BEAT: The Performance Poetry of Chasen Gaver [film]

Charles (Chasen) Gaver identified himself foremost as a "performance poet." In 1978 he received one of the first grants awarded to an openly gay artist dealing with gay subject matter from the District of Columbia's Commission on Arts and Humanities. Gaver was also the recipient of larger grants in 1981, 1986, and 1987, which enabled him to collaborate with colleagues as well as to document his performances using photographs and video/audio cassettes. In 1977 Gaver began writing sporadically for The Washington Blade; ten years later his book reviews would become a regular feature. In addition, Gaver wrote novels, essays, plays, poems and short stories, many of which were loosely autobiographical. Gaver's interest in human relationships and his identity as a gay man were common themes in his work.