Allen Ginsberg ’s Howl became the most representative poetic expression of the Beat movement: the poem itself embodied the essence of the Beats’ voice; its first performance, in 1955, was a disorderly celebration; and the obscenity trial, in 1957, that followed its publication showed the movement’s social and political relevance.
Beat poets sought to transform poetry into an expression of genuine lived experience. They read their work, sometimes to the accompaniment of progressive jazz, in such Beat strongholds as the Coexistence Bagel Shop and Lawrence Ferlinghetti ’s City Lights bookstore in San Francisco.
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In between reads, try this novel idea: a quiz on all things literature. By about 1960, the Beat movement as a fad had begun to fade, though its experiments with form and its social engagement continued and had lasting effects.
hippie. …a term applied to the Beats of the 1950s, such as Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, who were generally considered to be the precursors of hippies. Although the movement arose in part as opposition to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War (1955–75), hippies were often not directly engaged in politics,….
…gave powerful impetus to the Beat movement. Written with extraordinary intensity, these works were inspired by writers as diverse as Whitman, the biblical prophets , and English poets William Blake and Christopher Smart, as well as by the dream-logic of the French Surrealists and the spontaneous jazz aesthetic of Ginsberg’s friend…