Stephanie Nikolopoulos's Blog, page 54

Lowell of Yesteryear

It’s so much fun to attend Lowell Celebrates Kerouac and visit this great American literary icon’s old stomping grounds, many of which still exist today.  However, much of Lowell has changed over the years.  The streets are smoothly paved.  There’s a color television in almost every home.  UMass Lowell continually expands its presence.  New restaurants [...]

“Beat Generation” Premieres during Lowell Celebrates Kerouac

  Kerouac’s play “Beat Generation,” written the same year that On the Road was published, will also have its premiere tonight.  The event stage production is taking place during Lowell Celebrates Kerouac, the week-long literary where fans from across the country make their pilgrimage to Kerouac’s hometown in Massachusetts. As The Guardian reports, until around 2005, Kerouac’s play “The Beat Generation” [...]

Lowell Celebrates Kerouac: The Typewriter

  One evening, a student came into our writing workshop at The New School and announced he’d bought a typewriter.  We were all very impressed. “What kind?” we asked. “Where did you get it?” Most of us were in our twenties or thirties and had grown up using computers.  Many of us had entire mini [...]

Jonathan Collins’ Beat Generation Locale Series

9 Lupine Road When I first saw artist Jonathan Collin’s paintings in person, I thought they were photographs.  They’re stunning.  Incredibly detailed and richly saturated, his Lowell series captures with paint the Massachusetts landscape that Jack Kerouac captured with words.  More than just setting and subject matter, Collins’ use of chiaroscuro resonates with Kerouac’s literature.  There [...]

Lowell Celebrates Kerouac 2012: The Basics

Lowell Celebrates Kerouac kicks off next week, and this year the literary festival features a full week-long schedule of fantastic events with an incredible lineup of authors and poets, musicians, and filmmakers.  Perhaps most exciting of all, Jack Kerouac’s play “Beat Generation,” written the same year that On the Road was published, will also have its premiere during [...]

Miguel Algarin’s Birthday Reading

Poet RA Araya invited me to read at poet Miguel Algarin‘s birthday bash last month at Mama’s Bar in the East Village.  It was such an honor to read for someone who has influenced so many lives. Miguel has been a major force of influence in poetry, creating space and awareness for ethnic literature and [...]

Photobombing with Michael Cera

Have you seen the stingray photobomb that’s gone viral?? Well, here’s a flashback to an article I wrote back in 2010 about Michael Cera’s love for photobombing. And for those Arrested Development fans out there… find out who’s making cameo appearances on Arrested Development season 4 Liza Minnelli is one of them! spoiler alert! plot details [...]

Orange Wine at Brooklyn Winery

When I read about orange wine, I knew just whom to ask about it: Orlando Clemente.  He took me to Brooklyn Winery, where we went on a tour of the winery and got to taste-test this hipster wine, which to me had almost an earl grey flavor.  I asked Orlando to write up a review, and [...]

Banned Book Week 2012

It’s Banned Books Week! I’ve been in a few conversations recently about censorship that really got me thinking.  In one, I admitted I’m probably a “square.”  I like following the rules.  That said, I believe 100% in the freedom of speech and the freedom of expression.  I don’t believe the government or libraries or anyone [...]

10 Things You May Not Know about Jack Kerouac

Here are ten things you may not know about Jack Kerouac. His parents were French-Canadian immigrants, and he didn’t learn to speak English until he went to school.  It wasn’t until he was a teenager that he began feeling comfortable conversing in English. He was the baby of the family.  He had an older sister [...]