In 1962, William Burroughs, a member of the Young American Disaffiliates (YADS), more commonly referred to as the Beat Generation, was brought to trial for accusations of obscenity regarding his published book, Naked Lunch. The Beats, as a counter-culture and anti-establishment group, not only experimented with innovative writing styles, but most pertinently with sensitive content […]
by Chloe L. Fein The Yippies (Youth International Party) were notorious for being in headlines and making headlines. Similar to youths of the Beatnik movement, the Yippie lifestyle stood in antithesis of the status quo. Propaganda, specifically in the form of attention-grabbing colored fliers, was one vehicle for spreading the Yippie “radical-left” message. The “Somoza […]
For a movement that lauded shocking candor and licentious freedom, the Beat movement frequently sidelined and silenced the voices of women within it. Laura Ulewicz, a female poet who faced prejudice even in the time of the Beats, instead celebrated her privacy and enigma, rewriting herself into the male-dominated tradition of poetry and regaining authority […]
On December 23, 1950, Neal Cassady cemented his place in history when he sent the Joan Anderson letter to Beat writer Jack Kerouac. The rambling 19-page epistle detailed Cassady’s sexual exploits with his love Joan Anderson and several other women. Upon receiving the letter, Kerouac not only raved about how amazingly well-written it was, but […]