The Beat Poets met each other while living in Harlem and the East Village neighborhoods in New York. Allen Ginsberg went to Columbia College, the oldest university in the state, and during his first year met a man who may have been responsible in part, for changing the course of literary history. Lucien Carr introduced Ginsberg to a few of his friends. These included William Burroughs, John Clellon Holmes, and Jack Kerouac. The men would get together in the coffee shops and the best hotels. New York City fostered these men and inspired them, and in turn, they fed off of each others excitement.
Each of the writers were moved to speak out, and write about the potential of the power of the youth of the day, and those who were making a break of the conformity of the McCarthy era and the Communist scare of the post World War II ideology. Arthur Rimbaud coined a phrase, the “New Vision, and this was an idea that was the topic of many conversations Carr and Ginsberg. Neal Cassady and Ginsberg were life long friends following that year. All of the poets eventually became characters in Kerouac’s novel “On The Road“ which did cause a bit of strain on his and Ginsberg relationship.
Many of the poets would meet up at some of the most famous bars in the Village and throughout Harlem. One of these bars was called the Pony Stable. Throughout their years these writers influenced not only their own generations but all of the generations that have followed. One of the many festivals that celebrate the poets is the annual HOWL Festival. Venues schedule events for three days in the beginning of each September. Bars and coffee shops, and outdoor stages in Harlem and the East Village host shows, musical and poetry readings each year to celebrate and remember the work of this dedicated and talented groups of non-conformist artists from this time of New York’s history.
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