She quickly became involved in the artistic circle of the French intelligentsia, coming under the influence of the Harlem Renaissance writers. Hosting a salon, with her sisters Jane and Andrée, Nardal brought together black intellectuals from Africa, the Caribbean and the United States to discuss their experiences of being black and being part of the diaspora. After completing her studies in Paris, Nardal briefly returned to teaching in Martinique but within a year was back in Paris, where she began working as a journalist. Her writing included literary works, critiques, journalism, discourses on colonialism, and a tourist guide called "Guide des Colonies Françaises" that was commissioned by the governments of the islands of the French Antilles. In October 1931, she founded a journal called "La Revue du monde noir" (Review of the Black World) with her sisters; Louis Jean Finot, a French novelist; Léo Sajous, a Haitian scholar; and Clara W. Shepard, an African-American teacher and translator. Nardal's roles included contributing to the journal, serving as editor and translator, as well as moving the journal toward a more Pan-African audience. Six issues of "La Revue du monde noir" were published before the journal stopped production in April 1932. After the conclusion of the journal, Nardal began working as the secretary of Galandou Diouf, Senegalese deputy in the French National Assembly. She was actively involved in the demonstrations which followed the 1935 Italian invasion of Ethiopia, and went to Senegal in 1937 to try to rally others to the cause against the invasion. She was also active with feminist organizations including "Ad Lucem Per Caritatem" and the "Union Féminine Civique et Sociale" throughout the 1930s. When forced to flee France in 1939 because of World War II, Nardal boarded a ship flying under protection of the Red Cross. When the ship was torpedoed off the English coast, Nardal fractured both of her knees jumping into a lifeboat and had to be hospitalized in England. She never fully recovered from her injuries. Upon recuperating sufficiently to travel, Nardal returned to Martinique. She settled in Fort-de-France and initially worked as an English teacher for dissidents wanting to support General de Gaulle. Because Caribbean recruits were trained in the British West Indies, it was imperative that they learn English before they could receive military training. When the war ended, she worked towards social improvement and suffrage.