Walter Lowenfels

Infobox Writer
name = Walter Lowenfels


imagesize =
caption =
birthdate = May 10, 1897
birthplace = New York, New York, United States
deathdate = Death date and age|1976|7|8|1897|5|10|
deathplace = Tarrytown, New York, United States
occupation = Poet, journalist, editor
nationality = American
period = 1925 — 1975
genre =
subject =
movement = Socialist surrealism
influences = Du Fu, Dante Alighieri, John Milton, Leonardo da Vinci, Karl Marx, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Walt Whitman, Charles Baudelaire, Vladimir Lenin, Bertolt Brecht, Paul Éluard, Calvin C. Hernton
influenced =


website =

Walter Lowenfels (May 10, 1897 – July 8, 1976) was an American poet, journalist, and member of the Communist Party USA. He also edited the communist newspaper the "Daily Worker".

Early career

Lowenfels was born in New York City to a successful butter manufacturer. He graduated from a preparatory school in 1914, and served in the military during World War I, after which he began writing poetry.cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Biographical Note: Walter Lowenfels
work =Howard McCord Papers
publisher =University of Delaware Library
date =2003-03-10
url =http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/findaids/mccordh.htm
format =HTML
accessdate =2007-06-22] He worked for his father's company from 1914 until 1926. He met Lillian Apotheker, who later co-edited several of the anthologies of poetry he edited, in 1924, and the couple married in 1926. In 1925, with the financial assistance of Apotheker, he published his first collection of poems, "Episodes & Epistles".

In 1926 he left the family business to hone his poetic craft in Europe, spending time in Florence and Paris. There he was exposed to the literary scene, meeting Henry Miller, T. S. Eliot, Ford Madox Ford, and other luminaries.

In 1930, while still in Paris, he co-founded Carrefour Press with Michael Fraenkel, which published the pamphlet "Anonymous: The Need for Anonymity". The pamphlet was a manifesto declaring the need for anonymous publication in order to "avoid artistic competition and alienation."cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Collection description
work =Walter Lowenfels, 1897-1976. American author and editor
publisher =Washington University in St. Louis
date =2004-07-27
url =http://library.wustl.edu/units/spec/manuscripts/mlc/lowenfels/lowenfels.html
format =HTML
doi =
accessdate =2007-07-20]

In 1931 he shared the Richard Aldington Poetry Prize with e. e. cummings.cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Biographical Note: Walter Lowenfels
work =Howard McCord Papers
publisher =University of Delaware Library
date =2003-03-10
url =http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/findaids/mccordh.htm
format =HTML
accessdate =2007-06-22]

Carrefour later anonymously published Lowefels' play "USA with Music", but was forced to reveal the identity of the playwright in 1932 when it filed a plagiarism suit against composer George Gershwin. Thereafter, the publishing house attributed its publications to their authors, effectively ending the anonymity movement. He continued to write and publish his poetry, which showcased his leftist political views, as well as editing the poetry of others. He also became concerned about the rise of fascism in Germany and Italy.cite book
last =Gover
first =Robert (editor)
authorlink =
coauthors =Walter Lowenfels
title =The Portable Walter
publisher =International Publishers
year =1968
location =New York City
pages =p. 13
url =
doi =
id =]

Return to the United States

Lowenfels returned to the United States in 1934, settling in Mays Landing, New Jersey, and went back to work for his father. He continued to write poetry at night.cite book
last =Gover
first =Robert (editor)
authorlink =
coauthors =Walter Lowenfels
title =The Portable Walter
publisher =International Publishers
year =1968
location =New York City
pages =p. 14
url =
doi =
id =] He wrote to Henry Miller about the transition from poet to businessperson: "I butter from nine to five and then I change into a butterfly and go ahead with poems."cite book
last=Lowenfels
first=Walter
editor=Robert Gover
title=The Portable Walter
year=1968
publisher=International Publishers
location=New York City
pages=15
chapter="My Many Lives", part II of Lowenfels autobiography]

In 1937, he published "Steel 1937", which began with an open letter to Philip Murray, the CIO organizer behind the unionization drive at Little Steel. The poems in the book commemorated the 18 steelworkers killed by US Steel during the 1937 Little Steel strike, and also discussed the Spanish Civil War. Following the publication of "Steel 1937", Lowenfels quit writing poetry and would not resume for 17 years.

In 1938, Lowenfels moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he became involved in the Civil Rights movement and the struggles of working people. He began writing for the Pennsylvania edition of the "Daily Worker", later rising to the position of editor, which he held from the late 1930s until 1953. As a journalist and editor, his work focused on the lives of working people, especially African Americans. He was active in various causes, including the campaigns to free the Scottsboro Boys and Willie McGee, an African American veteran accused rape in Laurel, Mississippi. (McGee was later executed.) He also supported striking coal miners, and campaigned to draft Franklin Roosevelt for a fourth presidential term.

During this time, he only worked half time for the paper, supplementing his income by selling intercommunication devices door-to-door. His primary means of support, however, was his wife's teaching salary.

On Christmas Day, 1949, Lowenfels published an article in the "Worker" entitled "Santa Claus or Comrade X?," in which he mused about the "difficulties" of living with five women (his wife and four daughters) who spent their time washing, sewing and worrying about their clothes. The article was fiercely criticized by the paper's feminist readership, and the paper published several letters to the editor critical of the piece. Lowenfels' attempts to redeem himself in subsequent articles served only to anger his critics further, and the incident damaged his standing within the Party and the larger movement. The incident was examined as an example of efforts to confront male supremacy within progressive movements in a book by the historian Kate Weingard. [cite book
last =Weingard
first =Kate
title =Red Feminism
publisher =Johns Hopkins University Press
year =2001
location =Baltimore
pages =92-94
id =ISBN 0801871115]

In about 1951, Lowenfels suffered a heart attack, from which he recovered. He purchased a cabin in rural Weymouth, New Jersey, where he and his wife took up residence.

Trial

At two a.m. on July 23, 1953, the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided Lowenfels' cabin and arrested him. He was charged with conspiracy to overthrow the US government, a violation of the Smith Act. He was tried with five co-conspirators, a number that later grew to nine and also included Robert Klonsky. In a meeting of the accused to determine a defense strategy, it was agreed that Lowenfels' best contribution to would be to continue writing poetry. During the trial, he also took up the translation of poetry by French and Italian authors. During this period, Lowenfels completed "Sonnets of Love and Liberty," a work dedicated "to Peace, the loveliest prisoner of our time."

During the trial, the government never used his own writings as evidence against him. " [T] hey chose, rather, passages from"State and Revolution", as interpreted by FBI Marxists."cite book
last=Lowenfels
first=Walter
editor=Robert Gover
title=The Portable Walter
year=1968
publisher=International Publishers
location=New York City
pages=35
chapter="On Trial"] Lowenfels characterized the witnesses against him as "former communists who had become informers and agents for the FBI at a fair rate of pay".cite book
last=Lowenfels
first=Walter
editor=Robert Gover
title=The Portable Walter
year=1968
publisher=International Publishers
location=New York City
pages=41
chapter="On Trial"] He and the co-conspirators were kept segregated from the general prison population in the maximum security division of Holmsburg County Prison in Philadelphia. Nonetheless, due to his health, was often allowed to visit friends who lived near the courthouse, and even made a cross-country trip with Lillian, during which he read poems publicly to raise money for his defense. He was convicted in 1954, but his conviction was overturned in higher courts shortly therefter for lack of evidence.

Later life

Following his release, Lowenfels stopped editing the Pennsylvania "Worker" and returned to writing poetry. He never suffered any repurcussions from his community; he later wrote, "In our area, people seemed to put "overthrow the gornment" in the same category as moonshine or illegal deer."cite book
last=Lowenfels
first=Walter
editor=Robert Gover
title=The Portable Walter
year=1968
publisher=International Publishers
location=New York City
pages=36
chapter="On Trial"]

He became best-known as an anthologist of avant-garde poetry. He edited an anthology of Walt Whitman's poetry, but his his most famous anthology was the 1967 "Where is Vietnam?", a compilation of the poetic responses to the Vietnam War.cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Biographical Note
work =Finding-aid for the Walter Lowenfels Papers (WTU00074)
publisher =Washington University in St. Louis
year =2003
url =http://library.wustl.edu/units/spec/manuscripts/mlc/findingaidshtml/wtu00074.html#a2
format =HTML
doi =
accessdate =2007-06-20] He was active in the anti-Vietnam War peace movement, serving as the associate editor of the anti-war publication "Dialog", and joining a group of writers and editors who refused to pay taxes in protest of the war. [cite news
last =
first =
coauthors =
title =Writers and Editors War Tax Protest
work =New York Post
pages =
language =
publisher =
date =1968-01-30
url =
accessdate =]

In total, he wrote more than two dozen books of poetry. He also wrote an autobiography, "My Many Lives", the second half of which is published in "The Portable Walter", an anthology of his writings.

Lowenfels died in Tarrytown, New York. His papers are housed in the special collections department of the Olin Library, the main library of the Washington University Library System.

Bibliography

*cite book
last =Lowenfels
first =Walter
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Appolinaire
publisher =Hours
year =1930
location =
pages =
url =
doi =
id =
*cite book
last =Lowenfels
first =Walter
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Elegy in the manner of a requiem in memory of D.H. Lawrence
publisher =Carrefour
year =1932
location =Paris
pages =33
url =
doi =
id =
*cite book
last =Lowenfels
first =Walter
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Episodes & Epistles
publisher =Thomas Setzer
year =1925
location =
pages =
url =
doi =
id =
*cite book
last =Lowenfels
first =Walter
authorlink =
coauthors =prefatory note by Humbert Wolfe
title =Finale of seem, a lyrical narrative
publisher =W. Heinemnan
year =1929
location =London
pages =92
url =
doi =
id =
*cite book
last =Lowenfels
first =Walter
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =For Neruda, for Chile : an international anthology (editor)
publisher =Beacon Press
year =1975
location =Boston
pages =
url =
doi =
id =ISBN 0807063827
*cite book
last =Lowenfels
first =Walter (compiler)
authorlink =
coauthors =introductions by David Hernández
title =From the belly of the shark: a new anthology of native Americans; poems by Chicanos, Eskimos, Hawaiians, Indians, Puerto Ricans in the U.S.A., with related poems by others
publisher =Vintage Books
year =1973
location =New York
pages =352
url =
doi =
id =ISBN 0394718364
*cite book
last =Lowenfels
first =Walter
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =In a time of revolution; poems from our third world
publisher =Random House
year =1969
location =New York
pages =151
url =
doi =
id =
*cite book
last =Lowenfels
first =Walter
authorlink =
coauthors =drawings by David Alfaro Siqueiros
title =Land of Roseberries
publisher =El Corno Emplumado
year =1965
location =Mexico City
pages =139
url =
doi =
id =
*cite book
last =Lowenfels
first =Walter
authorlink =
coauthors =Howard McCord
title =The life of Fraenkel’s death; a biographical inquest
publisher =Washington State University Press
year =1970
location =Pullman, Washington
pages =92
url =
doi =
id =
*cite book
last =Lowenfels
first =Walter
authorlink =
coauthors =prologue poem by Langston Hughes
title =Poets of today; a new American anthology
publisher =International Publishers
year =1964
location =New York City
pages =143
url =
doi =
id =
*cite book
last =Lowenfels
first =Walter
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Reality prime; pages from a journal
publisher =Cycle Press
year =1974
location =Brooklyn
pages =60
url =
doi =
id =ISBN 0914320009
*cite book
last =Lowenfels
first =Walter
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =The revolution is to be human
publisher =International Publishers
year =1973
location =New York City
pages =70
url =
doi =
id =ISBN 0717803953
*cite book
last =Lowenfels
first =Walter
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Some deaths : selected poems & communications, 1925-1962
publisher =Nantahala Foundation
year =1964
location =Highlands, North Carolina
pages =109
url =
doi =
id =
*cite book
last =Lowenfels
first =Walter (translator and adaptor)
authorlink =
coauthors =based on poems by Paul Eluard, blockprints by Refregier
title =Song of peace
publisher =Roving Eye Press
year =1959
location =New York City
pages =10
url =
doi =
id =
*cite book
last =Lowenfels
first =Walter
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Steel, 1937
publisher =Unity Publishers
year =1938
location =Atlantic City
pages =19
url =
doi =
id =
*cite book
last =Lowenfels
first =Walter
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Sonnets of Love and Liberty
publisher =Blue Herron Press
year =1955
location =New York
pages =63
url =
doi =
id =
*cite book
last =Lowenfels
first =Walter
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =The suicide
publisher =Carrefour
year =1934
location =Paris
pages =47
url =
doi =
id =
*cite book
last =Lowenfels
first =Walter
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =To an imaginary daughter
publisher =Horizon Press
year =1964
location =New York City
pages =128
url =
doi =
id =
*cite book
last =Lowenfels
first =Walter
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Translations from Scorpius
publisher =Poetry-Dimension Press
year =1966
location =Monmouth, Maine
pages =28
url =
doi =
id =
*cite book
last =Lowenfels
first =Walter
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =U.S.A. with music, an operatic tragedy
publisher =Carrefour
year =1930
location =Paris
pages =120
url =
doi =
id =
*cite book
last =Lowenfels
first =Walter (editor)
authorlink =
coauthors =co-edited by Nan Braymer
title =Where is Vietnam? American poets respond; an anthology of contemporary poems
publisher =Anchor Books
year =1967
location =Garden City, New Jersey
pages =160
url =
doi =
id =

References

External links

*cite web
title =Walter Lowenfels, 1897-1976. American author and editor
work =Walter Lowenfels Papers
publisher =Washington University in St. Louis
date =2004-07-17
url =http://library.wustl.edu/units/spec/manuscripts/mlc/lowenfels/lowenfels.html
format =HTML
accessdate =2007-06-22
*cite web
last =C
first =R
title =Walter Lowenfels - A Biography
work =Cosmodemonic Telegraph Company: A Henry Miller Blog
publisher =blogger.com
date =2006-04-08
url =http://cosmotc.blogspot.com/2006/04/walter-lowenfels-biography.html
format =HTML
accessdate =2007-06-22
*cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Biographical Note: Walter Lowenfels
work =Howard McCord Papers
publisher =University of Delaware Library
date =2003-03-10
url =http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/findaids/mccordh.htm
format =HTML
accessdate =2007-06-22