Association for Mormon Letters

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The Association for Mormon Letters (AML) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1976 [1] to "foster scholarly and creative work in Mormon letters and to promote fellowship among scholars and writers of Mormon literature." [2] Other stated purposes have included promoting the "production and study of Mormon literature" [3] and the encouragement of quality writing "by, for, and about Mormons." [4] The broadness of this definition of LDS literature has led the AML to focus on a wide variety of work that has sometimes been neglected in the Mormon community. [3] [5] It publishes criticism on such writing, hosts an annual conference, and offers awards to works of fiction, poetry, essay, criticism, drama, film, and other genres. [6] It published the literary journal Irreantum from 1999 to 2013 and currently publishes an online-only version of the journal, which began in 2018. The AML's blog, Dawning of a Brighter Day, launched in 2009. [7] As of 2012, the association also promotes LDS literature through the use of social media. [1] The AML has been described as an "influential proponent of Mormon literary fiction." [1]

Contents

Founding

A meeting held in the Church’s Historical Department on April 20, 1976 led to the organization of the association. [2] Lavina Fielding Anderson described the founding of the organization in this way:

"[The] Association for Mormon letters [was] founded with the specific purpose of fostering literary criticism. Its genesis lay in a meeting which Maureen Ursenbach Beecher called among a group of friends in the fall of 1976 to discuss the quality and availability of Mormon personal narratives . . . Eugene England and I were among the eight or ten people who came. Gene tossed out the question, “How could we go about organizing a group focused on the criticism of Mormon literature?” . . . We dutifully shifted, on the spot, from academics to activity. Maureen chaired [the] steering committee, formally organized the Association for Mormon letters, and persuaded us that the name should be 'for Mormon letters,' not 'of Mormon letters.'" [8]

A "steering committee" consisting of Beecher, Fielding, Neal E. Lambert, Clifton Jolley, and Steven Sondrup finalized the plans for the organization on April 27. They also planned for the first symposium of the AML to be held that October, with printed invitations and a call for papers carrying the message through the mail. The First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - then consisting of Spencer W. Kimball, N. Eldon Tanner, and Marion G. Romney - met with Leonard J. Arrington to discuss the creation of the AML. They approved of its creation, so long as it would be made clear that it was unaffiliated with the Church itself. [9] The Association for Mormon Letters was officially established on October 4, 1976, at the Hotel Utah. Its constitution instituted an annual meeting of the association and focused its efforts on "encouraging and recognizing good writing and informative scholarship as well as fostering a better appreciation for what has already been written by and about Mormons." [10] It also provided for an elected president to serve a one-year term, succeeded by a president-elect/vice president the next year. Submissions were requested for the second conference and a newsletter would be published. [11] Beecher served as the association's first president, [12] with Lambert as the first vice president. [10]

The early leadership of the organization participated in editing three anthologies, each published by Signature Books: Harvest: Contemporary Mormon Poems , edited by Eugene England and Dennis Clark (1989), the short story collection Bright Angels and Familiars: Contemporary Mormon Stories, [13] edited by Eugene England (1992), and the literary criticism collection Tending the Garden: Essays on Mormon Literature, edited by Eugene England and Lavina Fielding Anderson (1996). [14]

Awards

Since its third annual conference, [11] the AML has given awards to LDS literature in various categories, [15] often in "fiction, poetry, essay, and criticism." [6] Winners are selected by a jury. [15] Starting in 1998, the AML recognized "the best unpublished Mormon novel." [16] This has since developed into the Marilyn Brown Novel Award. [17] The award is now presented by Utah Valley University's English Department. [18] The association changes the categories as it sees fit. [15] For example, in 1989 Signature Books was awarded Special Recognition for "providing a much-needed venue for more literary sorts of LDS publishing." [19] And in 2005, the association presented the University of Utah's J. Willard Marriott Library with a Mormon Literary Studies award for its reserves of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought . [20] Since 2014, the AML has released a list of finalists prior to announcing the award winners [15] at its annual conference. [21]

Conferences

The association holds an annual conference, usually at various universities in Utah [7] and during the months of February or March. [21] The first of such meetings was held at the Hotel Utah in 1976. Historian Leonard J. Arrington and academic Arthur Henry King were among the presenters. [7] The first AML Awards were given at the third annual meeting, [11] a tradition that continues to this day. [22] The symposiums also involve the announcement and sustaining of new leaders of the association. [23] Programs are available online for every conference held since 1976. [24] The 2020 AML conference was cancelled and replaced by a recorded virtual event held on May 2, in which the 2019 AML Award winners were announced. [22]

Publications

AML Newsletter

From 1977 to 1998, [25] the Association for Mormon Letters published a quarterly newsletter. Its cost was included in the organization's membership dues. [26] Book reviews and news from the AML were included. [27] Steven Sondrup and Levi Peterson were its editors. Irreantum took its place in March 1999. [25]

AML-List

From 1995 to 2011 the AML sponsored AML-List, an e-mail list for the discussion of LDS literature. [3] Its founder and moderator was Benson Y. Parkinson. [28] Weber State University's English Department was also a sponsor. [29] List subscribers posted reviews of more than a thousand LDS books, films, and other artistic works, which are archived in the association's review database. [30] Subscribers also asked questions about various works and discussed issues pertaining to LDS literature. [19] According to Chris Bigelow, AML-List possessed "the right balance of academics with more popular, commercial, and down-to-earth concerns" [31] and received an average of 30 posts per day. [32] The forum also helped the membership numbers of the Association for Mormon Letters increase. [19]

Irreantum

Irreantum, the AML's literary journal, was founded in 1999 [1] by Chris Bigelow and Benson Parkinson. [33] According to Irreantum's current website, "the name comes from a Book of Mormon term meaning 'many waters'" and was meant to inspire a feeling of inclusivity pertaining to the wide variety of works the journal would publish. [34] Bigelow has said that Irreantum was "inspired by AML-List." [32] It featured selections of LDS literature and reviews [33] and sought to publish "the best in contemporary Mormon poetry, essays, stories, and criticism." [35] A subscription cost $12 a year, and was free for AML members. [33] Both submissions and communications between the editors were conducted over e-mail. The staff consisted of volunteers only. [31] Irreantum was published quarterly. The association held an annual Irreantum Fiction Contest; three winners were chosen, and their works were published in the journal. [36] Submissions "were judged blind" [37] and were required to somehow convey the experience of being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. [38] A minimum of three new writers were featured in the publication each year. Though it published works "by, for, and about Mormons," Irreantum sought to be considered a literary, humanities-based journal, rather than a religious publication. It was advertised as "the only magazine devoted to Mormon literature." [39] It went on hiatus in 2013. [40] Five years later, in 2018, Irreantum was again published as an online magazine. [41] Previous issues are available via Irreantum's online archives. [42] Current issues are published only online, and multiple people rotate as editors. [34]

Dawning of a Brighter Day

In 2009 the AML launched its blog, entitled Dawning of a Brighter Day. The title was inspired by an article written by Eugene England in 1983: "The Dawning of a Brighter Day: Mormon Literature after 150 Years." The blog seeks to facilitate the online presence of the discussion of LDS literature and, according to Michael Austin, is "a high-traffic website with hundreds of participants." [7]

Related Research Articles

Mormon fiction is generally fiction by or about members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who are also referred to as Latter-day Saints or Mormons. Its history is commonly divided into four sections as first organized by Eugene England: foundations, home literature, the "lost" generation, and faithful realism. During the first fifty years of the church's existence, 1830–1880, fiction was not popular, though Parley P. Pratt wrote a fictional Dialogue between Joseph Smith and the Devil. With the emergence of the novel and short stories as popular reading material, Orson F. Whitney called on fellow members to write inspirational stories. During this "home literature" movement, church-published magazines published many didactic stories and Nephi Anderson wrote the novel Added Upon. The generation of writers after the home literature movement produced fiction that was recognized nationally but was seen as rebelling against home literature's outward moralization. Vardis Fisher's Children of God and Maurine Whipple's The Giant Joshua were prominent novels from this time period. In the 1970s and 1980s, authors started writing realistic fiction as faithful members of the LDS Church. Acclaimed examples include Levi S. Peterson's The Backslider and Linda Sillitoe's Sideways to the Sun. Home literature experienced a resurgence in popularity in the 1980s and 1990s when church-owned Deseret Book started to publish more fiction, including Gerald Lund's historical fiction series The Work and the Glory and Jack Weyland's novels.

<i>Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought</i> Academic journal

Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought is an independent quarterly journal that addresses a wide range of issues on Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint Movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mormon poetry</span>

Mormon poetry is poetry written by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints about spiritual topics or themes. Mormons have a long history of writing poetry relevant to their religious beliefs and to the Mormon experience. Mormon poetry, like Mormon fiction, has experienced different periods throughout the LDS Church's history, including the "home literature" period and the "lost generation." Some Mormon poetry became church hymns.

Douglas H. Thayer was a prominent author in the "faithful realism" movement of Mormon fiction. He has been called the "Mormon Hemingway" for his straightforward style and powerful prose. Eugene England called him the "father of contemporary Mormon fiction."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eugene England</span> American historian

George Eugene England, Jr., usually credited as Eugene England, was a Latter-day Saint writer, teacher, and scholar. He founded Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, the oldest independent journal in Mormon Studies, with G. Wesley Johnson, Paul G. Salisbury, Joseph H. Jeppson, and Frances Menlove in 1966, and cofounded the Association for Mormon Letters in 1976. He is also widely known in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for his many essays about Mormon culture and thought. From 1977–1998, England taught Mormon Literature at Brigham Young University. England described the ideal modern Mormon scholar as "critical and innovative as his gifts from God require but conscious of and loyal to his own unique heritage and nurturing community and thus able to exercise those gifts without harm to others or himself."

Boyd Jay Petersen is program coordinator for Mormon Studies at Utah Valley University (UVU) and teaches English and literature at UVU and Brigham Young University (BYU). He has also been a biographer of Hugh Nibley, a candidate for the Utah House of Representatives, and president of the Association for Mormon Letters. He was named editor of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought for the term 2016-2020.

The AML Awards are given annually by the Association for Mormon Letters (AML) to the best work "by, for, and about Mormons." They are juried awards, chosen by a panel of judges. Citations for many of the awards can be found on the AML website.

Benson Young Parkinson is a Latter-day Saint novelist, literary critic, and biographer. He has published two novels concerning fictional LDS missionaries, entitled The MTC: Set Apart and Into the Field, as well as a biography of S. Dilworth Young, an LDS general authority. In the mid-1990s he became involved in the Association for Mormon Letters (AML), primarily by creating an email forum for the discussion of LDS literature called AML-List, for which he was awarded the 2000 AML Award for Criticism. Parkinson then co-founded the literary journal Irreantum and served as co-editor for a year. His criticism of LDS literature has been featured in multiple publications. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University.

Maureen Ursenbach Beecher is a historian and editor of the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She studied at Brigham Young University (BYU) and the University of Utah. She worked in the History Department for the LDS Church from 1972 to 1980, and became a professor of English at BYU in 1981 while continuing her work in Mormon history at the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Church History. She published a popular book of Eliza R. Snow's writings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven L. Peck</span> American novelist

Steven L. Peck is an evolutionary biologist, poet, and novelist. His literary work is influential in Mormon literature circles. He is a professor of biology at Brigham Young University (BYU). He grew up in Moab, Utah and lives in Pleasant Grove, Utah.

Eric Roy Samuelsen was an American playwright and emeritus professor of theatre at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. He is considered one of the most important Mormon playwrights, and has been called a Mormon Charles Dickens or Henrik Ibsen. He won the Association for Mormon Letters (AML) drama award in 1994, 1997, and 1999, and was AML president from 2007 to 2009. In 2012 he received the Smith–Pettit Foundation Award for Outstanding Contribution to Mormon Letters.

<i>The Scholar of Moab</i> Book in mormon fiction

The Scholar of Moab is a 2011 American novel written by Steven L. Peck. Considered an important work of Mormon fiction, it explores themes of belief, faith, science, Mormonism, superstition, and mysticism through the use of satire and an unreliable first-person narrative. The novel has been recognized by the Association for Mormon Letters and By Common Consent.

<i>Irreantum</i> Literary journal

Irreantum is a literary journal compiled and published by the Association for Mormon Letters (AML) from 1999 to 2013, with online-only publication starting in 2018. It features selections of LDS literature, including fiction, poetry, and essays, as well as criticism of those works. The journal was advertised as "the only magazine devoted to Mormon literature." In its first years of publication, Irreantum was printed quarterly; later, it was printed twice a year. A subscription to the magazine was included in an AML membership. Annual Irreantum writing contests were held, with prizes for short stories, novel excerpts, poems, and nonfiction awarded. The journal's creators, Benson Parkinson and Chris Bigelow, sought to create a publication that would become a one-stop resource where companies interested in publishing LDS literature could find the best the subculture had to offer. They also hoped Irreantum would highlight various kinds of LDS writing, balancing both liberal and traditional points of view.

Dendō: One Year and One Half in Tokyo: A Missionary Memoir is a graphic novel missionary diary written by Brittany Long Olsen while she was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Japan. It is the first published missionary diary in graphic novel form, and won the Association for Mormon Letters (AML) award in 2015 for comics. After returning from her mission, she scanned and edited it, before self-publishing it after being rejected by traditional publishers. Dendō received good reviews, praising Olsen for her wit and spirituality. It was purchased and displayed by the L. Tom Perry Special Collections at Brigham Young University (BYU).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melissa Leilani Larson</span> American playwright

Melissa Leilani Larson is an American writer and playwright based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Mormon literature critic Michael Austin described her as "one of the true rising stars of Mormon literature." Producer Jeremy Long described her as the "best playwright in Utah." Her plays commonly feature women in leading roles, and some center around the faith of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garrett Batty</span> Director and filmmaker

Garrett Batty is an American film director, writer, and producer known for his film The Saratov Approach. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University and a native of Park City, Utah. He is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and his films are part of Mormon cinema, but with a more general audience. He has written, directed, and produced four full-length films, including Freetown (2015) and Out of Liberty (2019), and will begin work on a fifth in 2020. For Freetown, he was awarded the 2015 Ghana Movie Award for Best Screenplay alongside Melissa Leilani Larson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Goldberg</span> American historian, playwright, poet, and writer

James Goldberg is an American historian, playwright, poet, and writer. He has Jewish, European, and Punjabi ancestors, and his grandfather, Gurcharan Singh Gill, was the first Sikh to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He attended Otterbein University briefly before transferring to Brigham Young University (BYU), where he completed his undergraduate work and earned a Master of Fine Arts degree. He was an adjunct professor at BYU.

Phyllis Barber is a writer of fiction and non-fiction, often set in the Western United States. She was raised in Boulder City, Nevada and Las Vegas as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She studied piano at Brigham Young University and moved to Palo Alto, California where her husband studied law at Stanford. There Barber finished her degree in piano at San Jose State College in 1967, and taught and performed piano in California. She studied creative writing at the University of Utah and received an MFA in writing from Vermont College in 1984. She started her writing career by publishing short stories in journals and magazines in the 1980s.

<i>Nothing Very Important and Other Stories</i> Stories about Mormon missionaries

Nothing Very Important and Other Stories is a collection of interconnected short stories written by Béla Petsco and self-published in 1979 with illustrations by his friend Kathryn Clark-Spencer. The stories are about missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints working in Southern California. Signature Books reprinted the book in 1984 under their Orion imprint. Petsco wrote the stories for his master's thesis at Brigham Young University (BYU). The book won the 1979 Association for Mormon Letters award for short fiction. The stories were adapted for theater and performed in 1983, but without BYU's endorsement.

Béla Petsco was an American writer who was the author of Nothing Very Important and Other Stories, a collection of connected stories about missionary work in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was born to Hungarian immigrants and grew up in Queens in New York City. He converted to the LDS Church after watching the film Brigham Young. He served an LDS mission in the California South mission.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Hunter, J. Michael (2012). Mormons and Popular Culture: The Global Influence of an American Phenomenon. ABC-CLIO. ISBN   978-0313391682.
  2. 1 2 Ursenbach Beecher, Maureen (1978). "Proceedings of the Association for Mormon Letters" (PDF). Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. 11 (2): 11–14.
  3. 1 2 3 Bushman, Richard (2013). "The Commencement of Mormon Studies". In Newell, Quincy D.; Mason, Eric (eds.). New perspectives in Mormon studies creating and crossing boundaries. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. p. 208. ISBN   9780806189185.
  4. ↑ "AML Conference Highlights Past and Present in Mormon Literature, Film and Studies". Meridian Magazine. 2006-02-09. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  5. ↑ Anderson, Lavina Fielding (2001). "Tending the Garden with Eugene England" (PDF). Irreantum. 3 (3). Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  6. 1 2 Alexander, Thomas G.; Bitton, Davis (2019). Historical Dictionary of the Latter-day Saints (4 ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. p. 21. ISBN   978-1538120729.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Austin, Michael (2015). "The Brief History and Perpetually Exciting Future of Mormon Literary Studies". Mormon Studies Review. 2: 49–50. doi:10.5406/mormstudrevi.2.2015.0049. S2CID   164943664.
  8. ↑ "Tending the Garden with Eugene England" (PDF), Irreantum 3, no. 3 (Autumn 2001): 40–42. (article)
  9. ↑ Hall, Andrew (2019-08-28). "Spencer W. Kimball and the founding of the Association for Mormon Letters". Dawning of a Brighter Day. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
  10. 1 2 Lambert, Neal E. (1977). "The Association for Mormon Letters". BYU Studies. 17 (2): 1.
  11. 1 2 3 Hall, Andrew (2017-06-21). "AML History: The Founding, 1976-1978". Dawning of a Brighter Day. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
  12. ↑ "Maureen Ursenbach Beecher | Mormon Literature & Creative Arts Database | HBLL". mormonarts.lib.byu.edu. Retrieved 2020-06-09.
  13. ↑ England, Eugene, ed. (1992). Bright angels & familiars : contemporary Mormon stories. Salt Lake City: Signature Books. ISBN   1-56085-026-4 . Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  14. ↑ England, edited by Eugene; Anderson, Lavina Fielding (1995). Tending the garden : essays on Mormon literature. Salt Lake City, Utah: Signature Books. ISBN   1-56085-019-1.{{cite book}}: |first1= has generic name (help)
  15. 1 2 3 4 Robbins, Tom (2020-01-10). "AML Awards". Dawning of a Brighter Day. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  16. ↑ Givens, Terryl C. (2012). People of paradox: a history of Mormon culture ([Reprinted] ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0199915989.
  17. ↑ "AML honors LDS authors". Deseret News. 2002-04-06. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  18. ↑ "Marilyn Brown Novel Award Competition". The Review. 2008-07-28. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  19. 1 2 3 Burton, Gideon; Kramer, Neal (Fall 1999). "The State of Mormon Literature and Criticism". Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. 32 (3): 7. JSTOR   45226606.
  20. ↑ "AML Award in Mormon Literary Studies to the University of Utah Library". Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. 39 (4): 255–256. Winter 2006. JSTOR   45227232.
  21. 1 2 "AML Awards". Mormon Literature Database. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  22. 1 2 Rappleye, Christine (2020-04-30). "Association for Mormon Letters 2019 award finalists announced; virtual conference May 2". Deseret News. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  23. ↑ Maryon, Dan (1988). "Meeting Breathes Life into Association of Mormon Letters" (PDF). Sunstone Magazine. p. 49. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  24. ↑ "AML Conference Programs". associationmormonletters.org. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  25. 1 2 "AML Newsletter". Dawning of a Brighter Day. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  26. ↑ "Mormon Literature Website". mldb.byu.edu. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  27. ↑ "Mormon Criticism". Mormon Literature Database. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  28. ↑ "Benson Y. Parkinson | Mormon Literature & Creative Arts Database | HBLL". mormonarts.lib.byu.edu. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  29. ↑ "AML-List Homepage". 2000-04-07. Archived from the original on 2000-04-07. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  30. ↑ "Review Archive", MormonLetters.org, Association for Mormon Letters, archived from the original on 28 February 2009 The current review archive is http://associationmormonletters.org/blog/reviews/
  31. 1 2 Hall, Andrew (2017-11-13). "The Founding and Early Years of Irreantum". Dawning of a Brighter Day. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
  32. 1 2 Anderson, Lavina Fielding (2000-01-01). "Little Mormon Magazines: Sinking, Swimming, And Treading Water" (Podcast). Sunstone Magazine. Event occurs at 15:52. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  33. 1 2 3 "Founders hope Irreantum has long life among LDS magazines". Deseret News. 2000-04-22. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  34. 1 2 "Irreantum". Dawning of a Brighter Day. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  35. ↑ Harrell, Jack (2014). "Toward a Mormon Literary Theory". BYU Studies. Brigham Young University. 53 (3): 10. JSTOR   43040005.
  36. ↑ "3 writers get prizes in Irreantum contest". Deseret News. 2003-07-05. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  37. ↑ "'Irreantum' magazine announces winners of 2011 literary contests". Standard Journal. 2011-11-02. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  38. ↑ "Deadline for Irreantum fiction, essay contests". Deseret News. 2010-04-04. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  39. ↑ Pope, Alice (2009). 2010 Novel & Short Story Writer's Market. Penguin. ISBN   978-1599635675.
  40. ↑ Morris, William (November 25, 2013), "Replacing Irreantum: Scope/Positioning", MotleyVision.org, A Motley Vision
  41. ↑ Rappleye, Christine (2018-03-28). "Association for Mormon Letters 2017 award winners announced, literary magazine to be re-launched". Deseret News. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  42. ↑ "Archives | Irreantum". irreantum.associationmormonletters.org. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
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