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.

For other uses, see Left Front.

Richard Wright

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

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
  • 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
  1. "Richard Wright: John Reed Club". George Washington University. Archived from the original on June 10, 2010. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
  2. Wright, Richard (1940). Native Son. Harper & Brothers. p. 468. ISBN 9780060929800.
  3. "Richard Wright: Chronology 1931–1935". George Washington University. Archived from the original on July 1, 2007. Retrieved May 31, 2010.
  4. John Logie (2005). "We Write for the Workers: Authorship and Communism in Kenneth Burke and Richard Wright". K. B. Journal. 1 (2).
  5. "Richard Wright". University of North Carolina: All American encyclopedia. Archived from the original on June 13, 2010. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
  6. "Richard Wright: Chronology". University of Illinois at Champlain: Modern American Poetry. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
  7. "On Richard Wright's Poetry". University of Illinois at Champlain: Modern American Poetry. Retrieved May 31, 2010.
  8. "Richard Wright: Life". University of Illinois at Champlain: Modern American Poetry. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
  9. "Richard Wright: Chronology". Independent Television Service (ITVS). Retrieved May 31, 2010. External link in |publisher= (help)
  10. "Richard Wright: Primary (Poetry and Secondary Source Bibliographies". University of Illinois at Champlain: Modern American Poetry. Retrieved May 31, 2010.
  11. "Richard N. Wright". Visit Natchez. Retrieved May 31, 2010.
  12. Ward, Jerry Washington (2008). The Richard Wright Encyclopedia. [Greenwood Press]. p. 137. ISBN 978-0-313-31239-7. Retrieved May 31, 2010.
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