Literary Society of the University of Massachusetts Collection Finding Aid : Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries

Read collection overview

In 1955, the Literary Society of the University of Massachusetts and Professor H. Leland Varley received a grant of $5,800 from the Educational Television and Radio Center to produce a series of one-hour radio programs centered on a discussion of the impact of eight major American novelists from a European perspective. The subjects included Henry James, Sinclair Lewis, Thomas Wolfe, Ernest Hemingway, John Dos Passos, William Faulkner, and John Steinbeck (who replaced the original choice, John Marquand).

The collection is comprised of administrative documents, transcripts, and sound recordings relating to the Literary Society radio program, 'As others see us.' Moderated by a member of the UMass Department of English, each broadcast featured discussions by distinguished literary critics such as W.H. Auden, R.P. Blackmur, Perry Miller, Maxwell Geismar, and Renato Poggioli. Dos Passos, Faulkner, and Steinbeck participated in person. Also included is a related item from an earlier program sponsored by the Literary Society: E.E. Cummings reading Twelve Poems.

Background on Literary Society of the University of Massachusetts

In 1955, the Literary Society of the University of Massachusetts and Professor H. Leland Varley received a grant of $5,800 from the Educational Television and Radio Center to produce a series of eight one-hour radio programs under the title "As Others Read Us: American Fiction Abroad." Each program was centered on a discussion of a major American novelist who, in the words of the grant, "had played a major part in earning European respect for American culture."

The series featured discussions of the work of writers Henry James, Sinclair Lewis, Thomas Wolfe, Ernest Hemingway, John Dos Passos, William Faulkner, and John Steinbeck (who replaced the original choice, John Marquand), by panelists that included distinguished literary critics ranging from W.H. Auden and R.P. Blackmur to Perry Miller, Maxwell Geismar, and Renato Poggioli.

Scope of collection

The collection is comprised of administrative documents, transcripts, and sound recordings relating to the Literary Society radio program, 'As others see us.' Moderated by a member of the UMass Department of English, each broadcast featured discussions by distinguished literary critics such as W.H. Auden, R.P. Blackmur, Perry Miller, Maxwell Geismar, and Renato Poggioli. Dos Passos, Faulkner, and Steinbeck participated in person. Also included is a related item from an earlier program sponsored by the Literary Society: E.E. Cummings reading Twelve Poems.

Inventory

As Others See us: introduction to the series

1956