Burroughs Century festival begins this week

Cultural subversion was a way of life for novelist William Burroughs. Challenging the social, moral and political systems in America, the writer was one of the leading voices of the Beat Generation during the mid-20th century, along with renowned authors Jack Kerouac and Allan Ginsberg. 

Preachers of nonconformity and spontaneous creativity, the Beat Generation had a pervasive effect on cultural ideas in the post-Word War II era, which is hypothesized to have been the basis of later hippie and counter-culture movements.
In honor of what would have been Burroughs’ 100th birthday, Bloomington created “Burroughs Century,” a festival celebrating his influence. It will run Wednesday through Sunday, and will feature film screenings, performances and other ceremonial events.

Everything Is Permitted: The Life and Work of William S. Burroughs

Manuscripts and correspondence from the Burroughs Archive at Ohio State will be on display Monday at the Lilly Library. The following Thursday there will be a lecture with John Bennett and Geoff Smith at 12:30 p.m. Admission is free.

Lydia Lunch Lecture

A lecture entitled “Performance, Sex and Punk Feminism: 1970s to Present,” will be presented at 1 p.m. Wednesday at IU Cinema. Admission is free.

William S. Burroughs Birthday Celebration

The celebration will be from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Grunwald Gallery. Admission is $25.

Mark Hosler at the Bishop

The sound artist, a member of culture jamming band Negativland, will perform 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Bishop. Admission is $5.

HOLOGRAPHIC performance

HOLOGRAPHIC will perform "The Ticket That Exploded" by James Ilgenfritz, "Remembered States" by Matthew Hough and "In C" by Terry Riley on Feb. 6 at 8:30 p.m. at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater.

Lydia Lunch reads Burroughs

Feminist speaker Lydia Lunch will read works by Burroughs 9 p.m. Friday at the Bishop. Admission is $12. This event was cancelled due to weather conditions.

Closing Night Ball

The ball will take place at 9 p.m. Saturday at The Back Door.
Burroughs Film Series

The series will include the Burroughs Balch Films, and will be showed from Thursday through Sunday at the IU Cinema.

Burroughs Symposium

The symposium will take place Thursday through Sunday at various locations listed on the festival’s website, burroughscentury.org.

--Sarah Zinn