The Partisan Review

Partisan Review

April–May 1935 issue
Categories	Literary and political
Frequency	Quarterly
Year founded	1934
Final issue	April 2003
Based in	New York City
Language	English
ISSN	0031-2525

Partisan Review (PR) was a small circulation quarterly "little magazine" dealing with literature, politics, and cultural commentary published in New York City. The magazine was launched in 1934 by the Communist Party, USA-affiliated John Reed Club of New York and was initially part of the Communist political orbit. Growing disaffection on the part of PR's primary editors began to make itself felt, however, and the magazine abruptly suspended publication in the fall of 1936. When the magazine reemerged late in 1937, it came with the addition of additional editors and new writers who advanced a political line deeply critical of Stalin's USSR.

By the 1950s the magazine had evolved towards a moderate social democratic and staunchly anti-Communist perspective and was generally supportive of American foreign policy. Partisan Review received covert funding from the Central Intelligence Agency during the 1950s and 1960s as part of the agency's efforts to shape intellectual opinion during the Cold War. The journal moved its offices to the campus of Rutgers University in 1963, then to the campus of Boston University in 1978, gradually losing its cultural relevance. The final issue of the publication appeared in April 2003.

The literary journal Partisan Review (PR) was launched in New York City in 1934 by the John Reed Club of New York — a mass organization of the Communist Party, USA (CPUSA). The publication was published and edited by two members of the New York club, Philip Rahv and William Phillips. The launch of the magazine was assisted by the editors of New Masses, the Communist Party's national artistic and literary magazine, including Joseph Freeman.