Larry Keenan Keith Scotcher I was shocked to hear of Ted's death, having met him in Paris in March, first outside the Shakespeare and Co bookshop and later at his regular cafe in Blvd St … [Read more...]
Beat Generation Authors, Poets & Artists
Here you'll find everything relating to the Beat Generation - biographies of the writers, poets, artists, and other players; interviews, book reviews, photo galleries, and more.
Ted Joans Lives! Tribute: Rik Lina, Hammond Guthrie, Richard Krech and more
Rik Lina This is one of the many cadavre-exquises Ted made people to do, must be more than thousand...note the small text he wrote in it: "cadavrexquis is not dead." Laura Corsiglia, Ted and I made … [Read more...]
Ted Joans Lives! Tribute (2)
Howard Park: I only met Ted Joans once, at the 1994 NYU Beat Conference. According to my somewhat altered consciousness and memory of the time, Ted and Jack Micheline stole the show. At the time, … [Read more...]
Ted Joans Lives! Tribute (1)
Jim Haynes: Ted Joans and I have been close friends and associates since our first meeting in Edinburgh in 1960. He stayed in my home in Edinburgh, later in London and often in Paris. I launched my … [Read more...]
Ted Joans Lives! A Tribute
When Charlie Parker died, Ted Joans coined the phrase 'BIRD LIVES' and wrote it in chalk or charcoal on walls. Laura Corsiglia suggests that we remember Ted in the same way:GRAB SOME SIDEWALK CHALK OR … [Read more...]
Cut-Up (The Stolen Scroll)
Jim sat at the library table with his head in his hands. He didn't want to go to jail. Yesterday morning he prided himself in caring nothing for possessions, but today, all the people who could have … [Read more...]
A.D. Winans Remembers Jack Micheline
Jack Micheline, a poet of the Beat Generation, died of a heart attack on Friday, February 27, 1988 aboard a Bart commuter train. The transit police at the Orinda Bart station discovered his body, … [Read more...]
A Coney Island of the Mind by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
I first found Lawrence Ferlinghetti's A Coney Island of the Mind while an undergraduate, finding the wry attacks on the established order refreshing and invigorating. Ferlinghetti protests and rages … [Read more...]
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
"I first met Dean not long after my wife and I split up. I had gotten over a serious illness that I won't bother to talk about, except that it had something to do with the miserably weary split-up … [Read more...]
The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac, reviewed by Eric D. Lehman
I encountered The Dharma Bums for the first time in college, on a classmate's shelf. She gushed about the book, but I was more interested in her roommate and didn't pay enough attention. Many … [Read more...]
Big Sur by Jack Kerouac
Big Sur is often ignored by critics and Kerouac fans alike. We all want the freedom of On the Road, the craziness of The Dharma Bums — the celebration of the Beat lifestyle. We want young Jack … [Read more...]
Book Review — Tristessa by Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac is primarily lauded for his keen understanding of male friendship. The female characters of On the Road or The Dharma Bums never really achieve the reader's interest the way the males … [Read more...]
Book Review — Visions of Cody by Jack Kerouac
Like a weird, mutated ogre muttering to himself by the roadside, Jack Kerouac's Visions of Cody stands apart. As the author states in his short introduction, "I wanted a vertical metaphysical study … [Read more...]
Book Review — Vanity of Duluoz by Jack Kerouac
When Vanity of Duluoz: An Adventurous Education, 1935-46 was written in 1967, an overweight and severely alcoholic Jack Kerouac had only two years to live. Chronicling the years just before his … [Read more...]
Dr. Sax by Jack Kerouac, reviewed by Eric D. Lehman
Dr. Sax is one of Jack Kerouac's most troubling books for readers, peering behind the curtain of his childhood rather than exploring those later years of Beats and bodhisattvas. Nevertheless, it … [Read more...]
Lonely? You better believe it.
In a recent Kerouac Corner update (check it out), Bob Dylan is quoted at saying "I fell into that atmosphere of everything Kerouac was saying about the world being completely mad." I never got … [Read more...]
In Memory of Poet Alan Ansen: Biography, Books & Links
Alan Ansen passed away in Athens, Grece on November 12, 2006. A poet, playwright, and author, he was associated with both the Beat Generation & New York poets. Ansen served as secretary to W.H. … [Read more...]
Links to Beat Generation writers, artists, and resources
Here are some Beat Generation resources, writers, poets, artists, musicians, and organizations. See something missing? Drop us a line or leave a comment to let us know. Beat Generation & … [Read more...]
Book Review — Beatitude Golden Anniversary: 1959-2009
Beatitude Golden Anniversary 1959-2009 / Edited by Latif Harris and Neeli Cherkovski / Latif Harris / San Francisco / 2009. The publisher provided Empty Mirror with a review copy. Beatitude … [Read more...]
Book Review – Who was Sinclair Beiles?
Who was Sinclair Beiles? / Gary Cummiskey & Eva Kowalska, editors / Dye Hard Press / 2009 / 978-0-620-42792-0 Before I opened Dye Hard Press' new volume, its title, Who was Sinclair Beiles? was a … [Read more...]