Kerouac & Company

Even though our visit to see Jack Kerouac’s scrolls and even earlier, Edgar Allen Poe’s manuscripts, seems like so long ago, doing the windows project solidified the idea that what I’ve learned in this class really sticks with you, which is what makes it so special for us lifelong learners. I became fascinated by these writers’ dedication to presentation and handcrafted details – Edgar’s bound books with designed one-of-a-kind covers and Jack’s crossed-out changes in On the Road. It makes reading their books that much more organic and authentic of an experience. This is partially why I decided that it was important and a nice tribute to make a book for my windows project – and by that I mean, cutting and gluing, the whole deal, instead of getting it printed. It’s interesting but I can relate that whole process to seeing Kerouac’s notebooks, with his fine, tiny writing scribbles and minute drawings because of how much of an artist’s personality comes through in such a quiet manner. Journal-keeping and homemade stories allow viewers to gain insight into the little things that come into the process of creation – spilled coffee, an extra period, an arrow saying “fix later.” I can’t even verbalize how much this experience meant to me as an amateur writer, but maybe if you read my Vitamin Water-stained notebook one day far in the future, you’ll get it….