Left Front (magazine)
Left Front Magazine (1933-1935) was an American magazine published by the Chicago chapter of the John Reed Club,[1] itself a Marxist club for writers, artists, and intellectuals, named after the American journalist, activist, and poet, John Reed. The magazine is most famous for being a major early publishing venue of American author Richard Wright.
Richard Wright[edit]
In 1933, Richard Wright joined the Chicago chapter of the John Reed Club at the urging of friend Abraham Aaron.[2] The same year, he is elected executive secretary of the chapter[3] and founded Left Front.[4] By early 1934, Wright began writing poetry for the chapter's magazine, Left Front.[5][6] He published poems "A Red Love Note" and "Rest for the Weary" in the January–February 1934 issue[7] and became co-editor of the magazine at the same time.[1][8] "Everywhere Burning Waters Rise" appeared in the May–June 1934 issue of Left Front.[9][10]
Demise[edit]
While some sources say the CPUSA shut down the magazine in 1935,[2][11] its demise most likely came in August 1934 during a Midwest Writers Congress, when publisher Alexander Trachtenberg proposed replacement of the John Reed Club with a new (i.e., Party-sanctioned) organization called the First American Writers Congress.[12]
See also[edit]
- New Masses: magazine associated with the John Reed Club's New York chapter
- Daily Worker: newspaper published by the CPUSA from headquarters in Chicago
References[edit]
- ^ a b "Richard Wright: John Reed Club". George Washington University. Archived from the original on June 10, 2010. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
- ^ a b Wright, Richard (1940). Native Son. Harper & Brothers. p. 468. ISBN 9780060929800.
- ^ "Richard Wright: Chronology 1931–1935". George Washington University. Archived from the original on July 1, 2007. Retrieved May 31, 2010.
- ^ John Logie (2005). "We Write for the Workers: Authorship and Communism in Kenneth Burke and Richard Wright". K. B. Journal. 1 (2).
- ^ "Richard Wright". University of North Carolina: All American encyclopedia. Archived from the original on June 13, 2010. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
- ^ "Richard Wright: Chronology". University of Illinois at Champlain: Modern American Poetry. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
- ^ "On Richard Wright's Poetry". University of Illinois at Champlain: Modern American Poetry. Retrieved May 31, 2010.
- ^ "Richard Wright: Life". University of Illinois at Champlain: Modern American Poetry. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
- ^ "Richard Wright: Chronology". Independent Television Service (ITVS). Retrieved May 31, 2010.
{{cite web}}: External link in|publisher= - ^ "Richard Wright: Primary (Poetry and Secondary Source Bibliographies". University of Illinois at Champlain: Modern American Poetry. Retrieved May 31, 2010.
- ^ "Richard N. Wright". Visit Natchez. Retrieved May 31, 2010.
- ^ Ward, Jerry Washington (2008). The Richard Wright Encyclopedia. [Greenwood Press]. p. 137. ISBN 978-0-313-31239-7. Retrieved May 31, 2010.
External links[edit]
- Partial text of "I Tried to be a Communist", by Richard Wright
- Yale University Press: Artists on the Left by Andrew Hemingway
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