Burroughs - Dr. Harris, a leading Beat scholar on "William Burroughs and the Composite Text," presented at the 4th Annual Symposium on Textual Studies, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK; 25 May 2007.
  
  

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