Irving Howe

Irving Howe (June 11, 1920 – May 5, 1993) was an American literary critic, essayist, and intellectual who exerted considerable influence on American cultural discourse throughout his long career. Born in New York to a Yiddish-speaking Jewish immigrant family, Howe's background deeply informed his scholarly interests and social commitments. He was a prolific writer and editor whose works spanned literary criticism, social history, and political commentary. Howe founded and edited "Dissent," an influential magazine of opinion that became a forum for progressive intellectual debate in America for decades. He wrote extensively on major American and European authors, producing important critical works and essays that helped shape how literature was understood and taught in American universities. His book "World of Our Fathers" remains a definitive scholarly work on Jewish-American immigration and culture. Howe was also a committed socialist and public intellectual who engaged with contemporary political and social issues, writing thoughtfully about the American labor movement, cultural politics, and literary tradition. His combination of scholarly rigor, moral seriousness, and accessible prose established him as one of the most respected voices in American letters and cultural criticism.