Friday, December 29, 2006 7:30 PM There never would have been a Beat Generation had it not been for the fact that Neal and Jack and Allen all followed Carolyn Cassady out to San Francisco. As her son, John Allen Cassady is often fond of saying, "Mom, it's all your fault!"
Find out why the above statement is true by viewing our photos and videos from the evening of
remembrances, story telling and readings as Carolyn, accompanied by her only
begotten son John Allen on guitar, takes us back to the early days of the
Beat Generation here in North Beach.
Saturday, December 2nd 6:45 PM
Tara's Tongue A women's poetry collective PRESENTS:
"SHE SPEAKS" a night of all-female music and poetry!
$3 suggested donation no one turned away for lack of funds
Hosted by: Monique de Magdalena and Jennifer Barone
with an opening ceremony and blessing @ 6:45pm, reading at 7pm
SPECIAL FEATURED POET:
Goddess of the Beat Generation: ruth weiss
Jennifer Barone, Bast, Elz, Nicole Henares
Ingrid Keir, E.K. Keith, Jessica Loos, Monique
Marquisa De Magdalena, Maria Medina Serafin
Tatiana Molinar, Delia Tomino Nakayama,
Imaya Sage and Cara Vida
For more information or to be a part of future series please visit: www.thewordparty.com
Creating the New Space
Planning, cleaning and painting the new space Is your picture here?
Wednesday October 11th 7 PM
Beat Museum Bi-Weekly Poetry Showcase
Join us for the first ever Poetry Showcase at the new Beat Museum Location
Bring your poems and share them.
Event will continue every other Wednesday
Thursday October 12th 7 PM
East meets West
Russian Poet Alex Galper (author of Fish De Jour)
Jack Hirschman (author of The Arcanes)
Thursday October 19th 7 PM
Author Signing
The Dog Walked Down the Street
An Outspoken Guide for Writers Who Want to Publish
by Sal Glynn
Writer and freelance editor Sal Glynn will read from his new book explaining the fine points (and fine print) of book publishing. Join us for a freewheling discussion - bring your questions and expect some straight answers.
Sunday October 22nd 7 PM
Meet the Actor
Movie Screening with Vince Balestri
Tuesday October 24th 7 PM
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Appearance by Author & Filmmaker
Join us as Mark Bittner reads selections from his book
and Judy Irving screens a 25 minute portion of the movie.
Wednesday October 25th 7 PM
Beat Museum Bi-Weekly Poetry Showcase
Poets Q.R. Hand Jr. and Charles Curtis Blackwell with musical accompaniment
Join us for the Poetry Showcase every other Wednesday
Thursday October 26th 2 PM
Walking Tour of North Beach - 90 Minutes
$15 in Advance - $20 at the Door
See the bars, coffeehouses, homes and other highlights of North Beach
Call 415-399-9626 to purchase tickets by credit card or stop on in to The Beat Museum.
Thursday October 26th 8 PM
"This is The Beat Generation" - Live Performance
$10 in Advance - $15 at the Door
90 Minute Multimedia Performance and Story Telling
This is the very same multimedia performance that John Allen Cassady and Jerry Cimino have been touring the country with in the Beatmobile for the last two years.
Call 415-399-9626 to purchase tickets by credit card or stop on in to The Beat Museum.
Friday October 27th 2 PM
Walking Tour of North Beach - 90 Minutes
$15 in Advance - $20 at the Door
See the bars, coffeehouses, homes and other highlights of North Beach
Call 415-399-9626 to purchase tickets by credit card or stop on in to The Beat Museum.
Wednesday November 8th 7:30 PM
Beat Museum Bi-Weekly Poetry Showcase
Jack Micheline Birthday Celebration
and Open Mike
Refreshments, Cake and Poetry
Hosted by Jessica Loos
Thursday November 9th 7 PM
Author Discussion by Jonah Raskin
Jack & Allen
"The Personal Relationship Between Jack Kerouac &
Allen Ginsberg"
Jonah Raskin is the author of American Scream: Allen Ginsberg's Howl and the Making of the Beat Generation
He will be talking about the literary friendship between Kerouac and Ginsberg, and will read from their books On The Road and Howl to tell the story.
Wednesday, November 22nd 7 PM
Beat Museum Bi-Weekly Poetry Showcase Extracting the Teeth of Wisdom
Featuring Tony Vaughn and Michael Koch
Wednesday, June 6 @ 7:00pm
Featured Poets
Featured local poets reading (every 2nd Wednesday), part of the Reading Series hosted by North Beach poet Jessica Loos.
Friday, June 15 @ 7:30 - 9:30pm
George Wallace
Award-winning poet and journalist, and Suffolk County, New York's first Poet Laureate. Co-host of PoetryBrook, a SUNY StrongBrook poetry radio show, and founded online poetry publication Poetry Bay.
Also reading is A.D. Winans, a native San Francisco poet and photographer whose work has appeared internationally, and has been translated into eight languages.
Sunday, July 15 @ 2:00pm
Harold Norse
The acclaimed American poet makes a rare appearance, reading in celebration of his 91st birthday. More>>
Friday, July 20 @ 7:00pm
Chris Chandler
The road wizened guru Chris Chandler returns for another powerful show, a multi media collage, combining storytelling, poetry, video, and a wide variety of musical styles, into an evening of compelling theater, with themes ripped from the pages of history books, current events, and personal reminiscences.
Visit chrischandler.org for more information on Chris.
Sunday, July 29 — 12:30-1:30pm
San Francisco International Poetry Festival:
Cletus Nelson-Nwadike & Agneta Falk
The Beat Museum will be the first stop on the North Beach Poetry Crawl, part of the San Francisco International Poetry Festival, July 27, 28 & 29. More information is available here.
Thursday, August 23 — 7:00-8:30pm
Broadway North Beach: The Golden Years
Slideshow Presentation with Dick Boyd
Join us for a walk down memory lane with Dick Boyd, local author of Broadway North Beach: The Golden Years. Boyd is quite well acquainted with the many transformations of Broadway—he has been a North Beach local for many years, and was part-owner of Pierre's bar (now the Hungry I Club) from 1960-1965.
Friday, August 31 — 7:00-9:00pm
Summer of Love Pre-Party
In conjunction with the Summer of Love Festival, Sept. 2
Wesdnesday, Sept. 5 — times TBA
On the Road Reading
Hosted by Vesuvio Cafe
In honour of the 50th Anniversary of Kerouac's On the Road, join us for a special reading of this great American novel. More info to come...
Please join us for the opening reception of Robert Altman's 1960's photography at The Beat Museum. Mr. Altman will be here in person, and copies of his new book, The Sixties will be available for purchase. Refreshments will be served.
Wednesday, Sept. 19 @ 7:00pm
Local Poets Reading
Wednesday, Sept. 19 @ 7:00pm
BBC Scotland Presents
50 Year Celebration of On the Road
Live performance by UK favourite Russell Brand. More »
Wednesday, Sept. 26, 7-10:00pm
an evening in appreciation of
Allen Cohen
Remembering the life and work of the poet, editor and philosopher whose dream of rainbow-colored newspaper became the San Francisco Oracle. Featuring a screening of the film, Oracle Rising by Claire Burch. More »
Thursday, Sept. 27, 8:00pm
The Beat Museum Poetry Series
Sharon Doubiago Neeli Cherkovski view full schedule »
Opening Art Reception with
Wavy Gravy featuring a special appearance by Mr. Gravy himself—one of the original Merry Pranksters!
Thursday, Oct. 18, 7:00pm
"The Beats" Book Signing
Mike Evans
Exclusive appearance and book release party. Mr. Evans has compiled a book of stunning photographs and perspectives on the Beat generation.
Sunday, Oct. 21, 7:00pm
The Foundation for Creative Expression & Vesuvio Cafe present
"The Ragged Promised Land" being the second installment of On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Honoring the 38th anniversary of Kerouac's passing on October 21st, 1969, "Ragged Promised Land" will feature readings from the book, punctuated with live acoustic jazz.
"The excerpts from On the Road have been selected specifically to showcase Kerouac's travels in California," says Rodger Jacobs, the show's director.
Jacobs, an award-winning writer and documentary producer, will be performing the readings at the Beat Museum around the corner from the famed Vesuvio Cafe, where many North Beach writers found inspiration. Jacobs appears alongside Joe Shackel, Jim Reese, Gregg Martinez, and Jan Becker. Acoustic jazz trio Alt Tal will be on hand to round out the show.
Thursday, Oct. 25th, 8:00pm
The Beat Museum Poetry Series
Cameron McHenry Jennifer Barone Ruebi Freyja view full schedule »
Thursday, Nov. 1st, 8:00pm
The Beat Museum Poetry Series
Monique Marquisa de Magdalena view full schedule »
Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 3rd & 4th, 1:00pm until late
Marathon Reading of On the Road
at the Phoenix Theatre in Petaluma
To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of On The Road, the Petaluma community is coming together for a giant Kerouac weekend! John Cassady and Jerry Cimino will kick off the event at 1 PM Saturday with the multimedia performance we've been doing coast to coast. Guest speakers will include Jonah Raskin (author of American Scream), Gerald Nicosia (author of Memory Babe) and poet Joanna McClure. There will be panel discussions and students from various local schools will be involved in the cover-to-cover reading. Weekend pass is $8 for adults and $4 for students. Tickets are available at The Beat Museum or at the Phoenix Theater in Petaluma at the door. Free coffee provided on a BYOM (bring your own mug) basis.
Screwed Pooch by Jan Millsapps
Presentation & Book Signing
Right on the heels of all the hoopla of the 50th Anniversary of Sputnik I being launched on October 4, 1957 comes a very fun event at The Beat Museum. We'll be celebrating the launch of Sputnik II with a presentation and author booksigning of "Screwed Pooch" - the story of "Laika" the very first living being to be launched into space.
A month after the Soviets shocked the world by beating the US into space, Nikita Khrushchev demanded a second satellite be launched to coincide with the 40th Anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. Khrushchev got his second satellite and poor Laika - the "Screwed Pooch" - became arguably the most famous dog in history. Come to The Beat Museum to hear author Jan Millsapps tell us about the race to space, the inside details of the Soviet space program and the ugly truth about how a little dog named Laika was "screwed" from the outset! Sure to be a wildly entertaining evening!
Ira Cohen Michael Rothenberg
Ira Cohen & Michael Rothenberg
read their poetry
Ira Cohen was born in 1935. In the 1960s he was in Tangier, where he
edited and published GNAOUA, which featured William Burroughs, Brion Gysin,
Jack Smith, and Irving Rosenthal. He subsequently became "the Father of
Mylar Photography," making celebrated photographs in bendable mirrors of
Jimi Hendrix, Charles Ludlam, Alejandro Jodorowsky, and Robert LaVigne,
among others... More »
Michael Rothenberg is a poet, songwriter, and editor of Big Bridge magazine
online at www.bigbridge.org. His
poetry books include Nightmare Of The Violins,
Man/Woman, a collaboration with Joanne Kyger, Favorite Songs, The Paris
Journals, Monk Daddy, Grown Up Cuba, and Unhurried Vision. He is also author of the
novel Punk RockwellRothenberg's 2005 CD collaboration with singer Elya
Finn, was praised by poet David Meltzer as "fabulous-all [the] songs sound
like Weimar Lenya & postwar Nico, lushly affirmative at the same time being
edged w/ cosmic weltschmertz. An immensely tasty production." ... More »
Apparently, 'Быть' means 'to be' in Russian. It is also translates as 'beat'. In celebration of this most interesting of coincidences, Jack Hirschman, Alex Galper and Roman Gadzhilov present a night of Russian poetry and its English translations. Don't miss this unique event!
Sun. Jan. 27th, 7:30pm
Eyé séyedre ('to your health')
an evening of poetry with Hungarian poet
Gabor Gyukics and Jack Hirschman
Gabor Gyukics is the author of A Transparent Lion, translations from Hungarian by the great poet Attila József. Join us as Gabor reads from his translations with Jack Hirschman.
poor magazine produkshuns
in collaboration with the sf bay guardian & sf bay view presents:
The Poetry Battle of (All) the Sexes
on Valentine's Day
Because love hurts...
On this day normally equated with cutesy Hallmark cards, flowers and candy, challenge your partner (or future partner) to a battle of spoken word, hip hop, poetry and/or flowetry skillz in the ring!
Featuring Lightweight Contenders: Tony vs. Tiny Other Poetry Contenders include: Jewnbug (heavyweight), Leroy Moore (welterweight), Joel Tan (lightweight), James Tracy (welterweight), Rupert Estanislao, Jay Pugao, Ram, Queennandi, Members of the Po' Poets Project of Poor, the Molotov Mouths, and many more! This event will open with a love poem by undefeated champion Devorah Major.
Referee/Ring Announcer: Jack Hirschman (Poet Laureate of SF)
Panel of Judges: Al Robles, Genny Lim and many more...
The (1st, 2nd and 3rd) Prize Winning Poems will be published in the SF Bay Guardian and Poor Magazine On-line
Entrance Fee to Fight in the Ring: $20 Spectator Fee: $15 (no one turned away for lack of funds)
to sign up as a poetry "contender" or buy tix to the event, call (415) 863-6306 or go online to: www.poormagazine.org and click on "poetry battle."
This Poor Magazine Produkshun is sponsored by the SF Bay Guardian, San Francisco Bay View, The Beat Museum, City Lights Foundation, and Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP)
Thurs. March 6th, 7:30pm
Lou Rowan is a native of Southern California. He began his writing career in New York City, where he earned his living as teacher and as an institutional investor. He lives and writes in Seattle. His current projects include a novel about the losing of the West, a sequel to My Last Days, stories, and his editorial duties at Golden Handcuffs Review.
Michael McClure was a leading figure among the Beat generation writers of the North Beach scene, and was one of the poets who read at the Six Gallery. His poetry features an extensive awareness of nature and the animal consciousness in human beings. McClure is also noted for his spoken-word performances with Ray Manzarek of The Doors, and for his skills as a songwriter, having penned "Mercedes Benz," performed by Janis Joplin, and others. McClure's infamous play, The Beard became the subject of an obscenity trial not unlike Howl and the performances of Lenny Bruce, and helped advance the cause of free speech.
Sun. March 9th, 7:30pm
Combat Paper
Combat Paper is paper made using uniforms worn while on tour during war. The uniforms are cut into pieces, cooked and macerated in a Hollander beater to make paper.
War veterans using paper and writing as a means to process their experiences while engaged in conflict and/or since they have returned to civilian life. The process allows veterans to reclaim their experiences from making art.
Tues. March 11th, 7:30pm
San Francisco Museum and Historical Society present Beats, Broadway & Beyond
Jerry Cimino + John Allen Cassady
In their first collaborative performance since being on the road with the Beat Museum on Wheels, Jerry Cimino and John Allen Cassady will deliver their retrospective of the Beat generation, and it's worldwide cultural impact. Reading from seminal works On the Road, HOWL, and others, and featuring stories of John's childhood with his parents, Neal and Carolyn Cassady, this evening will be an engaging, informative experience for both long-time Beat interesteds and newcomers alike.
UCSF Auditorium
Laurel Heights Conference Center
3333 California Street @ Walnut Street
This event is NOT at the Beat Museum
Sun. March 16th, 2:00pm
Harold Norse
We are proud to announce Harold Norse's return to The Beat Museum for a very special reading and booksigning. Norse—a Beat legend, queer activist, and experimental artist—was called 'the greatest poet of his generation' by his mentor, William Carlos Williams. If you missed Harold's reading last year (in celebration of his 91st birthday), be sure not to miss Harold this time as he reads from his collected poems, In the Hub of the Fiery Force.
April 19th, 7:30pm
Linda King: Bukowski Undigested
Linda King was the girlfriend of Charles Bukowski in the early 1970's, of whom he spoke lovingly and often. Linda is a poet and sculptor (see photo of Bukowski sitting with a bust of himself, created by Linda King). Her busts of Harold Norse, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Gregory Corso are on display at the Museum, and additional works will be displayed while she's here. Linda will be reading from her new book, Bukowski Undigested, which will be available for purchase and signing.
April 20th, 2:00pm (time changed!)
Reading of Beat a play by Yale Cabaret Hollywood
April 24th, 7:30pm
Booksigning: Legends of the Chelsea Hotel by Ed Hamilton
May 4th, 7:30pm
Travis Shane Brandon
Travis Shane Brandon has played street corners and in coffee houses and bars all over San Francisco. In the late 1960s, he hitchhiked around the state of California playing and singing in any establishment that would have him. Later he started hitchhiking back and forth from the West Coast to the East Coast performing wherever he could. Woody Guthrie and "Ramblin' " Jack Elliot have always been his heroes and he has tried to emulate their examples in his own life. In 1972, a bartender at a ski lodge in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California hung the handle of "Travelin' Travis" on him and the name has become his moniker.
Charles Gatewood and V. Vale, both friends of Willam Burroughs himself, celebrate the 95th Birthday of el hombre invisible
William S. Burroughs 95th Birthday Party
Charles Gatewood, beat photographer, will present classic Burroughs photos he took for Rolling Stone (1972) and Crawdaddy (1975), and will also read selections from his 1975 photo book, Sidetripping, and share William Burroughs stories from his forthcoming memoir, Dirty Old Man.
V. Vale will share photos and anecdotes from time spent with William S. Burroughs. His rare "Search & Destroy #10" (1978) featuring W.S. Burroughs on the cover will be available for $5!
Rare William S. Burroughs books, prints, and collectibles will be available starting at $5 and up, & can be autographed by Gatewood/Vale.
After many years out of print, Carolyn Cassady's Off the Road was re-released Fall 2008
Carolyn Cassady Special Guest of Honour at our 4th Annual Neal Cassady Birthday Bash
Off the Road tells the intimate story of the now legendary Neal Cassady and his remarkable friendship with Jack Kerouac (who immortalized Cassady as Dean Moriarty in On the Road) and Allen Ginsberg. Written by the woman who loved them all—as wife of Cassady, lover of Kerouac, and friend of Ginsberg—this riveting memoir spans one of the most vital eras in twentieth-century literature and culture, including the explosive successes of Kerouac's On the Road and Ginsberg's Howl, the flowering of the Beat movement, and the social revolution of the 1960s. Carolyn Cassady reveals a side of Neal Cassady rarely seen—that of husband and father, a man who craved respectability, yet could not resist the thrills of a wider and ultimately more destructive lifestyle.
The Beat Museum is pleased to welcome Carolyn Cassady back to San Francisco for a booksigning of Off the Road
Sparring with Beatnik Ghosts: Round II Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Round I happened in the subterranean basement of the Li Po Lounge. Now, enjoy Round II amidst the original Subterraneans—at the Beat Museum!
Sparring with Beatnik Ghosts: Round II features Charles Curtis Blackwell, Steve Arntson, Jennifer Barone, Craig Easley, Ana Elsner, Gail Mitchell, and special guests Alfonso Texidor, Lunation with Clara Hsu & Bill Mercer, and music by Black Earth & The Laughing Childe
Produced and hosted by Daniel Yaryan & Bob Booker
Boulevard by Stephen Jay Schwartz Wed. Sept. 23 @ 7pm
Join author Stephen Jay Schwartz for an appearance and booksigning of his new novel, Boulevard!
"Like James Ellroy, Hollywood film developer Schwartz can make the reader squirm, as shown in his debut, a disturbing thriller whose hero is addicted to sex. When several sex murders quickly follow the murder of a prominent councilman's niece, LAPD robbery and homicide detective Hayden Glass, who himself goes to 12-step meetings for sex addicts, senses a connection. Enlisting the help of Kennedy Reynard, an ex-FBI profiler whose skill competes with her raw sexuality for the detective's attention, the pair realize that what links the murders is Glass himself." -Publishers Weekly
Harold Norse Memorial Tribute Sunday, July 12 @ 2pm
Join us in celebration of beloved poet Harold Norse as we remember his life and work. Norse’s friends and admirers will pay homage to this master poet. Led by Norse’s longtime friends and fellow poets
Neeli CherkovskiMel Claya.d. winans
Dig Lord Buckley! Thursday, June 18th, 2009 @ 8pm
Theater Grottesco ensemble member Rod Harrison will perform his interpretation of the infamous Lord Buckley. The original "slam poet", Hipster, Beatnik, Jazz Monologist Lord Buckley was a man born before his time. A product of vaudeville and the early jazz scene, Buckley performed his monologues in the "hipster" language of the time, telling the stories of heroes such as Jesus Christ (The Nazz) and the Marquis de Sade (The Bad Rapping of the Marquis de Sade) and Shakespeare with a reverence and humor uniquely his own.
A true virtuoso performer almost forgotten in our time, Lord Buckley has influenced artists such as The Beatles, Henry Miller, and David Bowie to name just a few. Rod Harrison, inhabits the skin of His Royal Hipness, Lord Buckley, and will perform an evening of his material as the master himself would have done. No boring biographical material (that would be a show in itself), just the words and ideas of a man so full of love and poetic humor that everyone around him became a instant convert to his royal court.
This event is free.
Diamond Tumbleweeds book release party
Kate Abarbanel and Stellar Cassidy present Diamond Tumbleweeds, their collaborative poetry collection with photographs by Kate Abarbanel. Beautifully written and designed, Diamond Tumbleweeds explores the themes of courage and love in the face of adversity, and the value of living authentically.
The event will feature performances by:
Charlie Getter
Shye Powers
J. Brandon Loberg
Nicole Alea
Jonathan Siegel
Dusty Rose
Pam Benjamin
and Guinevere Q
Jan 23rd @ 8pm
5th Annual Neal Cassady Birthday Bash
Neal Cassady
For the fifth year, the Beat Museum celebrates the life of Neal Cassady, and the inspiration he gave to generations of people.
This event will include a silent auction benefitting the Foundation for Creative Expression with a chance to win gift certificates from local restaurants and hotels, and will feature appearances by Neal's friends and contemporaries. More details forthcoming...
Feb 14th, St. Valentine's Day Henry Valentine Miller a retrospecitve
Henry Miller
Ever the erotic renegade, Henry Miller rewrote the rulebook on love and sex in modern prose. Did you know his middle name was Valentine? It's true!
Join us on Valentines' Day as Magnus Toren of Big Sur's Henry Miller Library joins us for an evening remembering Miller's life, his support for the Beat Generation, and his own timeless writing.
Feb 14th @ 7pm
Suel D. Jones Meeting the Enemy: A Marine Goes Home
Meeting the Enemy: A Marine Goes Home
Meeting the Enemy: A Marine Goes Home is the story of a Vietnam veteran who suffered from the stresses of war, dropped out of society and eventually finds redemption by returning back to Vietnam and assists those living in the country he once fought hard against.
Ongoing: The Beat Generation, The Artwork of Don Ed Hardy and Their Influence on Popular Culture
Don Ed Hardy
Internationally renowned artist and tattoo master Don Ed Hardy will be making an appearance at the Beat Museum on December 13th @ 7pm. Hardy will be signing his books, including his latest release, Beyond Skin. An exhibition of his original artwork will also be on display.
As a youth growing up in Orange County, Hardy was greatly influenced by the works of Beat Generation writers, which eventually motivated him to move to San Francisco in the early 1960's. Read Don Ed Hardy's artist statement here »
Appearance and booksigning with Don Ed Hardy - Sun, Dec. 13th @ 7pm
Special Exhibition of original works by Ed Hardy - Dec. 13th through Jan. 20th»
Harold Norse Record/CD Release
Harold Norse
Harold Norse, beloved poet and collaborator with the Beat Generation, may have passed away on June 8th, 2009, but his legacy lives on.
Now, in addition to the many books and hundreds of poems Harold left behind, Tate Swindell has produced an audio collection of Harold's work in his own words--"Live in Amsterdam 1984". This re-mastered collection of rare and obscure recordings features readings of some of Harold's finest work, including the bawdy and hilarious short story "Sniffing Keyholes" from Harold's cut-up novel, Beat Hotel
The album will be available on both CD and double vinyl. Also available will be The End is the Beginning, a memorial collection of poems in tribute to Harold. Join us on Harold's 94th birthday to celebrate his life and work.
Our good friend, Stephen Jay Schwartz has just completed his second novel. You may recall we hosted a book signing for Steve last year when his first novel, BOULEVARD, was released. His upcoming novel is called BEAT, and it takes place right here in North Beach as Steve brings his sex-addicted LAPD homicide detective Hayden Glass into the bowels of San Francisco on a quest to save a girl from Russian-mob sex slavers and winds up getting involved in the money corruption of the city. From Washington Square Park to the Trieste to Tosca to the strip clubs of Broadway, Steve's characters come to life on the streets of North Beach. The story is fiction, of course, but you'll recognize plenty of fact as Steve paints his story on to the streets we love and the places we hang. You might even recognize the quirks of our neighborhood and some of the local people who walk our streets.
Steve recently posted a piece at a writer's blog he writes for once a week about a night he recently spent at The Beat Museum. I'm sure you'll get a kick out of it.
Steve's first novel, BOULEVARD, is out in paperback next week. We'll have it in stock so you can read it to get the full back story you're going to want to have for when BEAT comes out in October.
UPDATE: Appearing with Steve will be Kim Dower, reading from her new book, Air Kissing on Mars.
Wednesday, Oct. 13th 7-9pm
Round II at the Beat Museum
Sparring with Beatnik Ghosts Round IX
Sparring with Beatnik Ghosts, the ongoing reading series hosted by Daniel Yaryan returns to the Beat Museum on Oct. 14th for its 9th round.
David Meltzer, San Francisco Poet & Beat Icon Ellyn Maybe & Her Band, from Los Angeles Steve Arntson, Berkeley Poet Jerry Ferraz, San Francisco Poet Martin Hickle, Marin Poet Richard Loranger, Oakland Poet Whitman McGowan, San Francisco Poet Ginger Murray (Guest Host), San Francisco Poet Julie Rogers, Bay Area Poet Margery Snyder, San Francisco Poet Chris Vannoy, San Diego Poet
Featuring forty-one poets—from San Francisco, Atlanta, Green Bay, Boston, Seattle, Nashville, elsewhere, and New York—hell strung and crooked also includes interviews with Mark Doty and Claus Ankersen.
Featuring: Lenore Balliro, Samantha Barrow, Paul M. L. Belanger, Alex O. Bleecker, Meredith Devney, Malaika Favorite, Joseph Fritsch, Christian Georgescu, Robert Gibbons, Thomas Gibney, Deborah Hauser, Suzanne Heagy, Aimee Herman, R. Nemo Hill, Vicki Iorio, Kit Kennedy, Stephen Kopel, David Lawton, Richard Loranger, E. K. Mortenson, Nancy Carol Moody, Puma Perl, John Marcus Powell, Bob Quatrone, Seraphime Rhyianir, Lynn Samsel, Jackie Sheeler, Mary McLaughlin Slechta, Elliot D. Smith, Laura L. Snyder, Francesca Sphynx, Gregory Vincent St. Thomasino, Charles F. Thielman, Andrew Topel, John J. Trause, Geoffrey Kagan Trenchard, Stephanie Valente, Jacob Victorine, Ocean Vuong, Bruce Weber, and Laura Madeline Wiseman.
Led by Mel Ash, this hands on, interactive workshop is an introduction to the Beat way and the Beats' influence in literary history.
Wednesday, Oct. 27th 7-10pm
Elias Schneitter & Company
Austrian poet Elias Schneitter reads from his newest book with Heinz D. Heisl. Translations read by Jimmy Flynn.
Thursday, Oct. 28th 7:30-9pm
The Lost Coast Word Music Ensemble
Toby Lurie and the Word Music Ensemble return to the Beat Museum for an evening of poetry and music.
Friday, Nov. 5th 8-10pm
Linda King & Company
Linda King unveils her newest sculptures. Readings by Jack Hirschman, Neeli Cherkovski, and A.D. Winans.
Sunday, Nov 7th 2-5pm
An Evening With Wavy Gravy
Merry Prankster and Official Clown of the Grateful Dead, Wavy Gravy returns to the Beat Museum. Embark on a personal tour through the lives and work of the Beat Generation through the eyes of Mr. Gravy, who was heavily involved with the Beat scene as Hugh Romney, and who stood at the forefront of the psychedelic revolution.
Wednesday, Nov. 10th 7pm FREE
Anthology Release Revolutionary Poets Brigade
Join Jack Hirschman, former San Francisco Poet Laureate, and the Revolutionary Poets Brigade for an evening of political poetry, celebrating the release of the Brigade's first anthology.
Thursday, Nov. 11th 6-9pm
Ping Pong Release Party
The Henry Miller Memorial Library celebrates the release of their quarterly magazine, Ping-Pong. Performances by Kim Addonizio and special guests. Hosted by Magnus Torren.
Friday, Nov. 12th 7:30-10pm
from Pull My Daisy
a workshop in Beat Cinema
Dominic Angerame moderates this one-day workshop, discussing the artists who, at the peak of the 1950s, were making experimental films reflecting the attitudes found amongst the Beat Generation. Such artists as Christopher MacClaine, James Broughton, Willard Maas, William Burroughs, Wallace Berman, Bruce Conner, Weldon Kees, Stan Brakhage, Kenneth Anger, and Harry Smith will be discussed; their origins and influences, why their films are 'Beat', their meanings, and their influence upon future filmmakers. Also in focus are their lesser-known contemporaries: Patricia Marx, Ron Rice, Jordan Belson, Lawrence Jordan, Dion Vigne and others...
Price is $30 per person, and there are 20 spaces available.
Barry Spector writes about American history and politics from the perspectives of myth, indigenous traditions and archetypal psychology. He is a regular contributor to Jung Journal: Culture & Psyche and the online journal Mythic Passages. Many of his essays can be found on his website.
Marcelline Krafchick is Professor Emerita of English at California State University, East Bay, where she taught mythology, literature, film criticism, and discursive writing for thirty-five years, after three years in the Honors Program as Santa Clara University's first woman professor. A Fulbright scholar, she has traveled, lectured, and/or lived abroad in sixty-three countries and served on five city, county, and state commissions.
TO PUT ASUNDER has been a nationally renowned trial lawyer, specializing in family law litigation. Over several decades, in his avocation as a scholar and collector of antiquarian literature on family law, Stotter established a collection that included a copy of nearly every English-language treatise published on the subject over a span of more than four centuries. He resides with Ruth, his wife of more than fifty years and a renowned folklorist and storyteller, in their home in Tiburon, California, overlooking San Francisco Bay.
La Tigresa made international headlines in the fall of 2000 when she blockaded logging trucks with bare-breasted recitals of her poem, "I am the Goddess," putting her body on the line in the struggle to save California's ancient redwoods. She is a frequent headliner at poetry events in San Francisco Bay Area. The documentary film about her, Striptease to Save the Trees, created a stir at Sundance 2002, and can be seen by clicking "Watch" on her website, www.LaTigresa.net. She lives on a houseboat in Sausalito, California.
Joseph Arthur is a native Nor-Cal writer. He has published short stories and poems, as wall as having written many volumes of yet to be published material.
Renee Blitz came to Berkeley from the Bronx in 1955 when she was 24. She was awarded a prize in Fiction from the National Endowments for the Arts in 1972 and thereafter proceeded to raise three daughters as a divorced woman on food stamps in Berkeley. Her second marriage to Moe Moskowitz, owner of the famous Moe's Books in Berkeley, ended with his death in 1998. She lives with one of her adult daughters in a rear cottage in Berkeley with overgrown weeds and goes up to a gym every day ostensibly to work out. She understands Yiddish, French, Spanish, various no win situations, and English.
Richard Alther was raised as a Lutheran German-American in a small New York City suburb, rife with anti-Semitism. After graduating from Cornell University, he pursued twin careers as a writer and a painter. He supported his family writing vegetable gardening manuals from their Vermont farmhouse. His paintings have been exhibited in Vermont, New England, Montreal, London, Los Angeles, Boston, Dallas, and Florida. Also, he competes nationally as a Masters swimmer. Richard and his new spouse live in Vermont and Southern California.
Robert Balmanno has worked as a library specialist in a Silicon Valley library for 23 years. He is a trade union activist and served as a Peace Corps volunteer in West Africa. Balmanno earned his bachelor's degree in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara and did post-graduate work at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and the University of London, King's College.
OUT OF THE FRYING PAN / INTO THE FIRE / THE RESTLESS JOURNEY OF MARIANNE "JOLLY" ROBINSON
Among formative experiences of Robinson's childhood and adolescence were an extended family and community of freethinkers, anarchists, and socialists; an experimental school; and many moves during the Great Depression and World War II. As she was hearing and learning songs of protest against fascism abroad and segregation at home, she witnessed race and class discrimination inside and outside the "liberal" village of her teens. That crucible formed the frying pan from which she leaped into the fire in 1946. The determination to make personal choices in the face of relentless economic necessity is a central theme in Robinson's story. It is familiar to those who juggle jobs, single parenting, activism, and creativity in their pursuit of meaning and fulfillment in a society focused on college, career, and above all, upward mobility-"the race to the top."
Join us for our 6th annual event celebrating the life of Neal Cassady, 'secret hero' of the Beat Generation, and loveable wild man who drove us into the psychedelic Sixties with the Merry Pranksters.
CONCURRENT EVENT:
This year, we're celebrating Neal's birthday both in San Francisco (at the Beat Museum), and in Denver (Neal's hometown) at the Mercury Cafe. Al Hinkle (Big Ed Dunkel from On the Road) will be appearing at the San Francisco event, while Neal's children, John Allen Cassady and Jami Cassady, will be celebrating their dad's birthday in Denver.
DENVER, CO - FEBRUARY 4TH 8PM (DENVER TIME)
The Mercury Cafe
2199 California Street
GUESTS: David Amram, Jami Cassady & John Allen Cassady
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - FEBRUARY 4TH 7PM (SAN FRANCISCO TIME)
The Beat Museum
540 Broadway
San Francisco, CA 94133
SPECIAL GUEST: Al Hinkle
ONLINE AUCTION
Also, for the first time ever, we're partnering with BiddingForGood.com to offer our annual Silent Auction fundraiser worldwide! This means that even if you can't make it to either event, you can still bid on a bevy of prizes—hotel stays, dinners at SF restaurants, wine and wine tastings, lunch with local literary celebrites, and much more.
Check out our auction items at the link below and think about signing up with Bidding For Good so you can bid on some of these terrific offerings starting on February 4th.
Beat Zen, a three-hour participatory workshop with Zen teacher and BeatSpirit author Mel Ash, serves as an entertaining and "enlightening" introduction to our rich local Zen history and heritage as introduced by the Beats.
We will be discussing, learning and practicing meditation and awareness techniques adapted from the Buddhist Beats, including Alan Watts, Lew Welch, Gary Snyder, Philip Whalen, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Diane DiPrima and others.
Beatniks and Hippies: A Compatible Geneology of Cigarettes and Brown Rice
John McCleary, author of 'The Hippie Dictionary' visits the Beat Museum to discuss 60s counterculture. Signing to follow. Read More »
Sunday, March 6 2:00pm - 4:00pm
Beat Spirit by Mel Ash
Beat Spirit: The Way of the Beat Writers as a Living Experience
Beat Spirit, a three-hour intensive workshop with Mel Ash, is as close as you can get to an authentic Beat experience, in both feeling and historic location. Beat aficionados and those with a new found curiosity will enjoy and benefit from actually doing what the Beats did: learn invisibility, immortality and cut-ups
with William Burroughs, go sane with Lew Welch, get naked and holy with Allen Ginsberg, talk like an animal with Michael McClure, spontaneously word sketch with Jack Kerouac, sit Zen with Gary Snyder, publish like Lawrence Ferlinghetti,
prepare for revolution with Diane DiPrima, and much more.
The Spring Bird Beats will be singing spring songs of Beat town, from here & now & then, we will gather together to honor ourselves and those that have come before us, our great beat teachers and lives, hearts and spirits.
Featured guests include:
Clive Matson
Jayne Lyn Stahl
Harold Adler
H.D. Moe
Ava Bird
+++more
Psychedelics, Consciousness, and Counterculture with Ralph Metzner
Counterculture icon Ralph Metzner visits the Beat Museum.
A bit about Ralph:
Ralph Metzner, Ph.D. who has a B.A. in philosophy and psychology from Oxford University and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Harvard University, has been involved in the study of transformations of consciousness ever since, as a graduate student, he worked with Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert (later Ram Dass) on the Harvard Psilocybin Projects. He co-wrote The Psychedelic Experience, and was editor of The Psychedelic Review. During the 1970s, Ralph spent 10 years in the intensive study and practice of Agni Yoga, a meditative system of working with light-fire life-energies. He wrote Maps of Consciousness, one of the earliest attempts at a comparative cartography of consciousness; and Know Your Type, a comparative survey of personality typologies, ancient and modern. He was the Academic Dean for ten years, during the 1980s, at the California Institute of Integral Studies, where he taught courses there on “Altered States of Consciousness” and “Developing Ecological Consciousness.” He is now Professor Emeritus. He maintains a part-time psychotherapy practice, and conducts numerous workshops on consciousness transformation, both nationally and internationally. His books include The Well of Remembrance, The Unfolding Self, Green Psychology, and two edited collections on the science and the phenomenology of Ayahuasca and Teonanácatl.
Wednesday, April 6 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Mel Ash
Dharma Bums: An Evening of Beat Zen with Mel Ash
Beat Zen, a three-hour participatory workshop with Zen teacher and BeatSpirit author Mel Ash, serves as an entertaining and "enlightening" introduction to our rich local Zen history and heritage as introduced by the Beats.
We will be discussing, learning and practicing meditation and awareness techniques adapted from the Buddhist Beats, including Alan Watts, Lew Welch, Gary Snyder, Philip Whalen, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Diane DiPrima and others.
The Questions Out Loud Poets have all participated in "The Questions Project," where they created texts for a range of visual questions. These collaborations have been shown in three different groups at Live Worms Gallery.
This reading is intended to bring these groups together in a unity of endeavor, an individuality of purpose, and a celebration of the spoken word.
Performers Include:
Clara Hsu
Vince Storti
Don Brennan
Jane Green
Peter Sherburn-Zimmer
Anna Boothe
Steve Mackin
Ana Elsner
Richard Hack
Marlene Aron
Special Remembrance:
Jehanah Wedgwood
(Read by Clara Hsu)
Paul Landry & Susan Birkeland
(Read by Bill Mercer)
Music by Chuck Bernstein
Tuesday, May 10 · 6:00pm - 9:00pm
Free
Queer North Beach and Beyond 1930 - 1965
Michael Flanagan
Michael Flanagan will trace the history of queer North Beach from its beginnings to the period in the 60s when the community moved (in large part) to other parts of the city and answer these questions. By reading from the biographies and memoirs of Jack Spicer, Sam Steward, Elsa Gidlow, Allen Ginsberg, James Broughton and Jose Sarria as well as Wide Open Town: A History of Queer San Francisco to 1965 by Nan Boyd and "Robert Duncan in San Francisco" by Michael Rumaker he will recreate a vibrant world which has disappeared and tell the story of how bohemian San Francisco and Beat San Francisco blended (and didn't) into one another.
Artist and Ginsberg collaborator, Eric Drooker will show hundreds of slides, and discuss the process of translating the poem "Howl" into animation. He'll even show animated scenes that were cut from the finished film.
ERIC DROOKER is a painter and graphic novelist, born and raised on Manhattan Island.
He's the award-winning author of "Flood! A Novel in Pictures," and "Blood Song."
He designed the animation for the recent film, "Howl," a movie based on the epic poem
by Allen Ginsberg, who collaborated with Drooker on the book "Illuminated Poems."
His paintings appear on covers of "The New Yorker," and hang in numerous collections.
He regularly draws from the figure, and is working on a series of nude paintings for
an upcoming book.
Poet and Novelist Kim Addonizio's readings are full of the blues—what Willie Dixon called "the true facts of life." She is also a harmonica player.
KIM ADDONIZIO is the author of five collections of poetry including Tell Me, a 2000 National Book Award Finalist. Her work has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, two NEA Fellowships, the John Ciardi Lifetime Achievement Award, and other honors. She has published two instructional books: Ordinary Genius, A Guide for the Poet Within; and The Poet's Companion: A Guide to the Pleasures of Writing Poetry (with Dorianne Laux). She has a word/music CD with Susan Browne,"Swearing, Smoking, Drinking & Kissing," available from CDBaby.
Addonizio's other books include two novels, Little Beauties and My Dreams Out in the Street; and a book of stories, In the Box Called Pleasure. With Cheryl Dumesnil, she co-edited Dorothy Parker's Elbow: Tattoos on Writers, Writers on Tattoos.
The Beat Museum will be participating in the North Beach Poetry Festival in conjunction with "100 Thousand Poets for Change" a series of poetry readings in hundreds of cities across the world where poets are gathering to champion World Peace, sustainability, and other causes they celebrate in the hopes of making this a better world! Please join us and share your poetry.
David Amram (left) in concert with Percy Heath and Dizzy Gillespie, 1986.
David AmrampresentsThe San Francisco/New York Connection:Alive and Well In North Beach
Celebrating the 54th anniversary of the first public jazz-poetry reading ever done in NYC, at the Brata Art Gallery in the Fall of 1957, with Jack Kerouac, David Amram and San Francisco's North Beach outstanding poets Howard Hart and Philip Lamantia.
DAVID AMRAM has composed more than 100 orchestral and chamber music works, written many scores for Broadway theater and film, including the classic scores for the films Splendor in The Grass and The Manchurian Candidate; two operas, including the groundbreaking Holocaust opera The Final Ingredient; and the score for the landmark 1959 documentary Pull My Daisy, narrated by novelist Jack Kerouac. He is also the author of three books, Vibrations, an autobiography, Offbeat: Collaborating With Kerouac, a memoir, and Upbeat: Nine Lives of a Musical Cat published in the fall of 2007 by Paradigm Publishers.
A pioneer player of jazz French horn, he is also a virtuoso on piano, numerous flutes and whistles, percussion, and dozens of folkloric instruments from 25 countries, as well as an inventive, funny improvisational lyricist. He has collaborated with Leonard Bernstein, (who chose him as The New York Philharmonic's first composer-in-residence in 1966), Dizzy Gillespie, Langston Hughes, Dustin Hoffman, Willie Nelson, Thelonious Monk, Odetta, Elia Kazan, Arthur Miller, Charles Mingus, Lionel Hampton, Johnny Depp and Tito Puente.
Amram's most recent orchestral works include Giants of the Night, (commissioned and premiered by flutist Sir James Galway in 2002); Symphonic Variations on a Song by Woody Guthrie, (commissioned by the Woody Guthrie Foundation in 2007); and Three Songs: A Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (written for and premiered by pianist John Namkamatsu in 2009). He was also chosen as the 2008 Democratic National Convention's "Composer In Residence For Public Events." In 2011 Amram is working on a new orchestral piece and new book. He is the subject of Lawrence Kraman's new documentary film about his life, David Amram: The First 80 Years.
Today, as he has for over 50 years, Amram continues to compose music while traveling the world as a conductor, soloist, bandleader, visiting scholar, and narrator in five languages.
David Amram's appearance includes a screening of Pull My Daisy
Beat Scholars Arthur and Kit Knight lead a discussion on the Beat Generation regarding the counterculture influence on our past, present, and future.
ARTHUR & KIT KNIGHT have independently published numerous poems and works of fiction. Together they established one of the first and most prominent Beat Journals, The Unspeakable Visions of the Individual and have edited eight volumes dealing with the Beat Generation, including Kerouac and the Beats (1988), The Beat Vision (1987), and Beat Angels (1982).
Sun. October 2 2:00pm
Free
Jack London San Francisco Stories
Cancelled, to be RescheduledRodger Jacobs: A Tale of Two Jacks Jack Kerouac & Jack London
Ever wonder what Jack Kerouac and Jack London have in common? It's more than just the city of San Francisco. Join writer Rodger Jacobs as he compares and contrasts Jack London's The Road with Jack Kerouac's seminal novel On The Road. He will also explore the history of San Francisco while examining London's influence on Kerouac (JK once wrote, in perhaps a moment that could have withstood a greater deal of reflection, that JL was "the greatest man who ever lived").
RODGER JACOBS has been a journalist for Eye magazine, Hustler, Wireless Week, Michel Berandi's Panik, Razor, High Society, and E-Commerce Business News, among others. He is also a feature documentary writer and producer, screenwriter, playwright (Go Irish: The Purgatory Diaries of Jason Miller), true crime writer (Long Time Money and Lots of Cocaine), freelance book critic, and live event producer. Lastly, he is the author of Mr. Bukowski's Wild Ride (2008), a collection of original short stories. In 2005, Rodger's original essay, "Running with the Wolves: Jack London and the Cult of Masculinity," was added to the permanent collection of Jack London research at the U.C. Berkeley digital archives, the largest repository of Jack London research in the world, sanctioned by the late author's estate.
Cancelled (to be Rescheduled), was Thurs. October 6 7:00pm
Free
Litquake
Litquake PresentsVoices of North Beach A Literary Tour
Join us for a literary walking tour of North Beach, starting at The Beat Museum on Broadway. Along the way, we'll hear famous, (or would that be infamous?) voices in passages embodying what San Francisco means to its denizens. The tour ends at Tosca just in time for the Mean Streets event.
"The poetry series that packs a punch." Features include A.D. Winans, Pam
Benjamin, James Cagney, Ana Elsner, Bill Gainer, David Gollub, Marc
Olmsted, Pablo Rosales, Keith Savage, Jonathan Siegel, Mike The Poet
(Mike Sonksen) and mikel weisser. Hosted by Yaryan.
Henry Miller Slept Here: The Ping•Pong Anthology Release Party
Ping-Pong is a journal of art and literature published annually by the Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur, CA. The event will feature MC Maria Garcia Teutsch, with readings by recent contributors. Two films from the Verruckter Schwanz cinepoetry festival will be shown. Come by and plant yourself at the intersection of film and poetry at the Beat Museum, and swing your hips to the music of DJs Graham Gustafson and Dan Guerra.
The Revolutionary Poets Brigade presents:In Your Face Again
The Revolutionary Poets Brigade presents passionately engaged and provocatively attuned poems of and for our challenged and challenging times. Readers include: Jorge Argueta, Mahnaz Badihian, Virginia Barrett, Kristine Brown,Giancarlo Campagna, Bob Coleman, Edward Frank, Richard Gross, Jessica Loos, Jimmy Mankind, Sarah Menefee, Francisco Orrego, Arthur Sheridan, with music by George Long and hosted by Jack Hirschman.
Beat Poet ruth weiss returns to the Beat Museum to celebrate the release of her newest book of poems, can't stop the beat. Percussionist Hal Davis will join her.
ruth weiss is one of the last living poets of the Beat Generation. Born to a Jewish family during the rise of Nazism, she eventually made her way to the United States where she became friends with, and a contemporary of, Jack Kerouac and many other artists of the 1950s American counter-culture movemet of San Francisco (specifically in North Beach). In the 1960s she began spelling her name in lowercase letters in a symbolic protest against "law and order" since in her birthplace of Germany all nouns are capitalized. She continues to perform live in North Beach and at many jazz and poetry festivals around the world. In this age of high-speed information exchange, she still uses her "Loyal Royal" metal typewriter, and lives deep in the Northern California forests of Mendocino County, USA.
Friday, December 29, 2006 7:30 PM
Tara's Tongue A women's poetry collective PRESENTS:
Gala Grand Opening Party
Creating the New Space
Beat Museum Bi-Weekly Poetry Showcase
East meets West
Author Signing
Meet the Actor
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Beat Museum Bi-Weekly Poetry Showcase
Walking Tour of North Beach - 90 Minutes
"This is The Beat Generation" - Live Performance
Beat Museum Bi-Weekly Poetry Showcase
Author Discussion by Jonah Raskin
Beat Museum Bi-Weekly Poetry Showcase
Combat Paper
Reading of Beat a play by Yale Cabaret Hollywood
Get the poster »
Beat Spirit by Mel Ash
Ralph Metzner
Caption
Michael Flanagan
Eric Drooker
Kim Addonizio
Poster
David Amram (left) in concert with Percy Heath and Dizzy Gillespie, 1986.
Arthur & Kit Knight with Allen Ginsberg (left), 1980
Jack London San Francisco Stories
Litquake
Can't Stop the Beat cover