Malcolm Cowley

Malcolm Cowley was an influential American literary critic, editor, poet, and chronicler of the Lost Generation. His career spanned much of the 20th century, during which he served as a pivotal editor at The New Republic and played a crucial role in shaping the American literary canon through his work with Viking Press. He is best remembered for his seminal work Exile's Return, a defining portrait of the expatriate writers and artists of the 1920s, and for his decades of advocacy for writers like William Faulkner, John Cheever, and Jack Kerouac.

Early life and education

Born in rural Belsano, Pennsylvania, he moved to Pittsburgh as a child. He attended Peabody High School before enrolling at Harvard University, where he studied under influential professors like Irving Babbitt and became a close friend of the poet E.E. Cummings. His education was interrupted by service as an ambulance driver in World War I, an experience shared by many future members of the Lost Generation. After the war, he returned to complete his degree at Harvard University and then pursued further studies in France at the University of Montpellier, immersing himself in the burgeoning expatriate culture of Paris.

Literary career and criticism

Upon returning to the United States, he became a central figure in the Greenwich Village literary scene and began his long association with The New Republic, where he served as literary editor for many years. He was a prolific critic and essayist, contributing to publications like The New Yorker and The Saturday Review. His editorial vision was instrumental at Viking Press, where he championed and helped revive the reputation of William Faulkner, securing his place in the American literary canon. He also provided crucial early support for the Beat Generation, writing a famous supportive review of Jack Kerouac's On the Road for The New York Times.

The Exile's Return and influence

His most enduring work, Exile's Return: A Literary Odyssey of the 1920s, first published in 1934 and revised in 1951, is a blend of memoir, literary history, and cultural criticism. The book provides a definitive first-hand account of the Lost Generation, analyzing the experiences of figures like Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Hart Crane in Paris and their subsequent return to America. It profoundly shaped the historical understanding of the Jazz Age, the impact of Gertrude Stein's salon, and the disillusionment that followed World War I. The work established him as the preeminent chronicler of that era's artistic migration and its lasting effects on American literature.

Later years and legacy

In his later decades, he continued to write influential criticism, publishing collections like The Literary Situation and the memoir —And I Worked at the Writer’s Trade. He received numerous honors, including two Guggenheim Fellowships, an Academy of American Poets Fellowship, and a National Book Award in 1981 for his collected essays. He taught at institutions including Stanford University and served as president of the National Institute of Arts and Letters. His legacy endures as that of a vital connective tissue between literary generations, an astute critic who documented one major movement while actively fostering the next, leaving an indelible mark on the landscape of 20th-century American letters.

Selected works

* Blue Juniata (1929) – poetry * Exile's Return: A Literary Odyssey of the 1920s (1934, rev. 1951) * The Literary Situation (1954) * The Faulkner-Cowley File: Letters and Memories, 1944-1962 (1966) * A Second Flowering: Works and Days of the Lost Generation (1973) * —And I Worked at the Writer’s Trade: Chapters of Literary History, 1918-1978 (1978) * The Dream of the Golden Mountains: Remembering the 1930s (1980)

Category:American literary critics Category:American poets Category:1898 births Category:1989 deaths