Beat legend, ‘boy lover’: how should we reckon with Allen Ginsberg’s complex legacy?
As a series of star-studded events celebrates Ginsberg’s centennial, the keeper of his estate weighs the genius poetry – and provocative views – of the iconic writer
March 2026
‘We all want to know what he was doing in the bedroom’: Kerouac’s unseen archive goes on show in New York
As the original On the Road scroll heads to auction, a new exhibition uncovers the private life of the Beat legend
August 2023
Beats connection: Allen Ginsberg’s inner circle – in pictures
Other lives
Gavin Selerie obituary
July 2023
The Guardian view on spoken word poets: powerful voices that are needed today
Editorial: Traditionally looked down on by the poetry establishment, those specialising in performance deserve their new chance to shine
March 2022
Film & Music reader interview
‘I experience joy very easily’: Patti Smith on Springsteen, the climate fight and the meaning of punk
Jack Kerouac: still roadworthy after 100 years
October 2021
Ai Weiwei: ‘It is so positive to be poor as a child. You understand how vulnerable our humanity can be’
From living in a dugout in Little Siberia to his friendship with Allen Ginsberg in New York, artist and activist Ai Weiwei reveals what drives his restless creativity
March 2021
Howl: illuminating draft of Allen Ginsberg's seminal poem found
Early draft of Howl is on sale for $425,000 and ‘allows a look into the mind’ of the influential Beat poet
February 2021
Lawrence Ferlinghetti obituary
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, poet and founder of City Lights bookshop, dies aged 101
May 2020
Michael McClure obituary
US writer who saw himself and his fellow Beat poets as the literary wing of the green movement
October 2019
Elaine Feinstein obituary
Poet and novelist who transformed literary writing in the 1970s
June 2019
All aboard the Bob Dylan express! How Rolling Thunder revved round America
When Dylan chanced upon a huge Roma gathering in France, he was transfixed – and formed his own travelling supergroup. As Martin Scorsese brings its ragtag magic to screens, we hitch a ride back to 75
April 2019
Other lives
Graham Keen obituary
Other lives: Photographer of 1960s bohemia who seems to have attended every street protest and happening during that decade
March 2019
WS Merwin obituary
Prolific American poet whose work engaged with both the bleak and the beautiful
September 2018
Writers’ wilderness haven split over Brecon Beacons phone mast plan
Novelist Ian McEwan is among literary figures objecting to plans for a 17.5-metre tower
July 2018
Nightcrawling with Kerouac, Ginsberg and the beatniks – in pictures
A new book of photographs by Burt Glinn – featuring a recently discovered essay by Jack Kerouac – captures the beat generation in all their jazz-heavy, late-night glory
June 2018
William Ferris: the folklorist who made black America immortal
Lawrence Ferlinghetti's 'experimental' new book due in time for 100th birthday
