Beat Generation Writers/Poets
I have always been fascinated with "The Beat Generation". These writers expressed what it meant to be "exhausted", "beat down" by the world. They expressed themselves via literary purge.
I feel as though I connect to downtrodden and depressing works of writing, and I am drawn to the Beat writers simply because I feel as though we are kindred spirits.
I was, however, born 30 years too late.
The Beat Scene began in the 1950s. In a culture of rebellion and non-conformity. People looking fora "social revolution".
The term "Beat" was coined by Allen Ginsberg and he chose this because the writing felt "beat up". They did not agree with the Capitalism that the country was facing after WWII.
The writing is bold and straight forward. In your face type stuff that was uncommon for the time period.
The "founders " of The Beat Generation met at Columbia University for the first time in the 1940s.
Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg are considered the "Core" of the Beat Generation, and William S. Burroughs became a staple in the genre as well.
I currently own books by Burroughs and Kerouac and I am looking forward to picking up some poetry by Ginsberg.
I have listened to him read his poem "Howl" and it is magnificent!
I plan to go into more detail on each writer as I go!
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