Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers

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.[1][2][3]

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.[1][2][4]

Organization

The ALSCW has been headquartered at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. since January 2016.[5][6]

Publications

Since 1999, the association has published a review, Literary Imagination.[7] It was distributed by Oxford University Press 1999–2024 and then moved to Johns Hopkins University Press.[8][9] It publishes three issues a year, and its chief editor is Paul Franz.[9]

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.[10][11]

Goals of the ALSCW

The ALSCW's official website declares the following goals:[6]

  • 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.[12] These have included:

References

  1. 1 2 Grimes, William (December 7, 1994). "In the Literary Field, An Upstart Alliance Based on Tradition". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 9, 2016. Retrieved August 26, 2010.
  2. 1 2 "Enter the Association of Literary Scholars & Critics". The New Criterion. 44 (9). October 1994.
  3. ↑ Chaves, Jonathan (Winter 2002). "Soul and Reason in Literary Criticism: Deconstructing the Deconstructionists". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 122 (4): 834. doi:10.2307/3217623. JSTOR 3217623.
  4. ↑ "Annual Conference". Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers. Retrieved May 2, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Literary Association Moves to CUA". CUA Magazine. 29 (1): 11. March 1, 2016. JSTOR community.40516568.
  6. 1 2 "About". Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers. Retrieved May 2, 2026.
  7. ↑ "New Journal Aims to Refocus Literary Studies on Literature". Chronicle of Higher Education. April 23, 1999. Retrieved 26 August 2010.
  8. ↑ "Literary Imagination: All Issues". Oxford University Press Academic. Retrieved May 2, 2026.
  9. 1 2 "Literary Imagination". Johns Hopkins University Press. Retrieved May 2, 2026.
  10. ↑ "Publications". Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers. Retrieved May 2, 2026.
  11. ↑ "About". Literary Matters. Retrieved May 2, 2026.
  12. ↑ "Governance". Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers. Retrieved April 17, 2026.
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