Literature of the World Revolution/International Literature

Organ of the International Union of Revolutionary Writers

(1931-1945)

In 1927, the Soviet Union, seeking to organize revolutionary writers and artists and promote their work, facilitated the formation of the International Union of Revolutionary Writers. Three years later, the organization held a major conference in Kharkov, Ukraine. This resulted in the launching of a magazine, Literature of the World Revolution, which was published simultaneously in Russian, German, English, and French, the English edition first appearing in 1931. In the following year, the journal changed its name to International Literature.

Literature of the World Revolution/International Literature published excerpts from novels, short works of fiction, literary criticism and poetry, and reproduced graphics and drawings by leftwing artists from around the world. The work of a number of US revolutionary writers and artists appeared in its pages, including Jacob Burck, John Dos Passos, Theodore Dreiser, Fred Ellis, Hugo Gellert, Mike Gold, William Gropper, Granville Hicks, Langston Hughes, Louis Lozowick, Edwin Rolfe, Raphael Soyer, Philip Rahv, Anna Louise Strong, and Richard Wright.