“The women of the Beat are the epitome of cool.  They were the black-stockinged hipsters, renegade artists, intellectual muses, and gypsy poets who helped change our culture forever.  They were feminist before the word was coined, and their work stands beside that of men.” 

                                                                              -Brenda Knight

For more information about the women of the Beat, read Brenda Knight's quintessential compilation, Women of the Beat Generation: The Writers, Artists, and Muses at the Heart of a Revolution. 

This site is dedicated to Jody Trost for her contributions to this project and to Dr. William Knox and all the graduate students in his EN 560 course for enriching our understanding of the Beat movement. 

Special thanks to Brenda Knight, Anne Waldman, Debbie Hartung, Joe Pachinko, Leah Levy and the Estate of Jay DeFeo.

Last Updated 20 January 2006 by Maureen Latvala, Elisabeth Massie, and Margaret Helwig.