Floyd Dell
Encyclopedia
Floyd Dell was an American author and critic.
on June 28, 1887.
As a literary critic, Dell had a national reputation for promoting modern American literature in the 1910s. Dell was a best-selling author of novels and books of stories and essays. He was a life-long poet and the author of a hit Broadway play, Little Accident (1928). His influence is alive in the work of many major American writers from the first half of the 20th century.
After dropping out of high school in Davenport, Iowa
, Dell found work as a reporter on local newspapers and with the socialist magazine 'Tri-City Worker.' While in Davenport he also began publishing poetry in national magazines.
In 1908 Dell moved on to Chicago
where he became editor of the Friday Literary Review and a leader of the Chicago Renaissance. In his position at FLR, Dell promoted the work of Theodore Dreiser
, Sherwood Anderson
, Carl Sandburg
and other Chicago writers. Relocating to New York
in 1913, Dell became managing editor of Max Eastman
's radical magazine The Masses
, and a leader of the pre-war bohemian community in Greenwich Village
.
Dell joined fellow Davenporters Susan Glaspell
and George Cram Cook
as a member of the Provincetown Players
and his play King Arthur's Socks was the first performed by that historic theater group. Following the war, Dell turned to fiction and his first novel, the bildungsroman
Moon-Calf, became a best seller. This was followed by several other novels with
limited success.
Dell continued to publish both fiction and non-fiction until the end of his long life. He joined the WPA and U. S. Information Service in 1935 from which he retired following World War II.
He died in Maryland
near Washington DC on July 23, 1969.
Biography
Floyd Dell was born in Barry, IllinoisBarry, Illinois
Barry is a city in Pike County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,368 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Barry is located at ....
on June 28, 1887.
As a literary critic, Dell had a national reputation for promoting modern American literature in the 1910s. Dell was a best-selling author of novels and books of stories and essays. He was a life-long poet and the author of a hit Broadway play, Little Accident (1928). His influence is alive in the work of many major American writers from the first half of the 20th century.
After dropping out of high school in Davenport, Iowa
Davenport, Iowa
Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk...
, Dell found work as a reporter on local newspapers and with the socialist magazine 'Tri-City Worker.' While in Davenport he also began publishing poetry in national magazines.
In 1908 Dell moved on to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
where he became editor of the Friday Literary Review and a leader of the Chicago Renaissance. In his position at FLR, Dell promoted the work of Theodore Dreiser
Theodore Dreiser
Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm moral code, and literary situations that more closely resemble studies of nature than tales of...
, Sherwood Anderson
Sherwood Anderson
Sherwood Anderson was an American novelist and short story writer. His most enduring work is the short story sequence Winesburg, Ohio. Writers he has influenced include Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, J. D. Salinger, and Amos Oz.-Early life:Anderson was born in Clyde, Ohio,...
, Carl Sandburg
Carl Sandburg
Carl Sandburg was an American writer and editor, best known for his poetry. He won three Pulitzer Prizes, two for his poetry and another for a biography of Abraham Lincoln. H. L. Mencken called Carl Sandburg "indubitably an American in every pulse-beat."-Biography:Sandburg was born in Galesburg,...
and other Chicago writers. Relocating to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1913, Dell became managing editor of Max Eastman
Max Eastman
Max Forrester Eastman was an American writer on literature, philosophy and society, a poet, and a prominent political activist. For many years, Eastman was a supporter of socialism, a leading patron of the Harlem Renaissance and an activist for a number of liberal and radical causes...
's radical magazine The Masses
The Masses
The Masses was a graphically innovative magazine of socialist politics published monthly in the U.S. from 1911 until 1917, when Federal prosecutors brought charges against its editors for conspiring to obstruct conscription. It was succeeded by The Liberator and then later The New Masses...
, and a leader of the pre-war bohemian community in Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
.
Dell joined fellow Davenporters Susan Glaspell
Susan Glaspell
Susan Keating Glaspell was an American Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, actress, director, novelist, biographer and poet. She was a founding member of the Provincetown Players, one of the most important collaboratives in the development of modern drama in the United States...
and George Cram Cook
George Cram Cook
George Cram Cook or Jig Cook was an American novelist, poet, and playwright. He was a lover of ancient Greece, an idealist who dreamt of spiritual communism....
as a member of the Provincetown Players
Provincetown Players
The Provincetown Players was an amateur group of writers and artists who, at the early part of the 20th Century, wanted to see a change in American theatre and created a company committed to producing new plays by exclusively American playwrights...
and his play King Arthur's Socks was the first performed by that historic theater group. Following the war, Dell turned to fiction and his first novel, the bildungsroman
Bildungsroman
In literary criticism, bildungsroman or coming-of-age story is a literary genre which focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood , and in which character change is thus extremely important...
Moon-Calf, became a best seller. This was followed by several other novels with
limited success.
Dell continued to publish both fiction and non-fiction until the end of his long life. He joined the WPA and U. S. Information Service in 1935 from which he retired following World War II.
He died in Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
near Washington DC on July 23, 1969.
External links
- Floyd Dell Papers at the Newberry Library
- Correspondence between Floyd Dell and Miriam Gurko at the Newberry Library