Association for Mormon Letters
Literary Awards

1983

Douglas H. Thayer. Summer Fire. Midvale, Utah: Orion Books, 1983.

The judges stated, "In this important work Thayer traces the confrontation of Owe, an unusually devout sixteen year old Mormon boy, with a usually hostile spiritual environment, and achieves, en route to Owen's humanizing, a refreshing human universality and reaffirmation of life and the necessity of 'opposition in all things'--all without lapsing into the didacticism which has so often plagued Mormon fiction. We commend Mr. Thayer, not only for his careful craftsmanship, the expectation for which he established in his collection of short stories, Under the Cottonwoods, but also for his imaginative and creative examination of Mormon themes which consistently strike universal chords."

In awarding this prize, the judges said, "Peterson demonstrates in these six stories an artistic versatility ranging from the profoundly symbolic to the delightfully comic. Peterson sets his stories in a moral Mormon universe in which his characters often struggle with their Mormon vision, cope sensitively with their guilt, and seek for redemption. With this brilliant collection, Peterson has raised the Mormon short story to a new level of artistic excellence and sophistication."

The judges stated, "In this remarkable sequence of outstanding poems, Larson displays poetic versatility and power in portraying deeply Christian faith in a variety of styles. Throughout this tapestry, Larson carefully weaves the Rose of Christ in styles ranging from Dante and Spenser to Herrick and Milton; he captures their styles brilliantly, yet adds his own touches, shaped by profound faith in the Word and the Word made flesh. These ten poems, brilliantly conceived and executed, are but the more recent publications in Larson's ever-growing corpus of fine poems which assure his position as the premier Mormon poet."

The awards committee stated, "In these poems this gifted young poet writes of simple but significant human experience in a controlled style which is vibrant with color and humor and joy. We commend her for these auspicious beginnings and, echoing the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson to Walt Whitman, we greet her at the beginning of a bright and promising literary career."

According to the awards committee, "All of these plays center on two fundamental themes: 'the consequences of unrighteous dominion and our concomitant need for what the Romans called "filial piety."' Rogers's characters confront the necessity of making strong moral choices which, when made, will forever after alter relationships with individuals and institutions. Posing difficult questions and challenges, Rogers unshrinkingly probes the consequences of standing for Truth in a world of ambiguities. In offering these plays, Rogers's contribution to Mormon letters is inestimable, and he joins therewith a small group of distinguished LDS playwrights in offering to thoughtful Latter-day Saints moral dramas which resound more with the echoes of Gethsemane and Carthage Jail than those of Added Upon and the Ward Road Show tradition. In this volume, Rogers has stirred Mormon drama to a giant leap forward."

In awarding this citation, the awards committee stated, "Speaking as one having authority and not of the scribes, England outlines, in this landmark article, the significant accomplishments of Mormon literature through three distinctive periods and suggests, if not a credo, the a near-credo for writers--and readers--of Mormon literature; and his attached bibliography has become a point of departure for all who would be knowledgeable in Mormon literary scholarship and England's article is a milestone in Mormon literary scholarship and yet another milestone in his career of major contributions to Mormon literature, a career which has thus far led him from founding and editing Dialogue to the presidency of the Association for Mormon Letters and his profession as a teacher of Mormon letters at Brigham Young University. In this article, as in so many of his works, England again reminds us why his name has become synonymous with Mormon literature."

Discussing these three volumes, the awards committee stated, "Expressively drawn, wonderfully incisive, and always witty, Grondahl's cartoons graphically surpass Mark Twain's criteria for humor: They do not 'professedly teach,' nor do they 'professedly preach,' but in their inimitable way they teach and preach, as must all good humor, and thus are instructive to Latter-day Saints and non-Mormons alike about Mormon culture and society. Mr. Grondahl points a gentle, sympathetic, but probing finger at individual and institutional Mormon foibles, conceits, fancies, flaws, and sacred cows, and thus illuminates the gap between magnificent LDS aspirations and often-bumbling Mormon realities. In his work, which is a remarkable contribution to Mormon Americana, Grondahl performs a great service and thereby awakens among all of us a restorative and therapeutic laughter."

The judges stated, "Jolley's well-written, lighthearted, yet serious sequel to Eugene England's earlier article "Blessing the Chevrolet" demonstrates the power of humorous writing in reinforcing and promoting the Mormon world view. Positing a purposeful, God-centered universe, Jolley, whose delightful column in the Deseret News has gathered a large and appreciative audience, plays in this article on the incongruity between skepticism and faith--and refreshingly allows skepticism to take it on the chin from an unassuming but confident (and surprised) faith."

The awards committee said, "This collection goes far toward proving Peterson's thesis that 'good stories are appearing among the Mormons, greening like wheat in a Utah spring.' Centering in what Peterson has called 'the possibility of wrong behavior,' these stories variously examine the tension between Sainthood as fact and Sainthood as aspiration, between belief and doubt, and between expected blessings and the traumas of reality. Peterson has performed an important service for Mormon letters by collecting 'an abundant sampling of [Mormon] experience--comedy and tragedy, ecstasy and disillusionment, restraint and sensuality, heroism and failure, romance and defiance.' The Association for Mormon Letters commends Levi S. Peterson for making thee hitherto generally inaccessible stories available to a larger LDS and non-LDS audience."

Speaking of his contribution to Mormon literature, the awards committee stated, "Weyland's gift for lively narrative, his ability to touch the lives and hearts of young readers, and his skill at subordinating a good moral to good prose and an exciting story have long delighted young and old readers of The New Era. And such novels as Charly, Sam, The Reunion, and Pepper Tide, as well a collection of short stories, have kept young people reading his work, which has thus supplanted or at least supplemented the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, sci fi, and even television. Jack Weyland has blessed a generation with good stories well told, set in a real world peopled with the good and not-so-good but fathered by and centered in a caring God. Many of our young people are cutting their literary teeth on Weyland--and we should all be grateful."

To honor the tenth anniversary of the founding of the journal, the judges acknowledge this publication: "In an era in which Latter-day Saint women have been seeking to redefine their relationships with their church, Exponent II has blessed a generation of Mormon women with the opportunity to read and write, from within a framework of faith and the desire to believe, for and about the Latter-day Saint woman. Though the journal has opened its pages to a variety of excellent expression from across the whole gamut of faith, its editors have deftly reminded it readers, through selection and encouragement, of the necessity of sustained commitment to self-improvement centered in gospel principles fostered by the Restoration. Exponent II has thus remained an exponent not only of women, and particularly Mormon women, but of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We commend the several editors and their associates not only for keeping the torch lit, but for keeping it brightly fueled and well-passed over a significant decade which has meant so much to the growth of women within the Church and thus to the moral and spiritual refinement of the Church itself."

An excerpt from this citation stated, "Elder Maxwell, of the Quorum of the Twelve, is endowed with an exceptional ability to translate personal inspiration and revelation into sermons which in turn evoke such inspiration and revelation in the lives of his listeners. Perhaps it is not the duty of laymen to differentiate publicly among the clearly inspired sermons of the General Authorities or others, but it cannot be considered as speaking ill of the Lord's anointed to applaud and commend the sustained sensitivity and inspired excellence of Elder Maxwell's addresses to the Saints through his career as the Church Commissioner of Education, as a General Authority, and as an Apostle. His sermons, always carefully crafted, soar from their grounding in the Standard Works on images and cadences which reach out and move the whole range of Latter-day Saints as he teaches them concepts often taught but ne'er so well expressed."