Writers Conference Records, 1970-

Writers Conference Records

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Collection Overview

Title: Writers Conference Records, 1970-

ID: UA114

Extent: 3.75 Linear Feet

Date Acquired: 08/00/1998. More info below under Accruals.

Subjects: University of North Dakota - Writers Conference

Languages: English

Abstract

1970-; annual event at the University of North Dakota

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The Writers Conference Records include materials from each annual conference including correspondence, photographs, transcriptions of individual panels and readings, and posters.

Collection Historical Note

While the English Department traces its roots to the very founding of the University in 1883, the Writers Conference only began in 1970. Founded by the late professor John Little, the conference had a modest beginning with the Southern Writers Conference of the Arts. Funded by the College of Arts and Sciences as well as by some of the visiting writers themselves, the conference was so successful that it became an annual event, almost immediately.

Though the conference quickly had university-wide appeal and, since the mid-1970s, significant attendance from the community and region, it has always been organized by faculty, staff, and students of the English Department. In more recent years it has become known nationwide as one of the most distinctive conferences of its kind, in part because it remains free and open to the public, probably the only way it could function.

Financial support for the conference has always come from a variety of sources, depending on a particular conference topic or other factors in shifting personnel and circumstances at the university. The steadiest support historically was from student organizations and the president's office, but there have often been grants from outside agencies, donations from alumni and other individuals, and, since the mid-1990s, a modest but growing endowment, managed by the UND Alumni Foundation.

Currently, the UND Writers Conference is funded through those same modest endowments, individual gifts, and yearly grant writing, as well as new gifts from alumni and other friends of the Conference like the Alice Lillian Carlson Estate, The Kemen/Randall Family Writers Conference Distribution Fund, the John Little Memorial Endowment, and the Jackie McElroy-Edwards and Tom Edwards Writers Conference Endowment.

Now in its 51st year, the Conference enjoys a national reputation among writers as one of the best run, most interesting events of its kind, especially because of its strong public audiences, attracted by its free and open format. A large number of volunteers from around the university and the community make it all possible, but it is still organized by the UND English Department, which provides administrative support and the release of one class per semester for the faculty member who directs it.

https://und.edu/writers-conference/about/index.html

Subject/Index Terms

University of North Dakota - Writers Conference

Administrative Information

Repository: Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections

Accruals: Additional materials were donated by UND Professor James McKenzie in March 2004.

Access Restrictions: Open for inspection under the rules and regulations of the Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections.

Acquisition Source: John Little

Acquisition Method: Donation; the originals were loaned to Special Collections for duplication by John Little, UND Professor Emeritus.

Preferred Citation: Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections, Chester Fritz Library, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks.

Finding Aid Revision History: Finding aid added to Archon in May 2019.

Other Note: Writers Conference Digitized Materials on the UND Scholarly Commons

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Box:

[Box 1],
[Box 2],
[Box 3],
[Oversize Folder 1: Conference Posters, 1970-1979],
[Oversize Folder 2: Conference Posters, 1980-1989],
[Oversize Folder 3: Conference Posters, 1990-1999],
[Oversize Folder 4: Conference Posters, 2000-2009],
[Oversize Folder 5: Conference Posters, 2010-2019],
[Oversize Folder 6: Conference Posters, 2020-],
[Photographs :],
[All]

Box 1

Folder 1: John Little Personal/Biographical
Folder 2: 1st Conference, "Southern Writers Conference on the Arts": General, 1970
Folder 3: 1st Conference: William Anderson
Folder 4: 1st Conference: John Carr
Folder 5: 1st Conference: Fred Chappell
Folder 6: 1st Conference: Jesse Hill Ford
Folder 7: 1st Conference: George Garrett
Folder 8: 1st Conference: Peter Taylor
Folder 9: 1st Conference: Jim Whitehead
Folder 10: 2nd Conference, "Northern Plains Writers Conference": General, 1971
Folder 11: 2nd Conference: Dave Evans
Folder 12: 2nd Conference: Roland Flint
Folder 13: 2nd Conference: Lois Phillips Hudson
Folder 14: 2nd Conference: Richard Lyons
Folder 15: 2nd Conference: Thomas McGrath
Folder 16: 2nd Conference: John Milton
Folder 17: 2nd Conference: Antony Oldknow
Folder 18: 3rd Conference, "American Indian Writers Conference": General, 1972
Folder 19: 4th Conference, "Women in the Arts": General, 1973
Folder 20: 4th Conference: Gwendolyn Brooks
Folder 21: 4th Conference: Carolyn Kizer
Folder 22: 4th Conference: Myrna Lamb
Folder 23: 4th Conference: Mary McCarthy
Folder 24: 4th Conference: Diane Wakoski
Folder 25: 4th Conference: Sylvia Wilkinson
Folder 26: 5th Conference, "City Lights in North Dakota": General, 1974
Folder 27: 5th Conference: "City Lights in North Dakota: the Poet Looks at Industry and Ecology (Videotape Transcript)"
Folder 28: 5th Conference: Gregory Corso
Folder 29: 5th Conference: Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Folder 30: 5th Conference: Allen Ginsberg
Folder 31: 5th Conference: Michael McClure
Folder 32: 5th Conference: Kenneth Rexroth
Folder 33: 5th Conference: Charles R. Rothschild Productions, Inc. (agent)
Folder 34: 5th Conference: Gary Snyder
Folder 35: 5th Conference: Open Mike Session, Tuesday, March 19, 1974
Folder 36: 5th Conference: Open Mike Session, Wednesday, March 20, 1974
Folder 37: 5th Conference: Open Mike Session, Thursday, March 21, 1974
Folder 38: 5th Conference: Open Mike Session, Friday, March 22, 1974
Folder 39: 6th Conference, "Spirit of Place": General, 1975
Folder 40: 6th Conference: "Spirit of Place: American Writers Look at People and Places (Transcript of Videotape)"
Folder 41: 6th Conference: Short Story by unknown author
Folder 42: 6th Conference: John Barth
Folder 43: 6th Conference: Wendell Berry
Folder 44: 6th Conference: William Gass
Folder 45: 6th Conference: Ken Kesey
Folder 46: 6th Conference: N. Scott Momaday
Folder 47: 6th Conference: Ishmael Reed
Folder 48: 6th Conference: Alice Walker
Folder 49: 7th Conference, "New Journalism and the Novel": General, 1976
Folder 50: 7th Conference: Truman Capote
Folder 51: 7th Conference: Ed McClanahan
Folder 52: 7th Conference: B.J. Phillips
Folder 53: 7th Conference: Alix Kates Shulman
Folder 54: 7th Conference: Larry Woiwode
Folder 55: 7th Conference: Tom Wolfe
Folder 56: 8th Conference, "Literature and Film": General, 1977
Folder 57: 8th Conference: Harlan Ellison
Folder 58: 8th Conference: George Garrett
Folder 59: 8th Conference: John Houseman
Folder 60: 8th Conference: Larry McMurtry
Folder 61: 8th Conference: Joan Tewkesbury
Folder 62: 9th Conference, "The Mirror and the Lamp": General, 1978
Folder 63: 9th Conference: John Ashbery
Folder 64: 9th Conference: Amiri Baraka
Folder 65: 9th Conference: William Burroughs
Folder 66: 9th Conference: Ring Lardner
Folder 67: 9th Conference: Tillie Olsen
Folder 68: 9th Conference: Eudora Welty
Folder 69: 10th Conference, "Epitomes, Bombast, & Climaxes": General, 1979
Folder 70: 11th Conference, "The Storytellers": General, 1980
Folder 71: 11th Conference: Selo Black Crow
Folder 72: 11th Conference: James Crumley
Folder 73: 11th Conference: James Dickey
Folder 74: 11th Conference: Antony Oldknow
Folder 75: 11th Conference: Leslie Marmon Silko
Folder 76: 11th Conference: Lawrence Watson
Folder 77: 12th Conference, "Voices": General, 1981
Folder 78: 12th Conference: Esther Broner
Folder 79: 12th Conference: Robert Creeley
Folder 80: 13th Conference, "International Writers": General, 1982
Folder 81: 13th Conference: Alain Robbe-Grillet
Folder 82: 13th Conference: Paul Engle and Hualing Nieh Engle
Folder 83: 14th Conference, "Centennial": General, 1983
Folder 84: 14th Conference: Joseph Brodsky
Folder 85: 14th Conference: Caroline Forche
Folder 86: 14th Conference: Richard Howard and James Merrill
Folder 87: 14th Conference: Bobby Ann Mason and James McPherson
Folder 88: 14th Conference: Czeslaw Milosz

Box 2

Folder 1: 15th Conference "1984" - General, 1984
Folder 2: 15th Conference: Harlan Ellison
Folder 3: 15th Conference: Joe Haldeman
Folder 4: 15th Conference: Robert Silverberg
Folder 5: 15th Conference: Jayne Tannehill Sturegeon and Theodore Sturegeon
Folder 6: 15th Conference: Luisa Valenzuela
Folder 7: 15th Conference: Roger Zelazney
Folder 8: 16th Conference "Narratives" - General, 1985
Folder 9: 16th Conference: Norman Mailer
Folder 10: 17th Conference "To Make a Prairie" - General, 1986
Folder 11: 17th Conference: Raymond Carver
Folder 12: 17th Conference: Ellen Gilchrist
Folder 13: 17th Conference: Rebecca Hill
Folder 14: 17th Conference: Maxine Kumin
Folder 15: 17th Conference: Jay McInerney
Folder 16: 17th Conference: Robert Ward
Folder 17: 17th Conference: John Yount
Folder 18: 18th Conference "Writers of the Purple Sage" - General, 1987
Folder 19: 18th Conference: Joy Harjo
Folder 20: 18th Conference: Larry McMurtry
Folder 21: 18th Conference: Paul St. Pierre
Folder 22: 18th Conference: Elizabeth Tallent
Folder 23: 18th Conference: James Welch
Folder 24: 19th Conference "Parent & Child" - General, 1988
Folder 25: 19th Conference: Michael Dorris
Folder 26: 19th Conference: Louise Erdrich
Folder 27: 19th Conference: Patrick Hemingway
Folder 28: 19th Conference: Mona Simpson
Folder 29: 19th Conference: W.D. Snodgrass
Folder 30: 20th Conference "Circle of Many Colors" - General, 1989
Folder 31: 20th Conference: Gretel Ehrlich
Folder 32: 20th Conference: Richard Ford
Folder 33: 20th Conference: William Least Heat-Moon
Folder 34: 20th Conference: N. Scott Momaday
Folder 35: 20th Conference: Leslie Silko
Folder 36: 20th Conference: Tobias Wolff
Folder 37: 21st Conference "The Literature of Immigration" - General, 1990
Folder 38: 22nd Conference "The Literatures of Canada" - General, 1991
Folder 39: 23rd Conference "A Festival of Publishers & Writers" - General, 1992
Folder 40: 24th Conference "La Literatura: Latino/Latina Writing" - General, 1993
Folder 41: 25th Conference "Homelands" - General, 1994
Folder 42: 26th Conference "States of the Art" - General, 1995
Folder 43: 27th Conference "Living in America" - General, 1996
Folder 44: 28th Conference "Writing Nature" - General, 1997
Folder 45: 28th Conference - Evaluations
Folder 46: 29th Conference "The Use of History" - General, 1998
Folder 47: 29th Conference - Evaluations
Folder 48: 30th Conference "Expressing the Sacred" General, 1999
Folder 49: 30th Conference - Evaluations
Folder 50: 31st Conference "Writing War" - General, 2000
Folder 51: 32nd Conference "worklife/lifework" - General, 2001
Folder 52: 32nd Conference - Evaluations

Box 3

Folder 1: 33rd Conference "Explorations" - General, 2002
Folder 2: 33rd Conference - Evaluations
Folder 3: 34th Conference "Art & Science" - General, 2003
Folder 4: 34th Conference - Evaluations
Folder 5: 35th Conference "3:5" - General, 2004
Folder 6: 36th Conference "Hope/Illusion" - General, 2005
Folder 7: 41st Conference "Mind the Gap" - General, 2010
Folder 8: 42nd Conference "International Affairs" - General, 2011
Folder 9: 45th Conference "Imagine" - General, 2014
Folder 10: 50th Conference "What the Future Holds" - General, 2019
Folder 11: Writers Conference Endowment, circa 1990s

Oversize Folder 1: Conference Posters, 1970-1979

Item 1: 1970: "Southern Writers Conference on the Arts" (5 copies)
Item 2: 1971: "Northern Plains Writers Conference" (4 copies)
Item 3: 1972: "American Indian Writers Conference" (3 copies)
Item 4: 1973: "Women in the Arts" (1 copy)
Item 5: 1974: "City Lights in North Dakota" (2 copies)
Item 6: 1975: "Spirit of Place" (1 copy)
Item 7: 1976: "New Journalism and the Novel" (3 copies)
Item 8: 1977: "Literature and Film" (2 copies)
Item 9: 1978: "The Mirror and the Lamp" (3 copies)
Item 10: 1979: "Epitomes, Bombast & Climaxes" (3 copies)

Oversize Folder 2: Conference Posters, 1980-1989

Item 1: 1980: "The Storytellers" (3 copies)
Item 2: 1981: "Voices" (3 copies)
Item 3: 1982: "International Writers" (5 copies)
Item 4: 1983: "Centennial" (3 copies)
Item 5: 1984: "1984" (6 copies)
Item 6: 1985: "Narratives" (3 copies)
Item 7: 1986: "To Make a Prairie" (4 copies)
Item 8: 1987: "Writers of the Purple Sage" (5 copies)
Item 9: 1988: "Parent & Child" (4 copies)
Item 10: 1989: "Circle of Many Colors" (1 copy)

Oversize Folder 3: Conference Posters, 1990-1999

Item 1: 1990: "The Literature of Immigration" (3 copies)
Item 2: 1991: "The Literatures of Canada" (1 copy)
Item 3: 1992: "A Festival of Publishers & Writers" (1 copy)
Item 4: 1994: "Homelands" (1 copy)
Item 5: 1995: "States of the Art" (1 copy)
Item 6: 1996: "Living in America" (2 copies)
Item 7: 1997: "Writing Nature" (3 copies)
Item 8: 1998: "The Use of History" (3 copies)
Item 9: 1999: "Expressing the Sacred" (3 copies)

Oversize Folder 4: Conference Posters, 2000-2009

Item 1: 2000: "Writing War" (3 copies)
Item 2: 2001: "worklife/lifework" (3 copies)
Item 3: 2002: "Explorations" (3 copies)
Item 4: 2003: "Art & Science" (3 copies)
Item 5: 2004: "3:5" (3 copies)
Item 6: 2005: "Hope/Illusion" (3 copies)
Item 7: 2006: "Border Crossings" (1 copy)
Item 8: 2007: "Writing the Body" (1 copy)
Item 9: 2008: "Revolutions" (2 copies)
Item 10: 2009: "Wit" (4 copies)

Oversize Folder 5: Conference Posters, 2010-2019

Item 1: 2010: "Mind the Gap" (2 copies)
Item 2: 2011: "International Affairs" (2 copies)
Item 3: 2012: "Humanimal" (2 copies)
Item 4: 2013: "A Portrait of an Artist" (1 copy)
Item 5: 2014: "Imagine" (1 copy)
Item 6: 2015: "The Other Half" (1 copy)
Item 7: 2016: "The Art of Science" (2 copies)
Item 8: 2017: "Citizen" (1 copy)
Item 9: 2018: "Truth & Lies" (1 copy)
Item 10: 2019: "What the Future Holds" (2 copies)

Oversize Folder 6: Conference Posters, 2020-

Item 1: 2020: "The Working Classes" (2 copies)
Item 2: 2022: "Communities and the Individual" (11.5 x 15.5 inches; 2 copies)
Item 3: 2022: "Communities and the Individual" (19 x 24.5 inches; 3 copies)
Item 4: 2024: "Horizons of Knowledge"

Photographs :

Separated and placed in the University Archives Photograph Collection file cabinets.

Photograph 20162: Panel, 1979 Conference: John Little, N. Scott Momaday, Dr. Eliot Glassheim, Grace Paley, Robert Bly: Grand Forks Herald photograph by Mike Kiley
Photograph 28957: Panel, 1983 Conference: Carolyn Forche, Czeslaw Milosz, Mike Jacobs
Photograph 28958: 1983 Conference: Czeslaw Milosz
Photograph 28959: 1983 Conference: Joseph Brodsky Book Signing (top) and Joseph Brodsky and Carolyn Forche on a Panel (bottom)
Photograph 28960: 1983 Conference: Richard Howard
Photograph 28961: 1983 Conference: Richard Howard
Photograph 28962: 1983 Conference: Czeslaw Milosz
Photograph 28963: 1983 Conference: Carolyn Forche Book Signing
Photograph 28964: 1999 Conference: Joseph Bruchac Book Signing
Photograph 28965: 1999 Conference: Galway Kinnell Book Signing
Photograph 28966: 1999 Conference: Mark Doty Book Signing
Photograph 28967: 1999 Conference: Peter Matthiessen Book Signing
Photograph 28968: 1999 Conference: Ruhama Veltfort Book Signing
Photograph 28969: 1982 Conference: Susan Sontag on a Panel

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