The John Updike Society was officially launched on May 24, 2009 at the 20th Annual American Literature Association Conference in Boston. The Society’s first roundtable, “John Updike: Fifty Years of Literary Influence,” was moderated by James Plath and featured panelists Marshall Boswell, Lawrence Broer, Jack De Bellis, and James Schiff. It was that core group, along with Updike’s Shillington, Pa., contact, Dave Silcox, who founded the Society. At the first business meeting, which immediately followed, members approved a mission statement and bylaws, then elected Plath as president/director, Schiff as director and editor of The John Updike Review, Peter Bailey as secretary/director, and Marshall Boswell, Jack De Bellis, Judith Newman, and David Parker Royal as the remaining directors on the board. Pictured (l to r) are Royal, Schiff, De Bellis, Plath, Boswell, and Bailey.
Our mission: The John Updike Society will be operated exclusively for the purposes of awakening and sustaining reader interest in the literature and life of John Updike, promoting literature written by Updike, and fostering and encouraging critical responses to Updike’s literary works.
Immediate plans for the society include publication of an annual refereed critical journal, The John Updike Review, and the hosting of biennial conferences in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and other places in which Updike spent time. Unless otherwise announced, the Society will hold its annual general membership meeting at the May conference of the American Literature Association, which alternates sites between Boston and San Francisco.