Each year we hold an Annual Conference in a major city in North America, with plenary panels and seminars covering a wide range of literary topics, and, often, presentations in film, music, and theatre. From our first conference (held in Minneapolis in 1995) to our most recent, we have celebrated the art of literature and encouraged the work of scholars, critics, and writers.

Another way we fulfill our mission is by encouraging local meetings. Organize/Host or attend a meeting of the ALSCW (or “a little literary festival,” as founding member and past president Rosanna Warren calls them) in your area. Recent local meetings have been held in Boston, New York City, Baton Rouge, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Colchester, Vermont. Topics included “The Art of the Sonnet,” “An Afternoon with the Faun,” “Milton’s Similes,” “Words and Music, Music and Words,” “Literature and Landscape,” and “Some Poetic Uses of the Word and.” Our most recent local meetings have featured prominent writers such as Rosellen Brown, Henri Cole, T.R. Hummer, two-time Grammy-winner Mike Mattison, Alicia Ostriker, Christopher Ricks, and Jean Valentine.

View photos from past local meetings below