The Man Who Helped Make the American Literary Canon

"Cowley-who had established himself as the historian of the Lost Generation par excellence with "Exile's Return," a memoir of living in France alongside the not-yet-famous writers Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein, among others-was undeniably one of the few men in American letters who defined the taste of the reading public. He could help a struggling writer keep the lights on, or, even better, anoint them."

"Determining what the nation did and did not read was the through line of Cowley's career. He was a great discoverer and nurturer of talent: Jack Kerouac, John Cheever, and Ken Kesey were among the writers he championed, and, of the critics he commissioned to produce reviews at The New Republic, many-including Mary McCarthy, Alfred Kazin, Lionel Trilling, and Muriel Rukeyser-would go on to have storied careers."

"By midlife, Cowley was esteemed as an editor and essayist, a nimble translator of contemporary French literature, and a creative-writing instructor at Stanford. He was also a canny industry operator-a man who knew how to play the different parts of the publishing machine against one another in the interests of work he wanted to promote. His most cited act of heroism may have been his effort to revitalize the career of William Faulkner, who had slipped into obscurity after the Second World War,"

Malcolm Cowley defined American reading taste in the 1930s and 1940s through discovery, promotion, and editorial influence. He championed writers such as Jack Kerouac, John Cheever, and Ken Kesey and commissioned critics who became prominent cultural voices. Cowley translated contemporary French literature, taught creative writing at Stanford, and skillfully used publishing networks to advance favored work. He played a decisive role in reviving William Faulkner's career and maintained attention on figures like Walt Whitman and Nathanael West. His combination of critical judgment, editorial action, and industry savvy shaped midcentury American literary reputations.

Read at The New Yorker