Since the society incorporated as a 501c3, Marshall Boswell, an English professor at Rhodes College, has been writing out checks (10-15 per month) and following up with phone calls to square things when a check wasn’t received or when there … Continue reading →

The annual American Literature Association conferences provide an important opportunity for societies devoted to the work of individual American authors to gather, exchange research findings, and discuss issues related to the operation and development of their organizations. This was certainly … Continue reading →

James Plath is best known to fellow Updike enthusiasts as president of The John Updike Society and an Updike scholar who edited two books of Updike interviews. But he’s also a creative writer, and after spending two weeks at Quarry … Continue reading →

John Updike Society members may recall that Facebook’s not terribly intelligent Meta AI shut down The John Updike Society and The John Updike Childhood Home pages for alleged “impersonation.” Other single author societies, Roth included, were also shut down. The … Continue reading →

Ethan Hemmati, a second-year British-Iranian doctoral candidate in American Literature at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, was named as the recipient of the 2025 Robert M. Luscher Scholarship for travel to research collections for a project involving John Updike. … Continue reading →

If you’ve been accustomed to getting your Updike Society and John Updike Childhood Home news through Facebook, you might want to bookmark our webpages for future use instead. Yesterday Facebook suspended both sites because it was determined that they were … Continue reading →

RTS, the Serbian public broadcast service, took note of two Serbian scholars of John Updike appearing on a panel at the recent American Literature Association conference in Chicago. RTS interviewed Biljana Dojčinović and Nemanja Glintić for a segment that comes … Continue reading →

John Updike Society board member Sylvie Mathé was profiled in the series “Persistence of Character — Major interview: Archaeology of a journey” in e-Rea, electronic journal of studies on the English-speaking world. The series, published in French, tracks the breadth … Continue reading →

Sue Norton, Lecturer of English in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Technological University Dublin, Ireland, has accepted an invitation to join The John Updike Society Board of Directors. Her appointment is effective immediately. Sue has the distinction of having … Continue reading →

John Updike Society member Christopher Love, who directs American Writers in France study-abroad for The University of Alabama, said that he will teach Updike as one of the mid-20th century writers who resided in or traveled in France—a course he … Continue reading →

Chicago’s Palmer House will welcome back the American Literature Association Conference the end of May, once again opening its world-famous Tiffany peacock doors to scholars from all over the world. The John Updike Society will sponsor two panels: Friday, May … Continue reading →

The selection committee for the John Updike Tucson Casitas Fellowship has chosen Dr. Sue Norton, Lecturer of English in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Technological University Dublin, to serve as the first fellow in residence. The Fellowship, which … Continue reading →

Every two years, The John Updike Society holds a conference at a site with an Updike connection to celebrate the literature and legacy of the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer. For every conference, the society awards competitive Schiff Travel Grants to scholars … Continue reading →

James Plath, known in Updike circles as president of The John Updike Society and the editor of two volumes of Updike interviews, was named one of 11 Quarry Farm Fellows for 2023. He will receive $1000 and spend two weeks … Continue reading →

At the 6th Biennial John Updike Society Conference in Reading and Shillington, Pa., four members were surprised with awards in appreciation for their longtime service. The board members for this 501c3 nonprofit organization voted unanimously to honor David W. Ruoff … Continue reading →

It doesn’t add so much as a penny to your Amazon order total, and the website is identical. But if you bookmark https://smile.amazon.com and shop there instead of amazon.com, you can choose a charity to benefit . . . and … Continue reading →

John Updike Society president Jim Plath reports that he earned $10.70 for the society just by listing The John Updike Society as the charitable beneficiary on his account. He spent no more money, and did nothing special after the initial … Continue reading →

After holding conferences in Reading, Pa. (2010, 2014), Boston, Mass. (2012), and Columbia, S.C. (2016), The John Updike Society will travel abroad for the first time in in its brief history during the first week of June 2018. The 5th … Continue reading →

For half of its 13-year run, The Centaurian counted on Dave Lull to scour the Internet for Updike-related news so that editor James Yerkes could keep the site interesting and useful for scholars and the just-plain-readers Updike most appreciated. Then, two … Continue reading →