Exiles from a Future Time: The Forging of the Mid-Twentieth-Century Literary Left

Exiles from a Future Time by Alan Wald is an in-depth exploration of the U.S.

Literary Left from the 1920s through the 1960s, focusing on the formation of a Communist-led literary tradition.

This groundbreaking book draws on original research and personal collections of papers to reassess acclaimed authors and return to memory dozens of forgotten writers.

Wald investigates the "elective affinity" of avant-garde poets, the "Afro-cosmopolitanism" of Black radical literary movement, and the uneasy negotiation between feminist concerns and class identity among women writers.

With a focus on biography, this study illuminates the connection between political convictions and literary art, offering a comprehensive understanding of the Literary Left's cultural legacy.