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Association for Mormon Letters records

 Collection
Identifier: MSS 2205

Scope and Contents

Contains the corporate records of The Association for Mormon Letters, including financial records, meeting minutes, correspondence, membership lists, newsletters, conference papers and conference planning materials, emails and listserve printouts, and promotional materials. Includes records kept by John Bennion during his term as president. Materials dated 1979 to 2014.

Dates

  • 1979-2014

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Open for public research.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances. Permission to use material from this collection must be obtained from the Reference Services at specialcollections@byu.edu.

Biographical / Historical

The Association for Mormon Letters is a non-profit founded in 1976 by volunteers in order to promote high quality writing by and about Latter-day Saints, including literature, film, and drama. The organization also aimed to foster relationships between scholars and creative writers of Latter-day Saint literature. The association holds an annual conference and has published the journal "Irreantum" since 1999.

Biographical / Historical

John Serge Bennion was born in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1953. He grew up in Vernon, Utah, attending Tooele junior and high schools. He served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Navajo Nation. Upon completing his mission, Bennion went on to receive a bachelor's degree in English with a certificate in secondary teaching from Brigham Young University. He married Karla on June 10, 1977. Bennion taught at Sanpete Junior High and Juab Middle School where he worked while earning his MA degree from Brigham Young University. In 1984, the family moved to Houston for five years while he completed his PhD in Literature and Creative Writing. In 1989, Bennion and his family returned to Utah where he joined the BYU faculty as an English professor. He writes novels, short fiction, and essays on the Western Utah desert. In 2021, Bennion received the Lifetime Achievement Award from The Association for Mormon Letters.

Biographical / Historical

Levi Savage Peterson was born to Joseph Peterson and Lydia Jane Savage on December 12, 1933, in Snowflake, Arizona. Peterson is a biographer, essayist, and fiction writer, and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served a mission for the Church in France and Belgium from 1954 to 1957. Peterson was educated at Brigham Young University and University of Utah and taught in the English Department at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, until retiring in 2000. Peterson also served as a president of the Association for Mormon Letters, from which he also received several awards.

Extent

8 boxes (4 linear ft.)

1 half box (0.25 linear ft.)

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement

Arranged in two series: 1. Association for Mormon Letters corporate records, 1981-2003. 2. Association for Mormon Letters newsletter and annual program production materials, 1979-2014.

Custodial History

The papers were first donated on November 19, 1999, by John S. Bennion, as agreed upon by the Board of Directors of The Association for Mormon Letters. Additional materials donated by John Bennion on June 17, 2022.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated; John S. Bennion; 1999.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated; John Bennion; June 2022.

Appraisal

Utah and American West and LDS cultural, social, and religious history (20th Century Western & Mormon Manuscripts collection development policy, 5.VII, 2007).

Processing Information

Processed; Brad Westwood; 2001.

Title
Register of the Association for Mormon Letters records
Status
Completed
Author
Brad Westwood
Date
2001
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English in Latin script.
Sponsor
Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant, 2007-2008

Repository Details

Part of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Repository

Contact:
1130 HBLL
Brigham Young University
Provo Utah 84602 United States