1. Writing and Literature of the 1930s By: Ian Sheppard

2. Inspiration The economic devastation of the Great Depression and the political climate of the times profoundly impacted the art and literature created during the 1930s. While some artists and writers depicted the suffering and resilience of average Americans, others used their talent to express themes of protest and revolution.

3. FWP The federal government provided significant support to the country's artists and writers in the 1930s through a number of programs of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a New Deal agency that provided work for the jobless. The Federal Writers' Project (FWP) employed thousand of writers, journalists and editors who produced travel guides that documented the history, geography and culture of all 48 states. The FWP supported artists including Nelson Algren, Richard Wright, Saul Bellow, John Cheever, Ralph Ellison and others who were able to develop their talent and move forward to greater achievements.

4. Authors Published Many of America's best writers published novels during the 1930s that reflected what was happening at the time. Sinclair Lewis's 1935 novel It Can't Happen Here warned of the fragility of democracy in times of economic downturn even as the fascist movement was gaining momentum in Europe. John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, published in 1939, chronicled the plight of a migrant farm family that lost its farm as a result of the Dust Bowl.

5. It Can’t Happen Here It Can't Happen Here is a semi-satirical 1935 political novel by American author Sinclair Lewis. Published during the rise of fascism in Europe, the novel describes the rise of Buzz Windrip, a populist United States senator who is elected to the presidency after promising drastic economic and social reforms while promoting a return to patriotism and traditional values. After his election, Windrip takes complete control over the government and imposes totalitarian rule with the help of a ruthless paramilitary force, in the manner of Adolf Hitler and the Schutzstaffel. The novel's plot centers around newspaperman Doremus Jessup's opposition to the new regime and his subsequent struggle against it.

6. Grapes of Wrath The Grapes of Wrath is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. For it he won the annual National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for novels and it was cited prominently when he won the Nobel Prize in 1962. Set during the Great Depression, the novel focuses on the Joads, a poor family of tenant farmers driven from their Oklahoma home by drought, economic hardship, and changes in financial and agricultural industries. Due to their nearly hopeless situation, and in part because they were trapped in the Dust Bowl, the Joads set out for California. Along with thousands of other "Okies", they sought jobs, land, dignity, and a future. The Grapes of Wrath is frequently read in American high school and college literature classes due to its historical context and enduring legacy. A celebrated Hollywood film version, starring Henry Fonda and directed by John Ford, was made in 1940.