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Collected Poems
Edwin Rolfe (1909-54) is best known as the poet laureate of the Abraham
Lincoln Battalion, the Americans who volunteered to help defend the elected
Spanish government during its 1936-39 civil war. His career began in the
revolutionary Left in New York in the 1920s and continued into the 1950s,
when Rolfe wrote searing poetry attacking the McCarthy-era witch-hunts.
Lincoln Battalion, the Americans who volunteered to help defend the elected
Spanish government during its 1936-39 civil war. His career began in the
revolutionary Left in New York in the 1920s and continued into the 1950s,
when Rolfe wrote searing poetry attacking the McCarthy-era witch-hunts.
- GenresPoetry
352 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1993
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About the author
Edwin Rolfe
23 books1 followerEdwin Rolfe (September 7, 1909 – May 24, 1954) was an American poet and journalist.
He was born Solomon Fishman in Philadelphia in 1909, the first of three sons. His parents were immigrants from Russia, and had married the year before, having met through a marriage broker. Both of his parents were politically active, with his mother involved in the suffrage and birth control movements, and his father a labor organizer and union officer. In 1915 the family moved to New York. Rolfe attended New Utrecht High School and contributed to the school magazine, The Comet and eventually became its editor, following Leo Hurwitz, who was a close friend of Rolfe in his early years. During this period Rolfe (then Fishman) began to use pseudonyms, and eventually settled on "Edwin Rolfe".
Rolfe married in 1936, and both he and his wife traveled to Spain in 1937.
Rolfe served in the Spanish Civil War with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. He was conscripted into the US Army, in 1943. After the war he returned to work as a writer, co-writing the mystery novel, The Glass Room. He was commissioned to write a history of American volunteers during the Spanish Civil War. He went to Hollywood to develop a script for The Glass Room. Jacket magazine wrote that he was blacklisted following the House UnAmerican Activities Committee's investigation into Communists in Hollywood. Since this moment he became one of the most prominent anti-McCarthy activist.
Rolfe met Ernest Hemingway when they were both in Spain, and, according to Jacket magazine their friendship and correspondence lasted the rest of his life
He was born Solomon Fishman in Philadelphia in 1909, the first of three sons. His parents were immigrants from Russia, and had married the year before, having met through a marriage broker. Both of his parents were politically active, with his mother involved in the suffrage and birth control movements, and his father a labor organizer and union officer. In 1915 the family moved to New York. Rolfe attended New Utrecht High School and contributed to the school magazine, The Comet and eventually became its editor, following Leo Hurwitz, who was a close friend of Rolfe in his early years. During this period Rolfe (then Fishman) began to use pseudonyms, and eventually settled on "Edwin Rolfe".
Rolfe married in 1936, and both he and his wife traveled to Spain in 1937.
Rolfe served in the Spanish Civil War with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. He was conscripted into the US Army, in 1943. After the war he returned to work as a writer, co-writing the mystery novel, The Glass Room. He was commissioned to write a history of American volunteers during the Spanish Civil War. He went to Hollywood to develop a script for The Glass Room. Jacket magazine wrote that he was blacklisted following the House UnAmerican Activities Committee's investigation into Communists in Hollywood. Since this moment he became one of the most prominent anti-McCarthy activist.
Rolfe met Ernest Hemingway when they were both in Spain, and, according to Jacket magazine their friendship and correspondence lasted the rest of his life
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