Death Within a Chrysalis

by Nick Meador At the turn of the 1960s, Jack Kerouac found himself in a profound state of limbo, the climax of an existential crisis that predated his life as a published author. He had been looking for an “answer” to his problems since... read more »

October 24, 2011 9:46 am / no comments

Substance Use

Last week, in part one of Beatdom’s literary discussion series, we debated the impact of the Beats (and other writers) on “crap writing”. This week we’re looking at a more controversial topic – that of substance use and abuse, and... read more »

September 14, 2010 4:48 pm / 16 comments

Long John Silver and the Beats

by Wayne Mullins Many people ask what are the Beatles? Why Beatles? Ugh, Beatles how did the name arrive? So we will tell you. It came in a vision – a man appeared on a Flaming Pie and said unto them ‘From this day on you are Beatles... read more »

August 24, 2010 6:26 am / 4 comments

Women of the Beat Generation

History has not been kind to the women of the Beat Generation. Their presence is largely unknown to most casual readers, and considered largely unimportant to those who would delve a little further. Perhaps it is because the feminists that followed... read more »

January 13, 2008 1:30 pm / 8 comments

Six Beat Tales

Wills, D., ‘Six Beat Tales’ in Wills, D. (ed.) Beatdom Vol. 1, (City of Recovery Press: Dundee, 2007) Six Beat Tales The Beat Generation was famous for its literature, and much of that literature told stories from the lives of the... read more »

July 28, 2007 10:11 am / no comments