Association for Mormon Letters
The Association for Mormon Letters is a nonprofit organization founded in 1976 to "foster scholarly and creative work in Mormon letters and to promote fellowship among scholars and writers of Mormon literature." Other stated purposes have included promoting the "production and study of Mormon literature" and the encouragement of quality writing "by, for, and about Mormons." 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. 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. 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. As of 2012, the association also promotes LDS literature through the use of social media. The AML has been described as an "influential proponent of Mormon literary fiction."
Founding
A meeting held in the Church’s Historical Department on April 20, 1976 led to the organization of the association. Lavina Fielding Anderson described the founding of the organization in this way:" Association for Mormon letters 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 steering committee, formally organized the Association for Mormon letters, and persuaded us that the name should be 'for Mormon letters,' not 'of Mormon letters.'"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. 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." 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. Beecher served as the association's first president, with Lambert as the first vice president.
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, the short story collection Bright Angels and Familiars: Contemporary Mormon Stories, edited by Eugene England, and the literary criticism collection Tending the Garden: Essays on Mormon Literature, edited by Eugene England and Lavina Fielding Anderson.
Awards
Since its third annual conference, the AML has given awards to LDS literature in various categories, often in "fiction, poetry, essay, and criticism." Winners are selected by a jury. Starting in 1998, the AML recognized "the best unpublished Mormon novel." This has since developed into the Marilyn Brown Novel Award. The award is now presented by Utah Valley University's English Department. The association changes the categories as it sees fit. For example, in 1989 Signature Books was awarded Special Recognition for "providing a much-needed venue for more literary sorts of LDS publishing." 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. Since 2014, the AML has released a list of finalists prior to announcing the award winners at its annual conference.Conferences
The association holds an annual conference, usually at various universities in Utah during the months of February or March. 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. The first AML Awards were given at the third annual meeting, a tradition that continues to this day. The symposiums also involve the announcement and sustaining of new leaders of the association. Programs are available online for every conference held since 1976.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.