The “Lost generation” is a term popularized by Ernest Hemingway and credited to Gertrude Stein. It refers to the persons who came of age and were called to service during the “Great War.”  Many of the writers of the “lost generation” had gathered in Paris during the 1920s, and formed a literary circle that experimented with a modernist style and expression. See Wikipedia for more details.

Because this subject can technically include many authors, I’ve felt the need to limit this introductory post in some way. I’ve listed below details and books by some of the main authors of the American expatriate “lost generation.” These authors were part of the movement in Paris. The following authors link to more information below.

• Gertrude Stein (who coined the term and coached the writers)
• Ernest Hemingway
• F. Scott Fitzgerald
• T.S. Eliot
• Ezra Pound

Other authors that may be considered lost generation are listed without book lists. Their names link to a Wikipedia page about them so you can do further research if you’d like to read one of these authors for the tour. These authors may not have been expatriates in the tight circle of “lost generation” writers, but they still may be considered “lost generation.”

• Sherwood Anderson
• Hart Crane
• E.E. Cummings
• John Dos Passos
• William Faulkner
• Zelda Fitzgerald
• Alan Seeger

If you want to read someone not on these lists, I ask that at least the author you choose to read is an American who was writing in the 1920s or 1930s. The work does not need to have been written in the 1920s (it may have been written sooner or later than that), but since those are the active years of the “lost generation,” the author you choose to read should have been a writer during those years.

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Tentative tour dates are March 21 to April 1. Sign up will remain open until the March 2.

Sign up is now closed. If you’d still liked to join the tour, send an email to rebecca[at]rebeccareid[dot]com and we’ll fit you in.

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