Greetings to the many friends of Lowell Celebrates Kerouac!
I am pleased to offer this latest version of the schedule, as of July 23, 2010, for the 2010 Jack Kerouac Literary Festival.
As you'll see, this year it's a joint production of LCK, the Cultural Organization of Lowell, and the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.
We'll keep you posted via this website for updates and any new developments.
We are still working on accommodation arrangements, and will get them up on this website as soon as we have them.
And keep checking in to our Facebook page as well at "Lowell Celebrates Kerouac" for some great Kerouac related exchanges!
Hope to see a whole lot of you in October.
Stephen Edington, President
Lowell Celebrates Kerouac
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The Jack Kerouac Literary Festival &
Lowell Celebrates Kerouac's 25th Anniversary
September 30--October 3, 2010
PRELIMINARY SCHEDULE
This is a work-in-progress. Check this website for updates and fuller details.
The 2010 Jack Kerouac Literary Festival is presented by:
Lowell Celebrates Kerouac (LCK)
The Cultural Organization of Lowell (COOL)
The University of Massachusetts at Lowell (UML)
Thursday, September 30th
3:30 p.m. Reading by Alan Lightman, Novelist and Physicist (MIT)
UML Campus. Site TBA
4:00 p.m. "Lowell Blues" A film by Henry Ferrini.
Lowell National Historical Park (LNHP) Visitors Center--246 Market St.
(This is a daily, ongoing program of the LNHP.)
5:00 p.m.--6:45 p.m. Historic Kerouac Pubs Tour
Honoring the Spirit of Jack Kerouac on His Lowell Streets.
Begins at the Old Worthen Tavern on Worthen Street near City Hall.
Ends at Cappy's Copper Kettle--245 Central Street.
Opportunities for volunteer readings along the way.
Led by Mike Wurm. Contact Mike at 978-501-1201 if you wish to read.
*Suggested $5.00 donation requested.
7:00 p.m. Opening Presentation: Russell Banks
Noted American Author, and Writer of the Screenplay for the
Forthcoming Movie of Kerouac's "On the Road"
UML Inn and Conference Center. (Formerly the DoubleTree Hotel)
8:30 p.m. Music and Readings at Cappy's Copper Kettle.
245 Central Street--About a five minute walk from the UML--CC.
Musician and composer David Amram, and Alan Crane, will perform with local musicians
and selected readers.
Event coordinated by John McDermott
Friday, October 1st
9:30 a.m. Poetry and Short Prose Competition
Lowell High School.
10:00 a.m.--8:00 p.m. Ongoing Children's Book Illustrators Program
Brush Art Gallery. Next to LNHP Visitors Center. 246 Market St.
Exhibit, receptions, artist talks, book signings featuring six illustrators:
David Macaulay, Chris VanAllsburg, David Wiesner, Christopher Bing,
Kelly Murphy, Matt Tavares.
Also involves third grade Lowell students' work influenced by these artists.
Check the Brush Gallery for further details and additional information.
11:00 a.m. UML Campus Presentation: "Jack Kerouac and the American Bohemian Tradition."
Dennis McNally, author of Desolate Angel: Jack Kerouac, The Beat Generation and America
and A Long, Strange Trip: The Inside History of The Grateful Dead.
UML O'Leary Library. Room 222.
3:00 p.m. A Walk in Doctor Sax's Woods. Led by Margarita Turcotte.
Lowell/Dracut/Tyngsboro State Park. Directions available at earlier events.
(Sorry, not handicapped accessible.)
4:00 p.m. Lowell Blues. LNHP Visitors Center.
6:30 p.m. Kerouac Literary Walking Tour: "Ghosts of the Pawtucketville Night"
A tour of some of the sites of Jack Kerouac's Doctor Sax.
Led by Roger Brunelle. Begins at Cumnock Hall, 31 University Avenue.
*Suggested donation of $5.00.
8:30 p.m. Urban Village Artist Series (UVAS) Event.
Performers:
Antje Duvekot, Poet and Folk Singer.
A winner of Boston Music Awards "Outstanding Folk Act of the Year."
Andrew Schelling, Poet/Essayist/Writer.
Instructor at the Naropa Institute/Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics.
Third Performer TBA. Site TBA. Admission free
Saturday, October 2nd
8:30--11:00 a.m. Bus Tour of the Kerouac Sites of Lowell.
Led by Roger Brunelle.
Sign in at 8:15 a.m. Tour departs at 8:30 from the LNHP Visitors Center.
Includes stops in Centreville and Pawtucketville. Further details TBA.
10:00 a.m.--4:00 p.m. Ongoing Children's Book Illustrators Event. Brush Gallery.
Reception from 1:00--4:00 p.m.
(See the Friday, October 1st entry for fuller details)
11:00 a.m. Commemorative at the Commemorative. Kerouac Park on Bridge St.
An annual event to honor the life and legacy of Jack Kerouac.
*Persons involved in the founding and early years of
Lowell Celebrates Kerouac will offer some personal reflections on the
25th Anniversary of the founding of LCK.
*The program will also include a tribute to the late Peter Orlovsky.
1:00--2:30 p.m. Theme Speaker: "Jack Kerouac and the American Bohemian Tradition" by Dennis McNally.
Dennis McNally is the author of Desolate Angel: Jack Kerouac, The Beat Generation and America;
and A Long, Strange Trip--An Inside History of The Grateful Dead.
A joint program presented by LCK and the Parker Lecture Series
LNHP Visitors Center Theater. 246 Market St.
Following the Theme Speaker a variety of program options will be offered:
3:00--4:00 p.m. Poetry Readings: Maggie Dietz and Sandra Lim--UML English Department.
UML Inn and Conference Center. Junior Ballroom
3:00--4:00 p.m. Discussion with Fiction Writers David Daniel, Jay Atkinson, and Steve O'Connor.
The Dharma Buns--26 A Market St.
3:00--4:00 p.m. Prose and Poetry: Reading from the Works of Jack Kerouac.
Award-winning poet, painter, and short story writer Mariliene Phipps-Kettlewell,
and Kerouac's brother-in-law, John Sampas, will read from the newly published book Jack Kerouac
and Allen Ginsberg: The Letters.
Barnes & Noble. 151 Merrimack St.
4:00 p.m. Lowell Blues. LNHP Visitors Center.
4:00--5:30 p.m. Open Mike Upstairs at the Worthen House.
Worthen Street near City Hall. Bring your own work or the favorite of another.
4:30--6:00 p.m. "Art and Commerce" Panel Discussion.
Authors Anita Shreve, Ann Wood and Tom Perrotta. Moderator: Andre Dubus.
UML Inn and Conference Center. Junior Ballroom.
5:45--6:45 p.m. Lowell Celebrates Kerouac Exhibit/Tour at the Pollard Library.
The Pollard Library will feature a 25 Anniversary of LCK Exhibit in the first floor alcove.
Tour led by Bill Walsh.
401 Merrimack St.
8:00 p.m. Event to Present the Jack Kerouac Center for Creativity and
Celebrate 25 Years of Lowell Celebrates Kerouac!
*Opening Remarks from Lowell Celebrates Kerouac.
*Past (and present) Presidents of LCK will offer their favorite Kerouac passages:
Brian Foye, Mark Hemenway, Lawrence Carradini, and Steve Edington.
*Music and Musicians TBA.
Free and open to the public.
Tentative Site: UML Conference Center (formerly the DoubleTree Hotel.)
Sunday, October 3rd
9:00 a.m. "Mystic Jack" Literary Walking Tour. Led by Roger Brunelle.
A tour of the sites of Kerouac's Visions of Gerard.
Begins at the old St. Louis de France Church building on W. 6th St. in Centralville.
Suggested donation of $5.00 requested
11:00 a.m. Two Kerouac Related Documentaries: "Grave Concerns" and "On the Trail: Jack Kerouac in Cheyenne."
Join filmmakers Brent Mason ("Grave Concerns") and Alan O'Hashi ("On the Trail…") in viewing and discussing their respective works.
The Dharma Buns--26 A Market Street.
1:30 p.m. A Walking Tour of the Downtown Kerouac Sites of Lowell.
Led by Roger Brunelle. Leaves from The Dharma Buns.
$5.00 donation requested.
3:00 p.m. Amram Jam at Cappy's Copper Kettle.
Close out the weekend with David Amram.
Share a reading of your own with David providing back up on keyboard.
4:00 p.m. Lowell Blues. LNHP Visitors Center.
Related Events
Pre-Festival Event: The Jack Kerouac 5K Road Race on September 26 at noon.
Begins at Hookslide Kelly's Bar at 19 Merrimack Street.
Further info at www.JackKerouac5k.com
Post Festival Event: The Jack Kerouac Memorial Walk on October 21st,
the anniversary of Jack's passing.
Details to be released on the LCK website.
The Jack Kerouac Literary Festival is supported in part by a grant from the
Massachusetts Cultural Council and the Lowell Cultural Council.
Thanks to many the site hosts for the 2010 Jack Kerouac Literary Festival:
The Lowell National Historical Park
Lowell High School
The University of Massachusetts at Lowell and the UML Inn and Conference Center
The Pollard Library
Barnes & Noble of Lowell
Cappy's Copper Kettle
The Old Worthen
Ricardo's Café Trattoria
The Dharma Buns
Major's Bar
Thanks also to these fine supporters:
Enterprise Bank
Richard and Nancy Donahue
Lowell Five
The City of Lowell
James L. Cooney Insurance
Jeanne D'Arc Credit Union
Trinity EMS
The Estate of Jack and Stella Kerouac--John Sampas, Literary Executor
The Friends and Donors to Lowell Celebrates Kerouac.