Alene Lee
Encyclopedia
Alene Lee was an African-American member of the Beat generation
in New York City
whose romantic relationship with Jack Kerouac
was the central theme in his novel The Subterraneans
. Kerouac used the pseudonym Mardou Fox for Lee. Lee was also the character of Irene May in Book of Dreams
and Big Sur
.
In 2010 the online literary magazine Beatdom published excerpts of Alene Lee's writing.
Beat generation
The Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
whose romantic relationship with Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
was the central theme in his novel The Subterraneans
The Subterraneans
The Subterraneans is a 1958 novella by Beat Generation author Jack Kerouac. It is a semi-fictional account of his short romance with an African American woman named Alene Lee in San Francisco in 1953. In the novel she is renamed "Mardou Fox," and described as a carefree spirit who frequents the...
. Kerouac used the pseudonym Mardou Fox for Lee. Lee was also the character of Irene May in Book of Dreams
Book of Dreams (novel)
Book of Dreams is an experimental novel published by Jack Kerouac in 1960, culled from the dream journal he kept from 1952 to 1960. In it Kerouac tries to continue plot-lines with characters from his books as he sees them in his dreams...
and Big Sur
Big Sur (novel)
Big Sur is a 1962 novel by Jack Kerouac. It recounts the events surrounding Kerouac's three brief sojourns to a cabin in Bixby Canyon, Big Sur, owned by Kerouac's friend and Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti...
.
In 2010 the online literary magazine Beatdom published excerpts of Alene Lee's writing.