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Read more...Interview with Brenda Knight
Writer, historian, and editor of Women of the Beat Generation discusses her introduction to the Beats, her journey to San Francisco, and some of the personalities she's met along the way.
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Read more...“We’re from Finland!”
On the continuing importance of the Beat Generation: an interview with some visitors to the Beat Museum from Finland.
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Read more...Benny Bufano, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Bob Kaufman
The story Benny Bufano, and how his statue of Saint Francis inspired Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Bob Kaufman.
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Read more...A Fresh Start for 2021!
Despite our doors being closed since March 13th, the Beat Museum was able to survive 2020 thanks to the continuing support of Beat readers around the world. Your generosity is crucial in allowing us to continue preserving the history and materials from this pivotal movement, and provide a place to experience these stories.
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Read more...Did Gary Snyder Help End the Vietnam War?
In 1960, Daniel Ellsberg met Gary Snyder in a bar in Kyoto, Japan. Did their conversation inspire Ellsberg to reverse his position on the Vietnam war?
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Read more...Charles Bukowski in San Francisco 1973—featuring Jack Micheline
Our friends Tate Swindell (editor of the new On Valencia Street: Poems and Ephemera by Jack Micheline) and Vince Silvaer (progeny of Micheline) recently found this segment of a reading Charles Bukowski gave in San Francisco in 1973 at the San Francisco Museum of Art. At about 8:26, Bukowski says “Listen, Micheline is a hustler, […]
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Read more...Representing the Beat Museum in Germany
The Beat Museum has gone international! Last night I had the honor of doing something I’ve never done before. I represented the Beat Museum as well as the city of San Francisco speaking at the opening ceremony of a new exhibition at the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn, Germany. The exhibition is called “CALIFORNIA DREAMS: San Francisco […]
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Read more...The Beat Museum Goes International
Another first for The Beat Museum! Six months ago we were contacted by representatives of the government of Germany about participating in a major museum exhibition in the city of Bonn. We knew The Beats would be in good company. The exhibition is called CALIFORNIA DREAMS: San Francisco – A Portrait – and it is […]
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Read more...The Wire: The Go-To Destination for All Things Beat Generation
The Beat Museum in San Francisco houses items that help understand the seminal influence that Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Peter Orlovsky and others had. Sidharth Bhatia, writing for India’s The Wire, visits the Beat Museum in this great article: “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness…” The poet Allen Ginsberg first […]
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Read more...The Beat Museum’s Impending Seismic Retrofit
What’s happening? The building we’ve called home for the last 12 years will soon be undergoing a City-mandated seismic retrofit, which will force the Beat Museum to close for about 6 months. Read more » Are you closed now? No. At this time we remain open. We haven’t been given a date when construction will […]
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Read more...Video: “Ferlinghetti: His Life and His Work” Panel Discussion
Video by Tate Swindell Lawrence Ferlinghetti, legendary poet, painter, and cofounder of the City Lights Booksellers & Publishers, celebrated his 100th birthday on March 24th, 2019. The Beat Museum hosted a panel discussion of Ferlinghetti’s life and work with SF Poet Laureate emeritus Jack Hirschman; poet and Ferlinghetti biographer Neeli Cherkovski; poet and artist […]