Western Literature Association

The Western Literature Association (WLA) is a non-profit, scholarly association that promotes the study of the diverse literature and cultures of the North American West, past and present. Since its founding, the WLA has served to publish scholarship and promote work in the field; 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.[2]

Western Literature Association
AbbreviationWLA
Formation1965 (1965)
TypeNonprofit organization
Scholarly association
Location
FieldsLiterature and cultures of the North American West
Presidents
Alex Hunt (2020)
Kerry Fine (2020)
Rebecca Lush (2020)
PublicationWestern American Literature (WAL)
AffiliationsModern Language Association
American Literature Association
Association for the Study of Literature and Environment
Society for the Study of American Women Writers
Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association[1]
Websitewww.westernlit.org

The Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE) was founded in 1992 at a special session of the Western Literature Association conference in Reno, Nevada, for the purpose of "sharing of facts, ideas, and texts concerning the study of literature and the environment."[3][4][5]

The Association publishes Western American Literature: A Journal of Literary, Cultural, and Place Studies (since 1965) in partnership with the University of Nebraska Press. It considers itself "the leading peer-reviewed journal in the literary and cultural study of the North American West, defined broadly to include western Canada and northern Mexico".[6]


List of WLA Presidents and Annual Conferences

This is a list of people who have served as presidents of the organization and have hosted the annual conference.[6][7]

# President Affiliation Date Conference Theme Conference Venue
1 C.L. Sonnichsen 1966 Salt Lake City, Utah
2 Delbert Wylder 1967 Albuquerque, New Mexico
3 Jim L. Fife 1968 Colorado Springs, Colorado
4 Morton L. Ross 1969 Provo, Utah
5 Don D. Walker 1970 Sun Valley, Idaho
6 John R. Milton 1971 Red Cloud, Nebraska
7 Thomas J. Lyon 1972 Jackson Hole, Wyoming
8 Max Westbrook 1973 Austin, Texas
9 John S. Bullen 1974 Sonoma, California
10 Maynard Fox 1975 Durango, Colorado
11 Lawrence L. Lee 1976 Bellingham, Washington
12 Arthur Huseboe 1977 Sioux Falls, South Dakota
13 Mary Washington 1978 Park City, Utah
14 Richard Etulain 1979 Albuquerque, New Mexico
15 Bernice Slote 1980 University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Helen Stauffer St. Louis Missouri
16 James Maguire 1981 Boise, Idaho
17 Martin Bucco 1982 Denver Colorado
18 George Day 1983 Saint Paul, Minnesota
19 Ann Ronald 1984 Reno, Nevada
20 Gerald Haslam 1985 Fort Worth, Texas
21 Tom Pilkington 1986 Durango, Colorado
22 Susan J. Rosowski 1987 Lincoln, Nebraska
23 Glen Love 1988 Eugene, Oregon
24 Barbara Meldrum 1989 Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
25 Lawrence Clayton 1990 Denton, Texas
26 James Work 1991 Estes Park, Colorado
27 Joseph Flora 1992 Reno, Nevada
28 Diane Quantic 1993 Wichita, Kansas
29 Stephen Tatum 1994 Salt Lake City, Utah
30 Laurie Ricou 1995 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
31 Susanne K. George Bloomfield 1996 Lincoln, Nebraska
32 Gary Scharnhorst 1997 Albuquerque, New Mexico
33 Robert Thacker St. Lawrence University,

New York

 1998 Banff, Alberta (Canada)
34 Michael Kowalewski Carleton College,

Northfield, Minnesota

 13-16 Oct 1999 West of the West: California and the American West Radisson Hotel,

Sacramento, California

35 Robert Murray Davis 2000 Norman, Oklahoma
36 Susan Naramore Maher, 2001 Omaha, Nebraska
37 Judy Nolte Temple 2002 Tucson, Arizona
38 Krista Comer 2003 Houston, Texas
39 Susan Kollin Montana State University 29 Sep- 2 Oct 2004 Big Sky Institute,

Big Sky, Montana

40 William Handley 19- 22 Oct

2005

Omni Hotel, Los Angeles, California
41 Tara Penry Boise State University 25-28 Oct

2006

Feeling Western

The Grove Hotel, Boise, Idaho

42 Ann Putnam University of Puget Sound 17-20 Oct

2007

Tacoma, Washington
43 Nic Witschi Western Michigan University 1-4 Oct 2008 Boulder, Colorado
Karen Ramirez University of Colorado, Boulder
44 David Cremean Black Hills State University 30 Sep- 3 Oct 2009 High Plains Drifting: Which Way(s) West? Holiday Inn, Spearfish, South Dakota
45 Gioia Woods Northern Arizona University 20-23 Oct 2010 Western Performances Gazebo, Prescott, Arizona
46 Bonney MacDonald West Texas A&M University 5-8 Oct 2011 Holiday Inn, Missoula, Montana
Nancy Cook University of Montana
47 Sara Spurgeon Texas Tech University 7-12 Nov 2012 Western Crossroads:

Literature, Social Justice, Environment

 Overton Hotel & Conference Centre, Lubbock, Texas
48 Richard Hutson University of California, Berkeley 9-12 Oct 2013 Califia: The West Calling the World DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel,

Berkeley, California

49 Anne Kaufman Milton Academy 5-8 Nov 2014 Bordersongs Fairmont Empress, Victoria,

British Columbia, Canada

Laurie Ricou University of British Columbia
50 David Fenimore University of Nevada, Reno 14-17 Oct 2015 Visual Culture in the Urban West Harrah's Robert A. Ring Convention Center, Reno, Nevada
Susan Bernardin SUNY Oneonta
51 Linda Karell Montana State University 21-24 Sep

2016

 The Profane West Big Sky, Montana
52 Susan N. Maher University of Minnesota Duluth 25-28 Oct

2017

 Sweet Land, Mighty Waters: Myth and Storytelling West of the Mississippi Chase Park Plaza Hotel, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Florence Amamoto Gustavus Adolphus College
53 Michael K. Johnson University of Maine-Farmington 24-27 Oct 2018 Indigenous Hubs • Gateway Cities • Border States Chase Park Plaza Hotel, St. Louis, Missouri
Emily Lutenski St. Louis University
54 SueEllen Campbel Colorado State University 18-21 Sep

2019

 Not Cloudy All Day: Climates of Change in the American West Long's Peak Lodge, Estes Park, Colorado
55 Kerry Fine Arizona State University 21-24 Oct

2020

 Graphic Wests Virtual conference

(due to COVID-19 pandemic)[8]

Rebecca Lush California State University, San Marcos

References
  1. "Affiliations". Western Literature Association. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  2. "About WLA". Western Literature Association. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  3. Dobie, Ann B. (2011). Theory into Practice: An Introduction to Literary Criticism. Cengage Learning. p. 241. ISBN 978-0-49590-233-1.
  4. "Vision & History". ASLE Home Page. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  5. "ASLE Bylaws" (PDF). ASLE Home Page. April 2016. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  6. "About Western American Literature (WAL)". Western Literature Association. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  7. "PAST CONFERENCE PROGRAMS". Western Literature Association. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  8. "WLA Conference 2020". Western Literature Association. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
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