Professors, authors, and scholars from BYU in Provo, BYU-Idaho, and all around the world met to present and discuss about Mormon literature and culture at the annual Association for Mormon Letters (AML) conference.
For the first time in its 39-year history, the AML, a nonprofit focused on the promotion of Mormon literature, held its annual conference at BYU–Hawaii on March 4 and 5 according to AML President Dr. Joseph Plicka.
He described the AML as an academic literary organization dedicated to the study, development and promotion of Mormon literature and artists. The yearly conference is a way for people interested in such things to formally gather, discuss, and make plans. “So there’s an intellectual aspect to it, a social aspect to it, even maybe a little bit of a business aspect to it,” said Plicka.
“To some extent it went very successfully,” said Plicka of the conference. “Sometimes we had upwards of 50 people in a session, which is pretty remarkable.”
Also a BYUH Assistant Professor of English, Dr. Joseph Plicka, orchestrated the conference. He said previous AML President Margaret Young suggested the conference be held at BYUH to “give the organization more international viability.”
Scott Hales from Eagle Mountain, Utah, who works at the Church History Department, said he has been a member of AML for the past couple of years and attended past conferences.
“Usually we have our conferences at Utah Valley University,” said Hales. “This is a much more diverse campus, a lot more variety of speakers at this one. It feels like there’s kind of a new burst of energy in the Association for Mormon Letters, and I think a lot of it has to do with getting us out of Utah and into this exciting new spot.”
Hales’ presentation “‘Are We Americans?’: Nephi Anderson, the Novel, and Global Mormon Identity,” discussed the work of renowned Mormon author Nephi Anderson and its implications. “I’m a big Nephi Anderson fanboy, probably the only one in the world,” said Hales.
Other presentations dealt with topics such as Mormonism in Nigeria by Russell Stevenson of Michigan State University; how blogging helps early returned missionaries by Lauren Baldwin of BYU-Idaho; artistic responses to the LGBT policy change by Rixa Freeze of Wabash College, and Mormon literature in Japan by Andrew Hall of Kyushu University in Japan.
Besides being able to discuss Mormon literature and visit Hawaii, Andrew Halls said he loved this year’s conference because it brought many new members together.
“It started out as kind of a thing for BYU English Department kind of people, but now it’s a pretty Internet group through the blog,” said Halls. “A lot of people have never actually met each other, so today is the first time that I’ve met a lot of people that I know very well. They’re my Internet friends from halfway around the world.”
“My favorite part, beyond it all, was just meeting everybody,” said Plicka. “After working on this for many months, even the course of a year or two thinking about it, to finally get everyone here to meet them in person, many people I’d been emailing for a long time and never even met them, to feel those mutual feelings of love and appreciation.”
The conference included a total of 21 presentations and readings, including that of poetry. Plicka said, “The poetry was gorgeous and lovely, and I loved that.” There was a screening and Q&A with the director of the film “Freetown” (2015), and the annual AML Awards Ceremony, which was held on March 5.
The AML Awards Ceremony recognized authors and artists, including: Joey Franklin in the Creative Nonfiction category, Nephi Anderson for his novel “Dorian,” and Brittany Long Olsen for her comic “Dendo: One Year and One Half in Japan.”
Eric Freeze, professor at Wabash College in Indiana and 2014 AML award winner for his novel “Hemingway on a Bike” said, “I learned that Mormon writers need to take more risks, and I learned there are a lot more LDS writers and artists producing good work, especially for young adult and middle grade fiction.”
BYUH President John S. Tanner, a former AML president, was the featured keynote speaker on Friday night. He spoke about the importance of studying humanities and using the mind as an instrument of love. Acclaimed Mormon authors Teryl and Fiona Givens concluded the conference.
“It was just one conference,” continued Plicka. “It’s too early to tell what will happen, but I think there was a feeling of optimism and hope, and even a little bit of joy to see so many people come out, see the community come out and feel the enthusiasm and get this robust exchange of ideas and people.”
A full list of 2015 AML Award winners as well as past winners, news updates, and a detailed catalog of Mormon literature and art can be found at the AML blog, “Dawning of a Brighter Day.”