Jack Kerouac School

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The Jack Kerouac School was founded at Naropa University in 1974 by Beat Generation poets Allen Ginsberg and Anne Waldman. The school consists of the Summer Writing Program and the Department of Writing and Poetics, which administrates the MFA in Writing and Poetics, the MFA in Creative Writing (low residency program), and the BA in Writing and Literature.

The school was the subject of the book When I Was Cool, written by Sam Kashner, the first student of the school, about his experience there.

The Kerouac School has as its mission the education of students as knowledgeable practitioners of the literary arts. Its objectives toward that mission include encouraging a disciplined practice of writing and cultivating a historical and cultural awareness of literary studies. Creative Writing as a contemplative practice is informed by the view that one can continuously open to "big mind" for freshness and inspiration. In this spirit, university founder Chogyam Trungpa's notion of "art in everyday life" is fundamental to its pedagogy and aesthetic.

The Naropa Summer Writing Program celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2004.