Association for Mormon Letters
Literary Awards
1980
The year 1979 was unusually fruitful for Mormon letters. Beyond the growing production of popular Mormon romances, Deseret book and Bookcraft published their first novels. There appeared, in addition, a collection of short stories, two volumes of poetry, a saga, and even an epic poem. If we add to these the impressive number of poems, stories, critical pieces, and plays published in 1979, we have perhaps a larger body of creative work by LDS authors than has appeared in any previous year. Much of this deserves recognition--work by Stephen Taylor, Randall Hall, Kristie Guynn, Emma Lou Thayne, Linda Sillitoe, Ann Best, Stephen Gould, Michael Fillerup, Dennis Clark, Iris Corry, Bruce Jorgensen, Clifton Jolley, Edward Geary, and others. Four works, however, have particular significance and were chosen for citation by the awards committee of the Association.
Short Fiction
The judges stated, "At a time when Wasatch-front Mormons find themselves an ever-smaller minority in the expanding Church, the work of Bela Petsco is a sign of the future among us." This collection, a series of linked stories featuring a central character, Mih ly Agyar, an ethnic Hungarian from New York, is significant "not only because it is refreshing and insightful in its own right, but also because it is the first of its kind--an important modern fictional work by and about a Latter-day Saint reared outside of the Wasatch-front cultural tradition."
Poetry
The judges stated that this collection of poems "impresses as a reflective exploration of the most Mormon of topics, the relationship of family and religious experience. The energy of the poems lies in their gentle co-mingling of dark profundity and engagingly informed naivete. Through them Clark has taught us that form indeed liberates, and that sonship may bristle at times with anger and cry out in pain, yet resolve in awe and celebration."
Poetry
According to the awards committee, "To Utah is a bringing together of forty years of poetic exploration. Hart's 'tribute and gift to those he loves becomes a tribute to his understanding of and devotion to the elements of his existence. Out of To Utah and his portrayal of the destruction caused by human frailty rises his sympathy for the pain of living and his faith in our ultimate success.' His 'reverence for the Word' resounds throughout To Utah, a book that 'spans his years and illuminates ours.'"
Criticism
The awards committee felt that Larsen's essay "embodies the important virtues of our discipline: solid scholarship, an excellent grasp of subject matter, and the careful workings of a keen analytical mind." "This critically perceptive survey of early Mormon poets makes an important contribution to Mormon literary history and is especially noteworthy as a model of undergraduate scholarship."