Writers, Musicians Come to Lowell for Kerouac Literary Festival

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:

• Gish Jen, Thursday, Oct. 16, 4:30 p.m. –  Jen, a contributor to The New Yorker and Atlantic Monthly, will discuss her most recent book, “Tiger Writing: Art, Culture and the Interdependent Self” at a program sponsored by UMass Lowell’s Center for Asian American Studies and Department of English. Location – O’Leary Library Learning Commons mezzanine, South Campus, 61 Wilder St., Lowell.
• Anthony De Sa, Thursday, Oct. 23, 4:30 p.m. – De Sa, who grew up in Toronto’s Portuguese community, has published short fiction and his first novel, “Barnacle Love,” was a finalist for the 2009 Toronto Book Award, as well as other honors. His talk is presented by UMass Lowell’s Saab-Pedroso Center for Portuguese Culture and Research. Location – O’Leary Library Learning Commons, Room 222, South Campus, 61 Wilder St., Lowell.
• Maureen Stanton, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 4:30 p.m. – A member of UMass Lowell’s English Department faculty, Stanton won the 2012 Massachusetts Book Award for her nonfiction work, “Killer Stuff and Tons of Money: An Insider’s Look at Flea Markets, Antiques and Collecting.” She has also received honors from the American Literary Review and the National Endowment for the Arts. Location – O’Leary Library Learning Commons, Room 222, South Campus, 61 Wilder St., Lowell.

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:

• Jim O’Brien, author of “The Match: The Emerald Isle Classic,” which revisits the 1988 contest between Boston College and Army that drew 42,000 fans to Dublin for the first-ever NCAA-sanctioned American college football game in Europe. Saturday, Oct. 25, 11:30 a.m.
• Paul Marion, author of “Mill Power: The Origin and Impact of Lowell National Historical Park,” which chronicles the park from the 1960s through the present, will discuss the book at the event, which will also include readings from some of the people featured in it. Marion, a well-known author and Lowell native, is UMass Lowell’s executive director of community and cultural affairs and previously worked for the Lowell Historic Preservation Commission on developing the park’s programs and properties. Thursday, Nov. 6, 4 p.m.

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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