WELCOME TO THE
WESTERN LITERATURE ASSOCIATION’S
OFFICIAL  HOME PAGE

The Western Literature Association is a lively and unconventional group of scholars from across the nation and overseas who meet every fall someplace “west of the Mississippi.” Always based on American studies methodology and now influenced by cultural studies, the work of association members is broadly interdisciplinary. Made up of academics, writers, environmentalists, teachers, humorists, and activists, WLA has provided a seedbed for emerging work; for instance, the Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment emerged out of WLA meetings in the 1980s.

The purpose of the Western Literature Association is to foster and to promote the study of the literature and culture of the American West in all its varied aspects. This subject includes the literature of the American frontier in any region of the United States, the literature of the Trans-Mississippi United States, and the literatures of other nations sharing the frontier experience, especially Canada and Mexico. Since its founding, the  Association has served to publish scholarship focused on these areas; it has gathered together scholars, artists, environmentalists, and community leaders who value the West’s literary and cultural contributions to American and world cultures; it has recognized those who have made a major contribution to western literature and western studies; and it has fostered student learning and career advancement in education.

NEW: WLA BLOG is up!

The Western Literature Association has started a web log devoted to the literature, culture, and popular culture of the American West. Don't miss this opportunity to stay up-to-date on western lit discussions! Click in the headline above to investigate what the current discussions are.

NEWER: William R. Handley’s Past President's Address from 2006 (given in Boise, Idaho) is now posted online.

WESTERN AMERICAN LITERATURE (THE JOURNAL)

Jointly published by the Western Literature Association and Utah State University, Western American Literature is the leading journal in western American literary studies. Always iconoclastic, Western American Literature published some of the first essays on now celebrated writers such as D'Arcy McNickle, Wallace Stegner, and Terry Tempest Williams, critical essays by N. Scott Momaday and Rudolfo Anaya, and influential early essays on ecocriticism. The journal now focuses broadly on western culture, each issue including reproductions of western images—paintings, photography, film stills, botanical and survey drawings, maps, murals—to offer a cultural context for the essays. In addition to theoretical pieces based on cultural geography, new western history, and environmental writing, recent issues include essays on traditional western favorites such as Edward Abbey and John Muir, new western figures such as Cormac McCarthy, American Indian writers, and African American writers and filmmakers. A recent issue of WAL also focuses on the Hispanic Literary Recovery Project.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Mailing address: Western Literature Association, Utah State University, 3200 Old Main Hill, Logan UT 84322-3200. Phone: 435-797-1603. Fax: 435-797-4099. E-mail: wal@usu.edu.
For specific association officers, see WLA OFFICERS in the right column.
For staff at the journal, see WAL STAFF in the right column.