Photoplay, Literary Celebrity, and The Little Review

Under the editorship of Margaret Anderson, Jane Heap, and Ezra Pound, The Little Review published many of the most celebrated modernists during its fifteen-year run. The magazine included extensive letter columns that invited readers to insinuate themselves as “critics” into aesthetic discussions. Anderson published these letters alongside letters from rising modernist artists. I read this layering alongside celebrity culture in fan clubs and film magazines that created an atmosphere of access and perpetuated desires for contact. Similarly, Anderson used the burgeoning celebrity of modernists as a draw for readers. Combining this deployment of literary celebrity with promotional contests and reading groups, Anderson marketed the magazine for aspirant-intellectuals, mirroring access narratives in film-fan magazines of the period.