Annual Tribute Brings Beats Back to West End

Jazz, poetry, and pure nostalgia came together at the newly renovated Havana Central at the West End Friday night for the third annual Howl celebration of storied Columbia Beat writers Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac.

The event featured readings of Ginsberg's and Kerouac's writing as well as original work by students and alumni, culminating in a rousing rendition of "Howl," Ginsberg's classic poem published 49 years ago. Organizers, including some Columbia faculty, continued the yearly celebration at the West End, where Kerouac and Ginsberg collaborated on many of their early ideas.

"Two years ago was the first time Columbia itself ... did anything to commemorate the fact that two of the best writers of the century went here," said English professor Ann Douglas, one of the organizers of the event.

"I'd very much thank the people at Columbia who finally awoke and realized ... who they had to boast of," Douglas said.

It was a night marked by praise for Kerouac and Ginsberg. Douglas called Ginsberg a "genius of a poet, with a sales pitch of a terrific Broadway huckster."

David Amram, a longtime associate of Kerouac and Ginsberg, and his band performed for much of the night. Amram called the event an "appropriate reincarnation of what it was like" when Kerouac and company were regulars at the bar.

"They were two of the most influential literary alumni of Columbia," said University spokesman Jerry Kisslinger, who helped design the celebration.

The event arose from the Columbia 250 festivity of 2004, spearheaded by Douglas and the Columbia Alumni Association.

"The whole idea was to focus on what sets Columbia and its alumni apart," Kisslinger said. "We wanted to reclaim a part of Columbia history. The Beat movement was born in here. ... Their impact on world culture is not celebrated enough. They were so antiestablishment in many ways, and that contributed to [their] not always being recognized by the university."

The event has been successful at drawing both alumni and students to the area. "People come out of woodwork and want to participate," Kisslinger said.

"I came because two of my friends were supposed to read their poems in the back room," said Valeria Zhavoronkina, CC '09. "And I am interested in finding out more about Kerouac."

"Before coming to Columbia, I never really appreciated Kerouac and Ginsberg," said Devon Galloway, CC '10. "Now looking at their work and realizing the tradition that surrounds them, I understand their importance not just to the University, but to America's character."

Friday marked one of the first events at the newly reopened Havana Central.

"I found it interesting how people were still speaking of the West End. We know it's now Havana ... but it will remain the West End in spirit," said Zhavoronkina.

The event was preceded by a discussion in Philosophy Hall with Douglas, Amram, and author Joyce Johnson.

Kerouac and Ginsberg were pivotal in the formation of the Beat Generation that started in the 1950s. Kerouac did not graduate from Columbia, and went on to write such works as On the Road. Ginsberg graduated in 1948.