Lowell — Poetry, musical performances, tours and more are planned to commemorate the life and legacy of Jack Kerouac for the 36th Annual Lowell Celebrates Kerouac! Festival.

Jack Kerouac was born in Lowell and became a writer here.

Each October, the Lowell Celebrates Kerouac! (LCK!) Festival illuminates his local influences and explores his enduring impact on music, art, and literature.

This year’s events, scheduled to run from October 10-14, include:

• Use Poetry, a poetry reading and panel discussion (Fri., Overlook at Mill No. 5)

• Musical performances by Toussaint the Liberator (Fri., Overlook at Mill No. 5), Mike Younger & The Tennessee Tree Huggers (Sun., Worthen House Café), and legendary jazz performer and Kerouac collaborator David Amram (Sat., Olympia’s Zorba Music Hall)

• Annual LCK! Parker Lecture: Charles Shuttleworth on Kerouac’s Buddhist Years (Sat., Lowell National Historical Park Visitor Center Theater)

• Book talk: Portraits Along the Way by Paul Marion (Sat., Pollard Memorial Library)

• Film: Magic Trip: Ken Kesey’s Search for Someplace Kool (Sun., Luna Theater)

• Tours to sites including Kerouac’s birthplace, grave site, and novel locations.

Jack Kerouac (1922-1967) was a novelist and poet of French-Canadian ancestry born in Lowell. He is best known for On the Road (1957), a novel that captured the restless spirit of the time and continues to inspire readers, and for his pioneering role in the literary subculture he dubbed the “Beat Generation.”

Among his other published works are five novels that draw on his youth in the Mill City. He is buried in Edson Cemetery in Lowell.

Lowell Celebrates Kerouac! (LCK!) is a non-profit organization founded in 1985 to promote a better understanding and appreciation of Jack Kerouac’s life and work.

In addition to the annual festival, LCK! sponsors a spring program marking Kerouac’s birthday. LCK! volunteers help maintain Kerouac Park and Jack Kerouac Commemorative in Lowell

For more information, visit: www.lowellcelebrateskerouac.org