Margaret Anderson
889
American editor/writer Margaret
Anderson (1886-1973)-was known to her friends as ‘the born enemy of
convention and discipline.’ Anderson wanted an ‘intelligent life’
filled with art, literature, and politics.’ A feminist with an appetite
for Chopin and reading, Anderson produced the Review, a magazine of
legendary quality that featured the work of some of the best writers in
the US and abroad.
Born
in Indianapolis, Indiana, Anderson left home in 1906 to attend Western
College in Miami, Ohio. At the end of her freshman year she decided to
leave Western to pursue a career as a pianist. By the fall of 1908 she
and her sister Lois left home to live in Chicago where Anderson took a
job writing book reviews.
Anderson’s
love for ‘holding creative opinions’ landed her a job as a book critic
for the Chicago Evening Post in 1913. She found the work boring and
left the Post to pursue editing her own magazine, The Little Review,
although she knew nothing about publishing and had few resources. The
Review was launched in March of 1914 as a monthly with contributions
from Carl Sandburg, Sherwood Anderson, Amy Lowell, Ford Madox Ford,
Wallace Stevens, Malcolm Cowley, and many others.
This first issue also featured praise of Nietzsche, feminism and a critique of ‘The Cubist Literature of Gertrude Stein.’
The
beginning period for the Review was problematic when many financial
backers withdrew their support. Anderson was forced to give up her home
and offices and troubles continued to plague the journal. In 1918 the
Review began serializing James Joyce’s Ulysses. Anderson and the
associate editor, Jane Heap were subsequently convicted on obscenity
charges and the US post office seized several copies of the magazine
and burned them. Moreover, Anderson and Heap’s unwillingness to
compromise on the standard they set for providing top quality work
often led to public demonstrative dissent from the editors. They
consequently launched an issue of 64 blank pages stating that none of
the contributions were up to the Review’s standards. Yet, despite its
turbulent run the Review ran for many years with a devoted following.
Margaret
Anderson moved to Paris in 1922 and turned over the editorship of the
Little Review to Jane Heap in 1923. That same year, Anderson moved to
Le Cannet on the French Riviera and published the first volume of her
autobiography seven years later.
—Christiann Anderson is the author of The Single Woman’s Insider’s Guide to Paris.
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American editor/writer Margaret
Anderson (1886-1973)-was known to her friends as ‘the born enemy of
convention and discipline.’ Anderson wanted an ‘intelligent life’
filled with art, literature, and politics.’ A feminist with an appetite
for Chopin and reading, Anderson produced the Review, a magazine of
legendary quality that featured the work of some of the best writers in
the US and abroad.
Anderson (1886-1973)-was known to her friends as ‘the born enemy of
convention and discipline.’ Anderson wanted an ‘intelligent life’
filled with art, literature, and politics.’ A feminist with an appetite
for Chopin and reading, Anderson produced the Review, a magazine of
legendary quality that featured the work of some of the best writers in
the US and abroad.
Born
in Indianapolis, Indiana, Anderson left home in 1906 to attend Western
College in Miami, Ohio. At the end of her freshman year she decided to
leave Western to pursue a career as a pianist. By the fall of 1908 she
and her sister Lois left home to live in Chicago where Anderson took a
job writing book reviews.
in Indianapolis, Indiana, Anderson left home in 1906 to attend Western
College in Miami, Ohio. At the end of her freshman year she decided to
leave Western to pursue a career as a pianist. By the fall of 1908 she
and her sister Lois left home to live in Chicago where Anderson took a
job writing book reviews.
Anderson’s
love for ‘holding creative opinions’ landed her a job as a book critic
for the Chicago Evening Post in 1913. She found the work boring and
left the Post to pursue editing her own magazine, The Little Review,
although she knew nothing about publishing and had few resources. The
Review was launched in March of 1914 as a monthly with contributions
from Carl Sandburg, Sherwood Anderson, Amy Lowell, Ford Madox Ford,
Wallace Stevens, Malcolm Cowley, and many others.
love for ‘holding creative opinions’ landed her a job as a book critic
for the Chicago Evening Post in 1913. She found the work boring and
left the Post to pursue editing her own magazine, The Little Review,
although she knew nothing about publishing and had few resources. The
Review was launched in March of 1914 as a monthly with contributions
from Carl Sandburg, Sherwood Anderson, Amy Lowell, Ford Madox Ford,
Wallace Stevens, Malcolm Cowley, and many others.
This first issue also featured praise of Nietzsche, feminism and a critique of ‘The Cubist Literature of Gertrude Stein.’
The
beginning period for the Review was problematic when many financial
backers withdrew their support. Anderson was forced to give up her home
and offices and troubles continued to plague the journal. In 1918 the
Review began serializing James Joyce’s Ulysses. Anderson and the
associate editor, Jane Heap were subsequently convicted on obscenity
charges and the US post office seized several copies of the magazine
and burned them. Moreover, Anderson and Heap’s unwillingness to
compromise on the standard they set for providing top quality work
often led to public demonstrative dissent from the editors. They
consequently launched an issue of 64 blank pages stating that none of
the contributions were up to the Review’s standards. Yet, despite its
turbulent run the Review ran for many years with a devoted following.
beginning period for the Review was problematic when many financial
backers withdrew their support. Anderson was forced to give up her home
and offices and troubles continued to plague the journal. In 1918 the
Review began serializing James Joyce’s Ulysses. Anderson and the
associate editor, Jane Heap were subsequently convicted on obscenity
charges and the US post office seized several copies of the magazine
and burned them. Moreover, Anderson and Heap’s unwillingness to
compromise on the standard they set for providing top quality work
often led to public demonstrative dissent from the editors. They
consequently launched an issue of 64 blank pages stating that none of
the contributions were up to the Review’s standards. Yet, despite its
turbulent run the Review ran for many years with a devoted following.
Margaret
Anderson moved to Paris in 1922 and turned over the editorship of the
Little Review to Jane Heap in 1923. That same year, Anderson moved to
Le Cannet on the French Riviera and published the first volume of her
autobiography seven years later.
Anderson moved to Paris in 1922 and turned over the editorship of the
Little Review to Jane Heap in 1923. That same year, Anderson moved to
Le Cannet on the French Riviera and published the first volume of her
autobiography seven years later.
—
Christiann Anderson is the author of The Single Woman’s Insider’s Guide to Paris.
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