The Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers (ALSCW) was organized in 1994 as the Association of Literary Scholars and Critics by a group of over 400 scholars troubled by what they saw as an over-reliance on postmodern theory in the academy. Among the founding members were Robert Alter, Joseph Brodsky, Paul Cantor, Denis Donoghue, John Hollander, Alfred Kazin, Mary Lefkowitz, Richard Poirier, Christopher Ricks and Roger Shattuck. Since 1999, the association has published a review, Literary Imagination.
Founding The ALSCW was organized in 1994 as the Association of Literary Scholars and Critics by a group of over 400 scholars troubled by what they saw as an over-reliance on postmodern theory in the academy, particularly in the Modern Language Association (MLA). Among the founding members were Robert Alter, Joseph Brodsky, Paul Cantor, Denis Donoghue, John Hollander, Alfred Kazin, Mary Lefkowitz, Richard Poirier, Christopher Ricks and Roger Shattuck; founding president Ricardo Quinones called it "a Who's Who of the American literary establishment." At its founding, it was referred to by academics as an "anti-MLA," though the MLA itself officially wished the ALSCW well.
The group was conceived at a meeting of a small group at the University of California, Irvine in 1993. This meeting drafted a mission statement, elected officers, and began a campaign to recruit the founding scholars. Roughly 40 scholars of the association met in Boston, Massachusetts in September of 1994, with a first annual conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1995.
Organization The ALSCW has been headquartered at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. since January 2016.
Publications Since 1999, the association has published a review, Literary Imagination. It was distributed by Oxford University Press 1999–2024 and then moved to Johns Hopkins University Press. It publishes three issues a year, and its chief editor is Paul Franz.
The ALSCW also publishes the triannual online literary journal Literary Matters and an occasional journal Forum: A Publication of the Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers.
Goals of the ALSCW The ALSCW's official website declares the following goals: To provide space for encounters between scholars, critics, editors, and teachers, and fiction writers, poets, playwrights, and screenwriters To foster connections between the academic study of literature and the wider literary culture extending beyond the academy To sponsor and disseminate studies of curriculum and wider topics relating to literature (such as the teaching of composition, and the reading habits of a well-informed, critically alert citizenry; to create links between the teaching of literature in primary and secondary schools, and instruction in colleges and universities To encourage debate and exchange between and among scholars of ancient and modern literatures, and between and among those who study Western texts and the texts of every culture and continent in the world To explore the literary dimensions of other arts, including film, drama, painting, and music To support, encourage, and guide the study of literature.
Presidents The ALSCW maintains a public list of past presidents. These have included:
1995: Ricardo Quinones 1996: Roger Shattuck 1997: Robert Alter 1998: Eleanor Cook 1999: Austin E. Quigley 2000: Mary Lefkowitz 2001: John Hollander 2002: James Engell 2003: Stanley Stewart 2004: Michael Valdez Moses 2005: Rosanna Warren 2006: Tom Clayton 2007: Morris Dickstein 2008: Christopher Ricks 2009: Clare Cavanagh 2010: Susan J. Wolfson 2011: Greg Delanty 2012: John Burt 2013: Sarah Spence 2014: John Briggs 2015: Adelaide Russo 2016: John Briggs 2017: Ernest Suarez 2018: Richard R. Russell 2019: Kate Daniels 2020: Lee Oser 2021: Lee Oser and David Bromwich 2022: David Bromwich 2023: David Mikics 2024: Diana Senechal 2025: Hannibal Hamlin 2026: David Yezzi
References
External links
Official website Literary Imagination Literary Matters