Malcom Cowley (1898 - 1989) was an American novelist, poet, literary critic, and journalist. He worked in France for a number of years with authors such as Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and others. Albin Krebbs ( New York Times, March 25, 1989) notes that "like many of his generation who were destined to find fame, fortune and, in some cases, tragedy, Mr. Cowley experienced World War I firsthand, and as a postwar expatriate he joined in questioning the literary values and styles of writers and artists of the past. Together and separately, in those days of cheap living in Paris, he and his peers were initiated into the mysteries of Surrealism, Dadaism and other revolutionary art movements ... It was during his Paris stay that he was drawn, like so many young intellectuals of his time, to the ideals of Marxism, and he remained sympathetic toward the Communist Party until the conclusion of the Soviet-German pact of 1939. He never joined the party, having reservations about its theory and tactics, and in later years he said he felt abused by the Communist Party ... It was also during his Paris stay that Mr. Cowley first heard the term Lost Generation, which was coined (and later disowned) by Hemingway, who in turn took it from a remark made to him by Gertrude Stein: "You are all a lost generation."" Cowley's autobiographical Exile's Return (1934), relates the experiences of this generation of expatriate authors and artists. From 1929 through 1944, Cowley was an assistant editor of The New Republic . As an editorial consultant to Viking Press, he pushed for the publication of Jack Kerouac's On the Road .
Begun in 1930, the Writers' Conference was held during the summers at the University of Colorado, Boulder, as part of the Summer School program. The conference was established to provide professional training by experienced writers. Margaret Robb, who taught English and sponsored Associated Women Students at the University of Colorado, Boulder, directed the summer Writers' Conference. Robb was a recipient of the University of Colorado's Robert L. Stearns Award (awarded yearly for extraordinary achievement or service) in 1967.
From the guide to the Malcolm Cowley, Margaret Robb, and John Greenway Correspondence (MS 189), 1959, (University of Colorado at Boulder Libraries. Special Collections Dept.)
