Ginsberg's "Howl" is Fifty This Year

New York, NY —

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Allen Ginsberg's epic Beat poem "Howl" which dealt frankly with homoeroticism, drugs, music and politics. It sparked an obscenity case which ended with the legal precedent of "redeeming social value" for a literary work.

There's a celebration tonight at Columbia University where Ginsberg was a student. The anti-establishment writers group, the Underground Literary Alliance, is protesting some of the speakers as well as the admittance fee saying it goes against the spirit of the beat generation.