Lenore Guinzberg Marshall (September 7, 1899,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

– September 23, 1971,

Doylestown, Pennsylvania Doylestown is a borough and the county seat of Bucks County in Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northwest of Trenton, north of Center City, Philadelphia, southeast of Allentown, and southwest of New York City. As of the 2020 ...

) was an American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...

, novelist, and activist.

Life

She was the daughter of Harry and Leonie (Kleinert) Guinzburg. She graduated from

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

in 1919. She married James Marshall, son of New York lawyer

Louis Marshall Louis Marshall (December 14, 1856 – September 11, 1929) was an American corporate, constitutional and civil rights lawyer as well as a mediator and Jewish community leader who worked to secure religious, political, and cultural freedom for a ...

. Lenore and James had two children, Ellen and

Jonathan Jonathan may refer to: *Jonathan (name), a masculine given name Media * ''Jonathan'' (1970 film), a German film directed by Hans W. Geißendörfer * ''Jonathan'' (2016 film), a German film directed by Piotr J. Lewandowski * ''Jonathan'' (2018 ...

; they lived in

. From 1929 to 1932, Lenore Marshall worked as an editor at Cape and Smith, where she was instrumental getting them to publish ''

The Sound and the Fury ''The Sound and the Fury'' is a novel by the American author William Faulkner. It employs several narrative styles, including stream of consciousness. Published in 1929, ''The Sound and the Fury'' was Faulkner's fourth novel, and was not immedi ...

'' by

William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most o ...

. She also edited ''

As I Lay Dying ''As I Lay Dying'' is a 1930 Southern Gothic novel by American author William Faulkner. Faulkner's fifth novel, it is consistently ranked among the best novels of 20th-century literature.The New Lifetime Reading Plan: The Classical Guide to Wor ...

''. Her work appeared in '' Harper's'', and ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

''. Her son Jonathan Marshall owned and published the ''Scottsdale Daily Progress'' newspaper. Jonathan ran unsuccessfully for

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

against

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for president ...

in 1974.

Activism

In 1933, she became the treasurer of the Writers' League Against Lynching, and corresponded with

Theodore Dreiser Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (; August 27, 1871 – December 28, 1945) 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 mora ...

, who was a member, and who wrote the anti-lynching story "Nigger Jeff". In 1956, with

Norman Cousins Norman Cousins (June 24, 1915 – November 30, 1990) was an American political journalist, author, professor, and world peace advocate. Early life Cousins was born to Jewish immigrant parents Samuel Cousins and Sarah Babushkin Cousins, in West ...

, she helped found SANE, the National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy. She continued her

anti-nuclear The anti-nuclear movement is a social movement that opposes various nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, nationa ...

work with the

Committee for Nuclear Responsibility The Committee for Nuclear Responsibility was formed as a "political and educational organization to disseminate anti-nuclear views and information to the public". The goals of the organization were a moratorium on nuclear power and the commercializa ...

. She corresponded with

Irving Howe Irving Howe (; June 11, 1920 – May 5, 1993) was an American literary and social critic and a prominent figure of the Democratic Socialists of America. Early years Howe was born as Irving Horenstein in The Bronx, New York. He was the son of ...

I am not embattled. I'm battling, and that makes life so much more interesting.

She lived at the Dorset Hotel, and

New Hope, Pennsylvania New Hope is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The population was 2,612 at the 2020 census. New Hope is located approximately north of Philadelphia, and lies on the west bank of the Delaware River at its confluence with Aquetong Creek. ...

. In 1971, she was on the board of

PEN A pen is a common writing instrument that applies ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Early pens such as reed pens, quill pens, dip pens and ruling pens held a small amount of ink on a nib or in a small void or cavity wh ...

Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize

The

Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize The Academy of American Poets is a national, member-supported organization that promotes poets and the art of poetry. The nonprofit organization was incorporated in the state of New York in 1934. It fosters the readership of poetry through outreac ...

is given each year by the

Academy of American Poets The Academy of American Poets is a national, member-supported organization that promotes poets and the art of poetry. The nonprofit organization was incorporated in the state of New York in 1934. It fosters the readership of poetry through outreach ...

. The Prize was created in 1975 by the New Hope Foundation of Pennsylvania, which, until 1987, was a philanthropic foundation created by Lenore Marshall and her husband, James Marshall, to "support the arts and the cause of world peace"; Lenore Marshall, a poet, novelist, editor, and peace activist, had died in 1971.

Awards

MacDowell Colony MacDowell is an artist's residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire, United States, founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and his wife, pianist and philanthropist Marian MacDowell. Prior to July 2020, it was known as the MacDowel ...

Fellow

Works

Poetry

* * *

Fiction

* * * *

Memoir

Non-fiction

* *

Anthologies

Reviews

On ''The Hill is Level'': "It is a novel of philosophical ideas and of literary culture, of moral idealism and social criticism. The central theme is a woman's struggle to emancipate herself and lead a good life." "Her prose is freshest when it is specific, describing a union organizer with great affection or an advocate of nuclear weapons with unusual cruelty. There are passages about her children written with wide-open eyes and a generous heart. When she deals more generally with Literature or Politics or Life, she sometimes gets fuzzy or even affected."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Leonore 1899 births 1971 deaths 20th-century American poets American anti–nuclear weapons activists Barnard College alumni 20th-century American novelists American women poets American women novelists 20th-century American women writers