Thomas Cowan

Tommy P. Cowan is currently a PhD student in the Literature, Media, and Culture program at Florida State University. His primary interest is the confluence between literature and esotericism, including how literatures/texts are conceptualized as esoteric ritual, and the reception/transmission of literary esotericism as an intellectual tradition. He received his MA in Religious Studies from University of Amsterdam (2019), graduating Cum Laude. His 2019 master’s thesis centers around spirituality and esotericism in the works of American author William S. Burroughs (Supervisors: Wouter J. Hanegraaff and Marco Pasi). Additional Beat interests include Brion Gysin, Allen Ginsberg, Kathy Acker, Anne Waldman, Genesis P-Orridge, and Hakim Bey. He is an Associate Editor for Correspondences: Journal for the Study of Esotericism.