• Herbert Huncke – Times Square Superstar
  • Down These Mean Streets: Raymond Chandler’s L.A.
  • The Voice is All: Joyce Johnson Talks about Her Latest Book
  • Jack Kerouac’s Poetry—Where is the Gold, if There’s Gold?
  • Somebody Blew Up America: A Conversation with Amiri Baraka
  • After the Deluge
  • The Beat Rap Sheet

Herbert Huncke – Times Square Superstar

by Spencer Kansa.   I first met Herbert Huncke in the Spring of 1992, during a layover in New York, en route to visiting William Burroughs at his home in Lawrence, Kansas. Shortly after my Manhattan arrival, I received a phone call at my hotel from Burroughs’ consigliere, James Grauerholz, who graciously welcomed me to [...]

Down These Mean Streets: Raymond Chandler’s L.A.

by Chris Dickerson   Certain cities belong to a few writers. They may not own the towns exclusively, but they’ve put their stamp on them so indelibly in their books and stories that anybody who writes about the places after them can’t help but live in their shadow. Dashiell Hammett long ago claimed San Francisco. [...]

The Voice is All: Joyce Johnson Talks about Her Latest Book

Joyce Johnson’s role in Beat history is too often viewed simply as that of Jack Kerouac’s girlfriend. There is surprise when one first learns that she was a novelist in her own right and at the disdain for her position as a scholar of the Beat Generation. She is derided as “milking” her brief relationship [...]

Jack Kerouac’s Poetry—Where is the Gold, if There’s Gold?

This paper is a short inquiry into the quality of Jack Kerouac’s poetry. Kerouac is an American writer who has maintained an enduring hold on succeeding generations of readers through his long prose works, such as On the Road and The Dharma Bums.  He wrote numerous books of poetry, approaching the art seriously and passionately. [...]

Somebody Blew Up America: A Conversation with Amiri Baraka

This interview originally appeared in Beatdom #12 – the CRIME issue. You can purchase it on Amazon and Kindle.   Amiri Baraka is Beat. He walked away from the scene in Greenwich Village, where he edited literary journals Yugen, Kulchur, and The Floating Bear from 1958-65. Working with Hettie Cohen, Michael John Fles, and Diane [...]

After the Deluge

“What are you rebelling against?” the local girl asks one of the “saintly motorcyclists” in the 1953 movie The Wild One, and Marlon Brando drawls, “Whaddaya got?” That’s a biography in brief of  French poet Arthur Rimbaud, who revolutionized literature and then abandoned it at age nineteen.   He was born October 20, 1854, in [...]

The Beat Rap Sheet

But yet, but yet, woe, woe unto those who think that the Beat Generation means crime, delinquency, immorality, amorality … woe unto those who attack it on the grounds that they simply don’t understand history and the yearning of human souls … woe in fact unto those who those who make evil movies about the [...]

 

Beat News »

Summer Beat Reading

Summer Beat Reading

The summer of 2013 sees the release of yet more promising contributions to the field of Beat studies. In Beatdom #13 we will be reviewing each publication, but here is a little information for those of you who’re too eager to wait. Two... read more »

 

Shanghai Wishes Allen Ginsberg a Happy Birthday

Shanghai Wishes Allen Ginsberg a Happy Birthday

Today, June 3rd, is Allen Ginsberg’s birthday. All around the world, people are raising a glass or otherwise celebrating the life and work of this great man. In China, a country not known for its freedom of speech, Ginsberg’s epic... read more »

 

Ginsberg Exhibition Tomorrow

Ginsberg Exhibition Tomorrow

This summer, the Contemporary Jewish Museum is putting on an Allen Ginsberg festival. You can read more about it at: http://ginsbergfestival.com/ The festival will include a guided tour by Bill Morgan, author of a Ginsberg biography. Tomorrow... read more »

 

Beatdom Updates »

Our Cover Collections

Our Cover Collections

Since 2010, Beatdom has been publishing books in addition to the literary journal. So far we’ve out out five books (3 fiction, 2 non-fiction) with one more coming soon, and big plans for after that. David S. WillsDavid S. Wills is the... read more »

 

New Beatdom Book!

New Beatdom Book!

“This is the story of how I screwed up being a lesbian.” Beatdom Books’ next publication is the wonderful novel, The Third Kind of Horse, by Michelle Auerbach. The book will go on sale later this week, and you can pre-order... read more »

 

Competition Time

Competition Time

To celebrate crossing a small milestone (900 followers) we are giving away copies of our two most recent publications: Larry Beckett’s Beat Poetry and David S. Wills’ Scientologist! William S. Burroughs and the ‘Weird Cult’. To... read more »

 
 

Essays »

Interviews »

Fiction & Poetry »

 

Reviews »

Review: This Ain’t No Holiday Inn

Review: This Ain’t No Holiday Inn

This Ain’t No Holiday Inn: Down and Out at the Chelsea Hotel 1980-1995 By James Lough   New York’s Chelsea Hotel has a special place in American culture. It has surely been a home, or a home-away-from-home, to more influential artists... read more »

 

Big Punk

Big Punk

“Punk: Chaos to Couture” Costume Exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York (The exhibit runs until August 14, 2013.) “…I, Jackie Duluoz,…big punk…” Doctor Sax Punk was anti-fashion, so the notion of punk couture... read more »

 

Brother-Souls: John Clellon Holmes, Jack Kerouac, and the Beat Generation

Brother-Souls: John Clellon Holmes, Jack Kerouac, and the Beat Generation

We recently passed a watershed moment in modern American literature, as November, 2012, marked sixty years since John Clellon Holmes introduced the term “Beat Generation” in the New York Times Magazine. To many, this is the sum of all Holmes... read more »

 

Videos »

Big Sur Trailer

Big Sur Trailer

With the success of On the Road, all eyes are now on the next adaptation of a Kerouac novel: Big Sur.   David S. WillsDavid S. Wills is the founder and editor of Beatdom magazine and the author of The Dog Farm. He travels a lot, and... read more »

 

William S. Burroughs on Dreaming

William S. Burroughs on Dreaming

In the seventies and eighties, William S. Burroughs began to tour America doing public readings. These were, to him, performances. He spent a long time preparing for them, and talked at length on subjects close to his heart. He also read from... read more »

 

Herbert Huncke at Cafe Nico

Herbert Huncke at Cafe Nico

Another Huncke video! And why not. The man is a delight to listen to. Thanks to Laki Vazakas for the link.   David S. WillsDavid S. Wills is the founder and editor of Beatdom magazine and the author of The Dog Farm. He travels a lot,... read more »