Programs Celebrate Legacy, Inspiration of Beat Generation Icon

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The artistic influence of writer Jack Kerouac, Lowell’s most famous son, will be celebrated through the Jack Kerouac Literary Festival, which presents programs for the campus and community and is held every two years in conjunction with Lowell Celebrates Kerouac!

10/07/2014

Contacts for media: Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu and Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944 or Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu

LOWELL, Mass. – The photograph of Jack Kerouac at a typewriter is almost as iconic as his novels are among the Beat Generation he inspired. But the artistic influence of Lowell’s most famous son extends far beyond the literary world into art, music and films.

One of the most notable examples is Andy Warhol. Famous for his vibrant pop art, Warhol reached a point in his career when his work shifted from canvas to the screen. He created hundreds of short films in the 1960s and several feature Kerouac and his contemporaries like Allen Ginsberg, Peter Orlovsky and others.

Some of Warhol’s films will be presented in a rare showing at UMass Lowell this week through the Jack Kerouac Literary Festival, which presents programs for the campus and community and is held every two years in conjunction with Lowell Celebrates Kerouac!, a community-based celebration of the author’s work. The 2012 festival presented by UMass Lowell included the world premiere of Kerouac’s only full-length play, “Beat Generation.”

The events this week focusing on Warhol and Kerouac will feature acclaimed musician Jolie Holland and her multimedia show and Louis Menand, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book “The Metaphysical Club,” discussing “The Education of Andy Warhol.”  Menand – whose acclaimed book offers an intellectual and cultural history of late 19th- and 20th-century America – will speak on Thursday, Oct. 9 at 4:30 p.m. at O’Leary Library Learning Commons, Room 222, South Campus, 61 Wilder St., Lowell.

Warhol’s films are typically only shown at venues like the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh. Holland’s performance will evoke the original presentations of the films. All silent, they were often shown by the artist in the 1960s backed by live performances of the Velvet Underground, which served as the house band at Warhol’s famed New York studio, The Factory. Holland’s program at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 10 will be held at Mill No. 5, located at 250 Jackson St. in downtown Lowell.

Michael Millner, director of UMass Lowell’s Jack and Stella Kerouac Center for the Public Humanities, said the influence of Kerouac and his Beat contemporaries on American culture has received a lot of attention over the years, but little has been said about the connection between Warhol and Kerouac, especially as displayed by Warhol’s film work.

“We decided we wanted to explore this connection through the festival this year, so we invited Louis Menand, who has written about Kerouac, to talk about Warhol’s influences and we decided to show some of the films, which are on loan from the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh,” said Millner, an associate professor of English and American studies. “We invited Jolie Holland to play with the films because she is both influenced by Kerouac and the Velvet Underground.”

Other Kerouac Festival events are scheduled to include:

The festival, presented by UMass Lowell through its Jack and Stella Kerouac Center for the Public Humanities and Center for Arts and Ideas, is among several programs being hosted by the university this fall that focus on writers. Last month, the new University Crossing author series featured U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and “Orange is the New Black” writer Piper Kerman. University Crossing is home to a variety of features for the public, including the new River Hawk Shop, UMass Lowell’s expanded bookstore, which offers a wide selection of books for all readers. Upcoming events at the River Hawk Shop are scheduled to include:

For details on the Kerouac Literary Festival, including a list of upcoming programs, visit (http://www.jackkerouac.com/kerouac-literary-festival/) www.jackkerouac.com/kerouac-literary-festival/. For more on University Crossing, including a list of upcoming programs, see www.uml.edu/universitycrossing/.

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