BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – A newly formed organization devoted to the works of Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist John Updike will be headed by Illinois Wesleyan University English Department Chair James Plath.
At the American Literature Association’s annual conference in Boston May 24, Updike scholars formed The John Updike Society. The group, which includes 40 scholars from five countries, plans to publish a journal of Updike studies and to host conferences in places where the author worked and lived, like Pennsylvania and Boston. Illinois Wesleyan will host the society’s Web site.
“What John Updike has done for American literature is astounding,” Plath said. “His work connects us with our American literary past, and he is forever a part of that now.” Plath has studied Updike for more than 20 years. His interest in the novelist was first piqued during an English class at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Plath began a correspondence with the author, and eventually wrote his dissertation on “The Painterly Aspects of John Updike’s Fiction.” He also worked closely with the novelist while editing the book Conversations with John Updike in 1994.