"In a lengthy piece for the Chronicle of Higher Education, writing professor Eric Bennett makes a case that the Iowa program, arguably the most influential force in modern American literature, was profoundly shaped by a CIA-backed effort to promote a brand of literature that trumpeted American individualism and materialism over airy socialistic ideals. Read: More Hemingway, less Dos Passos."
@ohellofedefo@writingcommunity It astonishes me about how the role of the CIA in shaping American arts & literature is well documented on the public record and yet hardly anybody knows.
Knowing is like Roddy Piper glasses: it makes the received wisdom in American writing circles look different, doesn't it?