Mavericks of Malcontent: Beat Generation Broadsides

In the 1950s the young, provocative writers now known as the Beat Generation emerged onto the American literary scene. Heavily inspired by European Surrealism and the jazz culture of Black America, the Beats were experimental and politically dissident in both their lifestyles and written work. They expanded their minds with hallucinogenic drugs, sexual freedom, Eastern religion, and engagement with the natural world. Though the Beats are often envisioned as a small circle of white men, this installation also highlights the less-celebrated yet highly influential women and writers of color associated with the movement. 

The Beats’ liberated modes of self-expression informed youth culture of the ’60s and early ’70s, a period coinciding with the rise of a new alternative medium: broadsides. These sheets, printed on one side and intended to be handed out, hung up, and carried around, had been used to publicize announcements and political events since the early days of movable type in Europe. But Beat poets and publishers saw fresh possibilities in this format where writing, typography, and graphic design could come together to create meaning. As Beats rejected literary formalism, broadsides were the perfect vehicle to saturate the public consciousness with their bold, boundless creativity. The ephemeral publications here, mostly drawn from the Carter Burden Collection, showcase the pervasive and powerful functions of poetry and print within American counterculture.