Exhibition date: 3 December 2008 - 27 January 2009

Coming to the Barber Institute at the University of Birmingham: the world-famous original typescript manuscript of On the Road - featured in an exhibition timed to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the book's publication in the UK and Eire (1958). The scroll typescript is the most expensive modern literary manuscript in the world.

Much of the fame of On the Road resides in large part in the way this first full version of the novel was composed. Jack Kerouac undertook three weeks of almost non-stop typing  on eight sheets of teletype paper taped together to form a continuous roll of paper 127 feet long - so Kerouac did not have to pause to feed new paper into his typewriter in order to preserve better the rush of his inspiration.

The result was a particular 'spontaneous' style marked by energy, vitality and directness. It is based on Kerouac's autobiographical experiences and, unlike the published version, does not disguise the protagonists under pseudonyms. Thus William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg and Neal Cassady are all directly named.

The scroll consequently has an iconic cultural status, which secured it at a winning bid of 2.5 million dollars at auction.

Jack Kerouac remains one of the best-known and most popular post-war US writers, one with a truly global reputation. His books remain in print throughout the world. His popularity spreads worldwide. His most famous book, On the Road is generally regarded as the founding text of the so-called Beat Generation-a movement which featured, besides Ginsberg, Burroughs and Cassady, Gregory Corso, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Diane DiPrima and many others.

This exhibition is funded by the University of Birmingham with additional contributions from the University of Birmingham's US Alumni Fund and Waterstones.

Contact name:

Dick Ellis,
Dept. of American & Canadian Studies
University of Birmingham
Birmingham B15 2TT
United Kingdom
r.j.ellis@bham.ac.uk
www.uscanada.bham.ac.uk

More Info: www.barber.org.uk/ontheroad.html

Dick will be joined by professional flautist Nicola Shorland at the Colwall Festival on Fri 18th July.

Friday 18th July (7.30pm)

Village Hall

Colwall

Herefordshire

Adults £6 - Children £3

www.colwallfestival.co.uk

Dick McBride, will be headlining the "Words In Motion" stage on Sunday 6th August at this years Big Chill Festival held at Eastnor Deer Park, Herefordshire.

You can find him at the Words In Motion tent in the Enchanted Garden at between 1-2pm.

More Info & Tickets: www.bigchill.net

Text from: www.celluloidband.com

The Last Beat Introduction:

Dick McBride has lived long enough to realise he is no longer young but young enough to know he will never be truly old. Rather than the Last Beat Poet, he prefers to be known as the only maverick poet.

Matthew Devenish, E-za Jenkins (Celluloid) and Usama Dafaalla have a long way to go before McBride catches up with them. Join us in the experience of a lifetime.

Wild and sometimes happy or sweetly surreal - words and music - the happening creates a sound seldom heard, if ever. Not jazz, not rock and roll, not punk or whatever - more like the explosion of the sun sinking into a big black hole, glowing like the birth of a rose. Then when you think you've heard everything you realise it hasn't even started.

Hold on to your hats, ladies and gentlemen, here we come. And if there's time we can talk about the good times gone, reminisce about what is yet to come. Words and sound sometimes joined, sometimes separated by adlib, solo stories and dreams, tall tales and outright lies.

The Last Beat Experience:

Original beat poet, Dick McBride, with Celluloid, have created an exciting and innovative show of music and spoken word, with broad audience appeal.

Dick's colourful journey through life, from the Great Depression of the 30's through World War Two and into the 'enlightened' era of the 50's and 60's San Francisco scene, strongly influenced his writing, especially contributing to the powerful and vivid imagery of his poetry, whilst reflecting the cultural, economic and socio-political extremes that he has lived through thus far.

His sojourn at City Lights Bookshop in San Francisco brought him into intimate and close relation with such notorious characters as Ginsberg, Kerouac, Burroughs and, to name but a few.

Audiences will delight in Dick McBride 's sometimes surreal and often humorous anecdotes, tales and reminiscences of the key players and prevailing mood of the time, and will be deeply moved by the depth and richness of his poetry, which he has performed on numerous occasions around the UK and as far afield as the Canegliano Poetry Festival Italy, London, & San Francisco.

You can order copies of the CD via Mad Swan here