The American Literature Association (ALA) is "a coalition of societies devoted to the study of American authors". It has some 110 affiliated societies, mostly concerned with the work of a particular author (e.g. the

Emily Dickinson International Society The Emily Dickinson International Society (EDIS) is an international organisation relating to American poet Emily Dickinson (1830–1886). It was founded in 1988 and its aim is to "Promote, perpetuate and enhance the study and appreciation of Emily ...

or the

Thoreau Society Founded in 1941, the Thoreau Society is the oldest and largest organization dedicated to an American author. It is based in Concord, Massachusetts, United States, at the house where Henry David Thoreau was born in 1817. With members from all 50 ...

), some thematic such as the

Society of Early Americanists The Society of Early Americanists (SEA) was founded in 1990 as an interdisciplinary association of scholars who study the literature and culture of America prior to about the year 1830. The non-profit society promotes the exchange of ideas and inf ...

. It was founded in 1989. It holds an annual conference, alternating between east coast and west coast venues, attracting about 850 delegates. Some societies choose to have one of their own main meetings as part of the ALA conference, and many sessions of the conference are sponsored by member societies. There are no plenary sessions at the conference, but seven or eight simultaneous events in each time slot. The ALA has an executive board and a "Council of American Authors Societies", which represents the member organizations. The executive director is

Alfred Bendixen Alfred Bendixen is a lecturer in the department of English at Princeton University and the founder and Executive Director of the American Literature Association. Bendixen gained a Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina in 1979, with a thesis ...

, who has held this post since the association's beginnings in 1989.

References

External links

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American Literature Association
listing at the University of Waterloo's Scholarly Societies Project
Archive of past ALA conferences
including programs for all conferences since 2001 Literary societies Supraorganizations Arts organizations based in New Jersey Arts organizations established in 1989 1989 establishments in the United States {{US-arts-org-stub