ruth weiss: can’t stop the beat

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.

ruth weiss on Wikipedia »