President's Message

A Healthy Heartbeat

At the February 24, 2001 annual meeting of the Association for Mormon Letters, long-time secretary Steven Sondrup recalled a time in AML history when the organization seemed nearly defunct because of few members and low finances. Happily, now an upward trend is strengthening the AML in both those areas and in public cognizance as well The AML literary awards are gaining increasing value. This spring you frequently encounter book advertising that emphasizes the AML awards. The Church News acknowledged the special award from the AML to President Gordon B. Hinckley for his nationally published book of essays Standing for Something. Deseret Book asked permission to apply the AML seal to two award winners they publish: Margaret Blair Young and Darius Gray's novel One More River to Cross and Patricia Holland's devotional collection The Quiet Heart.

The AML rotates board members, officers, and staff members. Our board taps into large sectors of the reading, writing, publishing, and scholarly communities. Currently serving are faculty members from BYU and Weber State, a publishing manager, technical writers, novelists, homemakers, and computer experts. This diversity invites multiple viewpoints and talents. A great energy comes from this group of volunteers. I feel privileged to serve one year as president.

Perhaps the AML's most important function is to promote literary networking. Some of that takes place on e-mail through the discussion group AML-List, with its reviews of new publications and idea exchanges. Other networking occurs in writing groups and at conferences. The AML web page aims to advertise current meetings and their topics. This vibrant publication Irreantum circulates recent creative work and introduces our literary personalities.

The annual meeting--to be held next year on March 2*--promotes scholarly discussion and commentaries on Mormon writing past and present. In addition, a fall writers' conference brings together a faculty of writers and publishers for practical how-to sessions. That conference, like our annual fund-raising lecture, features distinguished authors.

Expect announcements shortly of guest speakers at AML events. Test out the AML's revised web page at www.aml-online.org. And stay connected with us through AML-List, our e-mail address at aml@mormonletters.org, and letters to

Association for Mormon Letters
PO Box 970874
Orem UT 84097-0874

We value your contribution.

--Cherry B. Silver
Spring 2001