Following a series of wonderful events in mid-March to initiate the Jack Kerouac Centennial, Lowell Celebrates Kerouac, in collaboration with other interested parties, is sponsoring a series of JK@100 events between April and the annual LCK Festival from October 6-10.
May 17: Jack Talks: Presentation and Discussion: The Americas of Jack Kerouac and John Steinbeck. Led by Steve Edington. 7:00 pm. Community Room of the Pollard Library, 401 Merrimack St.
May 31: Jack Talks: Presentation and Discussion: Big Sur: Jack Kerouac’s Last Train to the Coast. Led by Steve Edington, reading from the Big Sur chapter in his forthcoming book The Gospel According to Jack.7:00 pm. Community Room of the Pollard Library, 401 Merrimack St.
June 8—July 31: A Satori in Paris themed art exhibit at the Brush Gallery, 236 Market St. Opening reception on June 11, 2:00 to 4:00 pm.
June 10: Film and Discussion: Jack Kerouac’s Road: A Franco-American Odyssey. Follow-up conversation with the film’s director, Hermenegilde Chaisson. This film was also shown on March 13 as part of the Centennial kick-off events in Lowell. 1:00 pm. Pollard Library, 401 Merrimack St.
June 22: Jack Talks: Mad About Baseball! A Presentation and Discussion by Jimmy Pollard of selections Kerouac wrote about baseball in his novels, novellas, Journals, short stories, boyhood notebooks, haiku, and columns in magazines and newspapers. Accompanied by relevant photographs. Upstairs at The Worthen, 141 Worthen Street. 7:00 pm.
July 23: A Mystic Jack tour in the St. Louis de France neighborhood as part of the Lowell Walks program of the Lowell National Historical Park. Covers the neighborhood described in Kerouac’s Visions of Gerard. Meet at the Greenhalge School at 149 Ennell Street, between Beaulieu and Boisvert Streets, at 9:45 am. Led by Steve Edington and Andrew Donovan.
July 30-31: Lowell Folk Festival. Check out the Lowell Celebrates Kerouac table for information on the October Festival—and to talk all things Jack!
October 1: Jack Kerouac 5K Road Race. Being coordinated through Western Avenue Studios. Check back here for starting times and other information.
October 6--10: LCK Annual Kerouac Festival and conclusion of the JK100 Centennial. Theme speaker and Parker Lecturer is Dr. Jean-Christophe Cloutier, Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania. He collaborated with Todd Tietchen on The Unknown Kerouac, providing the translations of Kerouac’s French language passages.
Other events will include tours, open mics, musical events, art exhibits, the Annual Poetry Competition at Lowell High School, and the Annual Amram Jam.
A full schedule will be posted on this website as it becomes put in place.