The Western Literature Association

Website: http://www.usu.edu/westlit/

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.

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The Western Literature Association

Western American Literature

Vol. 44 (2009) through current issue

Western American Literature is a refereed journal published quarterly by the Western Literature Association and Utah State University. Devoted to groundbreaking critical essays on the literature, culture, landscape, and art of the American West, the journal publishes New Western and postwestern literary criticism on such contemporary western writers as Ishmael Reed, Louis Owens, Sandra Cisneros, Cormac McCarthy, Rudolfo Anaya, Sherman Alexie, and Linda Hogan, as well as on traditional western writers such as Mary Austin, Gary Snyder, Mark Twain, Willa Cather, and others. Western American Literature also publishes cultural criticism: recent essays explore representations of the city (Mike Davis as “nature writer” in LA, “Reno-vation” in Nevada, James Ellroy and the “Black Dahlia” murder case); the Lone Ranger radio show; California “orientalism”; postcolonial readings of Asian American poets; and “The Role of Place in Mexican American Culture.” Having published some of the earliest essays in ecocriticism, Western American Literature continues an active leadership role in the field. We also welcome essays that incorporate personal narrative into cultural analysis. The journal is also unique in its exploration of the intersection of western American literature and art through the use of many images in each issue.

While Western American Literature’s audience is primarily academic, general readers interested in the western American culture will find it accessible and informative. Submission guidelines and print subscription information, may be found on our website, http://www.usu.edu/westlit/