modernism, along with the strictly formalist New Criticism that had become entrenched in the universities and in literary journals. In an attempt to widen the range of modern poetry, the rebel poets of the 1950s emphasized many elements that were new or had been previously excised: the bardic spoken voice, links to jazz and spontaneous composition, open verse forms and rhythms, derangement of the senses as a stimulus to creativity, confessional candor, and content that embraced political issues, Buddhism, and the natural environment. Perhaps as important as their loosely shared poetics was a sense of personal friendship that transcended geography. Frank O'Hara called it "hands-across-the Rockies for perhaps the first time in American history." A tightly knit community arose out of necessity, for these poets depended on the little magazines, small presses, and public readings that they jointly organized. They often were associated with visual artists, not only in the watering spots in which they gathered (New York's Greenwich Village and San Francisco's North Beach), but in the books and magazines they jointly produced to celebrate the conjoined word and image. The Beat GenerationThe writers most frequently associated with the Beat Generation are Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Gregory Corso, and Diane DiPrima. The first three met one another around Columbia University in the mid-1940s, and forged relationships that would prove central to their lives. The three shared an apartment for several months and became midwives--as collaborators, agents, typists, and readers--to each other's literary careers. Neither Kerouac nor Burroughs are primarily poets, but their experimentation with language--the revolution of the word--paralleled that of the poets. Ginsberg was the first to become widely known, following his public reading of "Howl" in 1955, and its obscenity trial in 1957. Kerouac's most famous book, On the Road, was ...
