An author whose name immediately brings up visuals of the “open road” in American culture was born on this day in 1922… 103 years ago! The Beat Generation authors (of which Jack Kerouac was a heavy influence) helped shape the world we know today, with their lack of interest in convention and the societal rules and conventions followed by their parents. On his birthday, we wanted to bring some attention to Kerouac and the way he helped shape the world.

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Born on March 12th, 1922 in Lowell, Massachusetts, Jack Kerouac grew up in a working-class French-Canadian family, speaking French before he ever learned English. His early years saw both tragedy and discipline, as his older brother Gerard died when Jack was just four – an event that deeply affected him and would later influence his writing. His mother was a devout Catholic, and Kerouac maintained a spiritual (though not strictly Catholic) streak throughout his life, even as he rebelled against societal norms in his later years. A voracious reader, he read everything from adventure novels to the works of Thomas Wolfe, and developed a passion for storytelling at an early age. Since it wasn’t enough to be academically minded, Kerouac was also a gifted athlete – earning himself a football scholarship to Columbia University in 1940. Unfortunately, a leg injury and a deepening dissatisfaction with what seemed to him to be a structured life (a typical – sport, education, job, family, work till you die… you know, the usual kind of life) soon steered him away from sports and into the more alternative world of writing. His time in New York City proved immensely important, however – not for his studies, but for the people he met while he was there. He fell in with a group of similar-minded artists, authors and bohemians, most notably Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, and Neal Cassady. This core group, along with Kerouac himself, would later become known as the Beat Generation, a movement that challenged post-war materialism and celebrated personal freedom, spiritual exploration, and, of course… jazz fueled cross-country road trips.

Kerouac’s arguably most defining work, On the Road (1957), was written in a flurry of inspiration on a single scroll of paper – supposedly fueled by caffeine, cigarettes and pure momentum. The novel, a supposedly semi-autobiographical account of adventures he had with his friend Neal Cassady, captured the rather restless energy of a generation searching for meaning outside the constraints of mainstream America (and that structured life Kerouac had decided against back at Columbia). Though it initially received mixed reviews, the book soon became a cultural phenomenon – sealing Kerouac’s fate as the voice of the disaffected youths of America. However, fame wasn’t something Kerouac embraced easily. As the Beat movement gained followers, he struggled with the attention – eventually retreating (quite young) into alcohol and isolation. Despite publishing several more works, including The Dharma Bums and Big Sur, he never really adapted to the literary celebrity that followed him. By the time of his early death in 1969, at just 47, his influence had already spread far beyond what he might have imagined, or even wanted.

Kerouac’s impact on literature is hard to overstate – the Beat generation’s themes and spirits of spontaneity, self-exploration, and rebellion truly seemed to pave the way for countercultural movements in the 1960s, and therefore have helped shape our current world. From Hunter S. Thompson to Bob Dylan, writers have recognized Kerouac as an inspiration to them, and his rhythmic (almost jazz-like) prose has influenced countless storytellers of both the written and spoken word.

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The Beat Generation were more than just poets with a longing for typewriters and open roads, though… they were literary revolutionaries (and that is not a phrase we use lightly). They broke away from rigid literary structures to embrace a more raw, unfiltered kind of storytelling that captured the fairly chaotic energy of post-war America. Their general themes of nonconformity, mysticism and wanderlust continue to resonate in modern literature, music, and film… and while their era may be long past, their ideas about freedom, authenticity, and rejecting the status quo remain rather unmistakably relevant. After all, if Kerouac taught us anything, it’s that sometimes the best way to find yourself is to simply start moving – and maybe bring a notebook along for the ride! 🙂

Happy Birthday to Jack Kerouac!

George Meredith isn’t the first name that comes to mind when people think of Victorian literature, but perhaps it should be in the top ten! A novelist and poet with a sharp wit and a love for psychological depth in his writing, he influenced some of the biggest literary figures of his time. Though he never reached Dickens-level fame, his works remain a fascinating blend of humor, social critique, and deep character studies.

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Born on February 12th, 1828 in Portsmouth, England, Meredith’s early life seemed shaped by both hardship and intellectual curiosity. His father ran a struggling naval outfitting business, and then after his mother passed away when he was just five years old, young George was sent to school in Germany. There, he developed an early appreciation for literature and philosophy (though whether or not he appreciated the strict discipline is another story). Upon his return to England, he initially pursued a career in law but quickly realized that long hours in a legal office were not his calling. Instead, he turned to writing, first gaining attention for his poetry and later his novels. His personal life, however, was anything but simple. His first marriage to writer Mary Ellen Peacock ended in separation after she left him for another man. While painful, that experience inspired Modern Love (1862), a brutally honest and emotionally intense poetry collection that remains one of his most powerful works.

As a novelist, Meredith was ahead of his time. His books were dense, filled with intricate sentences, psychological depth, and sharp social critique. One of his most famous works, The Egoist (1879), is a satirical masterpiece that skewers male vanity through the character of Sir Willoughby Patterne, a self-absorbed aristocrat who assumes women exist solely to admire him. (If a Victorian novel could double as an 1800s-style dating horror story, this would be it.) While Meredith’s unique style made his novels more challenging to read than those of his contemporaries, his wit and insight rewards those who persevere. Of course, some readers may have felt they deserved a medal after making it through one of his more complex paragraphs, but literary greatness isn’t always easy!

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His influence stretched beyond his own readership, too. Writers like Thomas Hardy, Virginia Woolf, and even Oscar Wilde all admired his work, with Hardy once crediting Meredith’s support as a turning point in his own career. Despite not achieving widespread popular success, Meredith’s ability to blend comedy with deep psychological realism made him rather an important bridge between Victorian literature and the modernist literary movement. Though his works require patience, they offer a rare mix of humor, wisdom, and social insight that still feels relevant today.

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With author Albert Camus’ birthday being November 7, it seemed like a perfect time to reflect on the life (and impact) of this influential writer and philosopher. Camus’ most well-known philosophical contribution was his concept of “the absurd” – a term he used to describe the tension between humans desire for both meaning and the meaningless, indifferent universe they inhabit. He argued that while life has no inherent meaning, people must still find ways to live fully… a feeling that perhaps a few American citizens are feeling this week and need reminding of.

Born in 1913 in Mondovi, Algeria, Camus grew up in a rather modest household. His father died in World War I, leaving his mother alone to raise Albert under tough conditions. Despite these challenges, Camus excelled in school, eventually studying philosophy at the University of Algiers. Camus lived through some of the most intense periods of the 20th century. His early life, his experiences during World War II, and particularly his involvement with the French Resistance and his role as editor of the underground newspaper Combat, shaped his views on justice and human dignity and is almost tangible in some of his work.

In 1942, Camus published The Stranger, a novel that explores the idea mentioned above of “the absurd”—the confliction between our desire for meaning in life and the uncaring world around us. He delved deep into this theme in The Myth of Sisyphus, an essay that challenges us to confront life’s uncertainties with resilience and courage. Camus didn’t stop there… his novels The Plague and The Fall continued to explore human nature and morality, earning him widespread recognition. In 1957, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, becoming one of the youngest recipients of the prestigious award at the age of 44. Unfortunately, he died in a car accident just two short years later.

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Personally, I believe that what makes Camus’ work so powerful is its timeless relevance. His intense focus on existential themes and the human condition resonates even today… some might say particularly today. His work shows a commitment to principles like freedom, justice, and integrity that continues to inspire readers across generations. Camus encourages us to find meaning in life through our actions, our choices, and our connections with others… even when the world seems indifferent. As we mark what would be his 111th birthday, we honor Albert Camus not just for his literary genius, but for his message about what it means to live a meaningful life in a complicated world.

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Both Sylvia Plath and Dylan Thomas are towering figures in the world of 20th century poetry. Each are known for their distinct voices and both carry an emotional intensity to their work that is not always seen in poetry. Though there is no evidence that these poets ever met, Sylvia Plath’s admiration for Thomas’ work is well-documented. His influence seems especially visible in her earliest work, though in the end Plath went on to carve a poetic identity very distinct from Thomas’ notable style. With their shared upcoming birthday on the horizon (both were born on October the 27th, almost 20 years apart), we thought we’d look at how these two poets are connected, and honor their shared visions and experiences.

Dylan Thomas, a Welsh poet known for his rich language and vivid imagery, wrote in a rather romantic style, and often explored themes of life, death and the natural world. His poetry frequently expresses a fairly passionate celebration of life, and admiration of life’s fleeting beauty. That being said, he counters this positivity with a deep awareness of mortality and death. His popular poem Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night is a perfect example of this style. The way he used sound, rhythm and imagery generalizes him as a romantic modernist, since he blends traditional poetic techniques with powerful emotional depth.

Sylvia Plath, an American poet from a very different background from Thomas, came of age in the 1950s and 1960s, and began writing poetry from a young age. She was admittedly profoundly affected by Thomas’ work, and you can see evidence of his (almost) visceral imagery and romantic lyricism echoed in Plath’s early writing – poems like The Colossus, one of her most famous early works. Yet, where Thomas’ work might evoke a life-affirming energy and a focus on beauty, Plath’s work eventually took on a darker, more introspective tone. Plath, struggling with depression and her mental health, often focused her work on the self, on alienation and the eventual peace of death (obviously dissimilar to Thomas’ wish for us to rage against it). Her work diverged from the romanticism of Dylan Thomas in favor of her explorations of psychological trauma, gender and even the grotesque – whereas Thomas’ work focused more on a questioning of the personal and the political. While Thomas provided Plath with a solid foundation of poetry, her work would eventually grow into a voice more singular and ferocious. That being said, they shared poetic interests in language, mortality and the human psyche – no matter how distinct their eventual work is.

While as I stated earlier, these two poets came from such different backgrounds, they shared some similar experiences throughout their lives that perhaps explains their universal connection to their readership around the world. Both lives were marked with personal turmoil and struggles with mental health – most likely why their work focuses so heavily on their mortality. Both poets drew from their own inner conflicts and existential questions to display raw emotion in their writing, and each struggled with pressures of their own artistic expectations. And tragically, both met untimely, young deaths – Thomas from alcoholism at 39 and Plath by suicide at 30. Nevertheless, their work cemented them as literary icons that have stood the test of time.