THE COMING WRITERS CONGRESS
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apparent; we all can see the steady march of the nations towards war and
the transformation of sporadic violence into organized fascist terror.
"The question is: how can we function most successfully against
these twin menaces?
"In the second place, there are the problems peculiar to us as writers,
the problems of presenting in our work the fresh understanding of the
American scene that has come from our enrollment in the revolutionary
cause. A new Renaissance is upon the world; for each writer there is
the opportunity to proclaim both the new way of life and the revolutionary
way to attain it. Indeed, in the historical perspective, it will be seen that
only these two things matter. The revoluionary spirit in the ranks of the
creative writers has made a beginning. This beginning must be victoriously
carried forward.
"Many revolutionary writers live virtually in isolation, lacking op–
portunities to discuss vital problems with their fellows. Others are so
absorbed in the revolutionary cause that they have few opportunities for
thorough examination and analysis. Never have the writers of the nation
come together for fundamental discussion.
"We propose, therefore, that a Congress of American revolutionary
writers be held in New York City on May 1,
1935;
that to this Con–
gress shall be invited all writers who have achieved some standing in their
respective fields; who have clearly indicated their sympathy to the revolu–
tionary cause; who do not need to be convinced of the decay of capital–
ism,
of the inevitability of revolution. Subsequently, we will seek to
inftuence and win to our side those writers not yet so convinced.
"This Congress will be devoted to exposition of all phases of a
writer's participation in the struggle against war, the preservation of
civil liberties, and the destruction of fascist tendencies everywhere. It
will develop the possibilities for wider distribution of revolutionary books
and the improvement of the revolutionary press, as well as the relations
between revolutionary writers and bourgeois publishers and editors.
It
will provide technical discussion of the literary applications of Marxist
philosophy and of the relations between critic and creator. It will solidify
our ranh.
"We believe such a Congress should create the League of American
Writers, affiliated with the International Union of Revolutionary Writers.
In European countries, the
I.
U .R.W. is in the vanguard of literature and
political action. In France, for example, led by such men as Henri
Barbusse, Romain Rolland, Andre Malraux, Andre Gide and Louis
Aragon, it has been in the forefront of the magnificent fight of the united
militant working class against Fascism.
