Alternative literature

Alternative literature is a catch-all phrase used for the work of poets and writers that, for one reason or another, does not conform to what is perceived as being mainstream or commercially viable.

Authors and poets closely associated with alternative culture include J.G. Ballard, J.D. Salinger, Sylvia Plath, Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, Bret Easton Ellis, Allen Ginsberg and political writer Noam Chomsky. Most of these writers were of a different generation to the alternative kids who picked up on bands like Nirvana, but some alternative bands declared themselves fans of these writers and subsequently turned a large number of people onto them who, in all probability, would never have thought to read those books themselves.

As well as these books, certain comic books and graphic novels are generally excepted into alternative culture. They are generally darker, more gothic in tone than the more famous superhero comics and are more interested in the idea of the anti-hero. The most famous examples are 2000 A.D., Spawn and The Crow.