To celebrate the opening of The Beats and Beyond, the Rare Book Collection hosted two events. On April 22, 2008, poets Anne Waldman and Ed Sanders read from their work at the Bull's Head Book Shop. The following day, a panel discussion on avant-garde poetry in America after World War II followed a reception in the Melba Remig Saltarelli Exhibition Room in Wilson Library, formally opening the exhibition. The panelists were Bill Morgan (moderator), author, archivist, and collector; Robert Cantwell, professor of American Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill; Ed Sanders, poet, writer, and musician; and Anne Waldman, poet and Distinguished Professor of Writing and Poetics at Naropa University.

Poetry Reading by Anne Waldman & Ed Sanders  •  April 22, 2008

"Avant-Garde Poetry in America after Word War II"
Panel Discussion with Bill Morgan, Robert Cantwell, Ed Sanders,   Anne Waldman  •  April 23, 2008