Allen Ginsberg may be dead, but in some parts of downtown you can still hear his howl. Those who long for the days when Beats roamed the streets of New York should stop by the Bowery Poetry Club this Saturday for a day of events and performances entitled “Howl! Fifty Years Later.” Jason Shinder, a friend of Ginsberg’s and editor of a recent book, The Poem that Changed America: Howl! Fifty Years Later, presides as half a dozen poets and writers try to explain just why this foul-mouthed 50-year-old is still worth listening to. Later in the afternoon, famed Nuyorican poet Edwin Torres conducts the audience in a public reading of the poem, and at 8 p.m., Amiri Baraka (pictured above) will perform music and poetry with his five-piece ensemble ($12 additional for this performance). Whether you come for the talks or the music, drift back to the days when hipsters actually produced worthwhile art while enjoying the venue’s cozy bar and modest bookstore. 

August 19. Bowery Poetry Club, 310 Bowery (betw. Houston & Bleecker Sts.), 212-614-0505; Readings begin at 1 p.m. ($10), music at 8 p.m. ($12).