| Formation | 1935 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Communist Party USA (CPUSA) |
| Founded at | New York City |
| Dissolved | 1943 |
| Type | Political organization |
| Origins | Established by the First American Writers Congress, with roots in the John Reed Clubs |
| Services | providing financial and moral support to American and international writers |
Membership | Formal membership application for writers of all kinds with a regional or national audience |
| Affiliations | International Union of Revolutionary Writers (IURW), the International Association of Writers for the Defense of Culture. It was also the American equivalent of the British League of Writers. |
The League of American Writers was an association of American novelists, playwrights, poets, journalists, and literary critics launched by the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) in 1935. The group included Communist Party members, and so-called "fellow travelers" who closely followed the Communist Party's political line without being formal party members, as well as individuals sympathetic to specific policies being advocated by the organization.
The League's policy objectives changed over time in accord with the shifting party line of the CPUSA. Beginning as an anti-fascist organization in 1935, the League turned to an anti-war position following the signing of the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939 and to a pro-war position after the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. The organization was prominent in the defense of Republican Spain during the Spanish Civil War and in providing financial and moral support to writers in need in the United States and internationally.
The organization ended its activities in 1943, with its members moving on to others with similar objectives.