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Who We Are

The Beat Poets were the changers of the world during there time. Many of these poets prospered during the late 1940’s and 1950’s which was known as the postwar era. People were looking for a more ordered way of living and there were majorities that were looking for a more spontaneous way of living. The Beat Poets were led by three major players by the names of Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and finally William S. Burroughs. They influenced many poets later in life with their spontaneous prose way of writing and also their free verse. Beat came from be-at which means the fulfillment of a spiritual quest. These men amongst many others helped to define the American psyche during the second half of the twentieth century much to the disbelief of many people. These men shaped many minds with their way of writing and the ideas they wrote about.
During this time many citizens from the East Coast were now moving to the West Coast. Many artists living on the East Coast were not able to push their artwork to the next level because during this era the East Coast still emphasized formalism which thought works of art should be worshipped at a distance. This limited the artists to what they could paint. Many writers on the East Coast were also frustrated because form was thought to restrict content. Most East Coast artists and writers took refuge to the West Coast were they could showcase their new talents. Here on the West Coast they had more freedom and much less establishment. Things were flourishing and they were happy to share there ideas with others. Not only did they find new ideas on the West Coast but many found beliefs.
Many of the major Beat Poet writers were directly influenced by Buddhists ideas. They expressed these ideas through most of their poems. They turned to the Buddhist ideals because they were tired of all the violence from the war. Most of the Beat Poets believed that they would reach a state of...