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Dr. Sara Rutkowski

New Book by Dr. Sara Rutkowski Sheds Light on the Federal Writers’ Project

This past November saw the release of “Rewriting America: New Essays on the Federal Writers' Project,” edited by Dr. Sara Rutkowski, associate professor of English at The City University of New York’s Kingsborough Community College, published by the University of Massachusetts Press.

It is the first-ever volume of essays dedicated to the Federal Writers’ Project (FWP), a New Deal program that sent thousands of unemployed workers out to document American life during the 1930s. It also features work from outside the U.S., including Japan, Germany and Australia.

“I had previously written “Literary Legacies of the Federal Writers’ Project: Voices of the Depression in the American Postwar Era” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017), a book about the literary impact of the Federal Writers’ Project. It helped launch the careers of many writers and inspire works of literature,” shared Rutkowski. “I knew the impact went far beyond literature and wanted to bring scholars from different disciplines together to reflect on the legacies of the Project from various disciplines, including history, sociology, cultural studies, film studies, African American studies, and archival studies, to name a few.”

She acknowledged that editing a collection is challenging because there are many things to consider and many contributors to work with. “The biggest challenge was figuring out what work to include. I got many great proposals, but I wanted to make sure that the book felt balanced, with an interesting range of perspectives and topics.” From start to finish, it took approximately three years to complete.

Her call for proposals resulted in many submissions from scholars in the U.S. and around the world – and led to surprising results. “Because I was working with contributors outside of my field, I learned so much about the Project that I didn’t know. For example, one essay is about fieldwork done by two Asian American writers and their contributions to the program. Another looks at folklore collected from New Mexico’s rural Hispanic communities. This is groundbreaking research.”

With support from an ACLS/Mellon Fellowship, Rutkowski hopes to further develop the book concept into a first-of-its-kind series of four books on the FWP. It will include other collections of essays, single-author books, and previously unpublished materials from the Federal Writers' Project, of which there are many, exploring such topics as women writers, lost immigrant voices, and pedagogical tools of the FWP.

“I hope readers will not only appreciate the incredible accomplishments of the Federal Writers’ Project, but also see its continued relevance to today,” she noted. “The Project was responding to a crisis—not just the economic crisis of the Depression, but the rising tide of fascism abroad as well as racism and intolerance at home. By telling the stories of ordinary Americans from all walks of life, they were trying to create a new national identity that affirmed and celebrated our diversity. And in that way, and many others, I think the Writers’ Project is really instructive for us as we face similar challenges.”

On June 16, the book will serve as the anchor for a one-day symposium on the Federal Writers' Project and its legacy at the Library of Congress. The event will feature scholars and writers from around the country discussing new research into the FWP and its relevance to American culture and politics today.

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NOTE: The publisher is offering a 30% discount to those interested in purchasing a paperback edition of the book. Visit https://www.umasspress.com/9781625346995/rewriting-america and use the code MAS068.