In 1956, Ferlinghetti published Ginsberg’s Howl and Other Poems as Number Four in the City Lights Pocket Poets series after hearing Ginsberg’s now-legendary reading of the poem at the Six Gallery. He was arrested on obscenity charges for doing so, and the trial that followed, in which he was acquitted, became a landmark First Amendment ruling for controversial literature with “redeeming social importance.”

Ferlinghetti went on to publish works by Beat writers Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady, William S. Burroughs, Gary Snyder, Gregory Corso, Diane DiPrima and Michael McClure, in addition to Kenneth Rexroth, William Carlos Williams and Charles Bukowski. At 93, Ferlinghetti is also an accomplished painter and the recipient of numerous international literary awards. A Coney Island of the Mind, his 1958 poetry collection, remains one of the bestselling poetry books in the U.S.

The 16th annual IPPY Awards drew nominations from more than 2,000 independent authors and publishers vying for gold, silver and bronze medals in 72 categories. Created in 1996 to honor the year’s best independently published titles, the Independent Publisher Book Awards “reward those who exhibit the courage, innovation, and creativity to bring about change in the world of publishing.”

The IPPY Awards bash takes place on June 4 and kicks off BookExpo America (BEA), the publishing industry’s largest annual event in North America, held this year at the Javits Center in New York.

You can read the list of all IPPY winners here.

Jack Kerouac, Lucien Carr and Allen Ginsberg, 1959

A New York Times article by true crime author and journalist David J. Krajicek recounts the “violent death” that caught Beat Generation writers Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs in its gravitational pull 10 years prior to their debut on the literary scene.

In 1944, 19-year-old Lucien Carr, who had introduced Kerouac, Ginsberg and Burroughs, stabbed David Kammerer, 33, to death in Riverside Park in response, Carr claimed, to Kammerer’s alleged unwanted and aggressive advances. Stricken with remorse, Carr consulted with Kerouac and Burroughs, who advised him to turn himself over to police. Carr plead guilty to manslaughter and served two years of a 20-year sentence.

In 1945, Kerouac and Burroughs co-authored a thinly veiled mystery novel about the incident, And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks, the title of which was inspired by a late-night newscast about a fire at the St. Louis Zoo. In Beatitude, Hippos serves as the inspiration for Harry and Jay to write a book together. The incident itself is also the basis of the movie Kill Your Darlings, now filming in New York, with Harry Potter’s Daniel Radcliffe as Allen Ginsberg.

On Saturday, March 24, I’ll be sharing a table and reading from my novel Beatitude at the Rainbow Book Fair, 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the LGBT Community Center 208 West 13th Street, New York. If you go, be sure to stop by table B24 and say hello. I’ll be happy to inscribe a copy of Beatitude. I’m also one of 40 authors scheduled to read. I’m in the 2-2:30 p.m. block. We each get four minutes so don’t blink! Hope to see you there!

Here are a few images from the event, courtesy of friend and photographer Michael Graziano. Thanks, Mike!

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“I felt utterly drawn in,” writes Cardno. “By the end of the book, I felt like I’d made two new friends in Harry and Jay.”

You can read the full review, in addition to amazing new fiction, poetry, articles and other reviews, in the latest issue of Chelsea Station. Pick up a copy here.

You can read the full interview here.