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Brooklyn College has had a long
association with
the writers of the Beat Generation. Beat poet Harold Norse (Memoirs
of a Bastard Angel), whose friend and classmate Chester Kallman
later
became W.H. Auden's secretary, graduated from Brooklyn College in 1938.
In March 1958 Jack Kerouac came to the campus to lecture on his
recently
published novel On The Road. Fortified by
Thunderbird,
Kerouac charmed the students with his zen-like antics and
joined
Philip Lamantia, Howard Hart, and composer David Amram in an
impromptu
jazz poetry reading. Professor Lou Asekoff is another link to the
Beats. During his wanderjahr in Paris, he lived at the
“Beat
Hotel,” at 9 rue Git le Cour, where he rubbed elbows with
several
Beat writers including Naked Lunch novelist William S.
Burroughs.
It was in 1979, however, when Allen Ginsberg came to the English
department
to fill in for John Ashbery who was on leave, that BC’s relationship
with
the Beats began in earnest. After winning the MacArthur prize in
1985
Ashbery left the college and Ginsberg joined the English department as
a Distinguished Professor, teaching creative writing as well as
courses
on the history of the Beat Generation, beat poetics, and William Blake.
In the fifteen or so years he taught at BC, Ginsberg brought one Beat
legend
after another to the Brooklyn College campus, including William
Burroughs,
Gregory Corso, Diane di Prima, Amiri Baraka (LeRoy Jones), Herbert
Huncke,
Ray Bremser, Robert Creeley, Michael McClure, Gary Snyder, Philip
Whalen, John Weiners, Ted Jones, Peter Orlovsky, Ed Sanders
and Carl Solomon. Solomon, to whom Ginsberg dedicated his signal poem Howl,
was a Brooklyn College alum, famous for throwing potato salad at
lecturers and stealing peanut butter sandwiches from the
cafeteria.
He celebrated his 59th birthday here at BC in 1987 (see photo below).
Ginsberg
was still on the faculty when he died of liver cancer in April 1997 and
his influence lives on in the Beat materials available at the BC
library–materials
that include a wealth of information in books, journals, and electronic
resources.
A Gallery of Beat Authors from William Gargan's Collection of Beat Memorabilia
WEB RESOURCES Discussion Lists Subterraneans: This list run by Diane Carter and Luke Kelley hosts general discussions on the Beats and related topics. It’s open to anyone interested in the Beats and because of this topics sometimes crop up that go beyond the stated scope. To join the list send mail to majordomo@kdsi.net, leave the subject line blank, and type “subscribe subterraneans” in the body of the mail. BeatUniversity: This is a more scholarly list moderated by Diane Derooj. For more details on the list’s scope and subscription information go to: http://hspandler.bene-net.de/BeatUniversity.htm. General Web Sites Literary Kicks: http://www.litkicks.com/BeatPages/genre.jsp?what=Beatitude. Created by Levi Asher, this site is one of the oldest – and one of the best – pages devoted to the Beats. It’s the first place to go for students looking for an introduction or overview on Beat authors. Asher has recently revamped the site which now includes material on precursor movements like transcendentalism as well as related topics such as bohemia and hippie authors and “the Summer of Love.” Discussion boards are included for all these areas and full length articles can be submitted for web publication. The Blacklisted Journalist: http://www.bigmagic.com/pages/blackj/. Former New York Post reporter Al Aronowitz was one of the earliest journalists to recognize the importance of the Beat Generation writers. He wrote a groundbreaking series of articles on the Beats for the Post in March 1958. He also introduced Ginsberg and Bob Dylan. The two poets later toured together on Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Review. The film version of Rolling Thunder features a shot of Ginsberg and Dylan paying tribute to Kerouac at his gravesite in the Edson cemetery, Lowell, MA. The site includes essays on major and minor Beat figures including Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Amiri Baraka, Philip Lamantia, Ray Bremser and Janine Pommy Vega. Gordon Ball’s Beat Generation Home Page: http://academics.vmi.edu/english/ beats.html. Gordon Ball, who teaches at the Virginia Military Institute, edited Allen Verbatim (1974 ) and Allen Ginsberg: Journals Early Fifties Early Sixties (1977). “This page, designed for students in his Beat Generation English class, contains links to multifaceted webs devoted to Kerouac, Ginsberg, Burroughs, and other major figures of the Beat Generation.“ The Beat Generation Archives: http://colinp1.home.mindspring.com/beats.htm. Features articles about the Beats, links to major Beat sites, including bookstores specializing in Beat literature, and reviews of several Beat publications. City Lights Booksellers and Publishers: http://www.citylights.com. Poet and Painter Lawrence Ferlinghetti founded City Lights in San Francisco in 1953. The press became famous (or infamous) when Ferlinghetti was prosecuted on obscenity charges for publishing and selling Allen Ginsberg’s Howl & Other Poems (1956). City Lights went on to publish many other Beat authors including Jack Kerouac, Gregory Corso, Peter Orlovsky, Diane di Prima, and Brooklyn College alum Harold Norse. The web page includes informational articles, listing of upcoming events, and, of course, a wide variety of books by Beat authors which can be purchased online from the bookstore. For a glimpse of work by a variety of City Lights authors, check out City Lights Pocket Poets Anthology (PN 6101.C57 1995). Jack Kerouac Web Sites Official Web Site of Jack Kerouac: http://www.cmgww.com/historic/kerouac/. Contains biographical sketch, list of published and unpublished works, quotes, links to other sites. Kerouac Speaks: http://www~hsc.usc.edu/gallaher/k_speaks/kerouacspeaks.html. Sounds of Jack Kerouac reading and singing his prose in his strong, vibrant, New England voice. Jack Kerouac at the Blue Neon Alley: http://www.geocities.com/terry_young/kerouac.html.
Allen Ginsberg Web Sites Allen Ginsberg Home Page: http://www.allenginsberg.org/home.asp. The official Allen Ginsberg Home Page is run by Bob Rosenthal and the Allen Ginsberg Trust. It includes a brief biography; a timeline; a library containing texts, photos, audio recordings, video recordings, poster art, and reproductions of manuscripts; and a comprehensive bibliography, discography, and videography. There are links to important sites with information relating to Ginsberg as well as listings of contacts for obtaining rights and permissions to Ginsberg’s work. Shadow Changes Into Bone: http://www.ginzy.com/Home.html–“The Clearinghouse for all things Ginsberg.” This comprehensive web page includes links to a wide range of information about the poet and his work. Included are poetry and prose writings, photos and drawings, interviews, critical articles, news event listings and announcements, and a memorial tribute, Remembering Allen. Allen Ginsberg: Ashes & Blues: http://www.levity.com/corduroy/ginsberg/home.htm. Features a brief biography by John Tytell, Queens College professor and author of Naked Angels: The Lives and Literature of the Beat Generation (1976) as well as links to additional biographies, poetry selections, performances, and links to memorial pages. William S. Burroughs Web Sites The William S. Burroughs Files: http://www.hyperreal.org/wsb/. “A collaborative unofficial source of electronic Burroughs info since 1991....” Includes bibliography, interviews, online texts, photographs, film, and video. William S. Burroughs: the Biography Project: http://www.popsubculture.com/pop/bio_project/william_s_burroughs.html. Includes a short biography, bibliography, filmography, and links to sites devoted to Burroughs and other Beat Generation writers. Related Pages David Amram Home Page: http://www.fmp.com/amram. Herbert Huncke: http://www.huncke-times.com. Ken Kesey: http://intrepidtrips.com. Michael McClure: http://www.thing.net/~grist/l&d/mcclure/mcclure.htm. Gary Snyder: http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/s_z/snyder/snyder.htm. |
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| For information about Beats in the
Brooklyn College
Library collection see: A Selected BC-Beat Bibliography |
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