Mormon writers and those interested in Mormon writing are about to
gather for the 2008 annual conference of the Association for Mormon
Letters, to be held Saturday, March 8, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., mostly
at the Ernest L. Wilkinson Student Center at Brigham Young University.
The theme is "The Scriptures as Literature, Literature as Scripture."
The keynote speaker is Harold Rawlings, a noted Bible scholar. A
prolific Baptist pastor, author and lecturer, he operates the Rawlings
Foundation in Florence, Ky. He holds a doctorate from Louisiana Baptist
University. He has collected one of the nation's finest private
collections of old Bibles and manuscripts, many of which he brings to
illustrate his lectures.
Rawlings is an expert on the problems of various translators of the
Bible, including John Wycliffe, William Tyndale and modern translators
who have met considerable resistance in trying to modernize the Bible
with language changes.
His book, "Trial By Fire: The Struggle to Get the Bible into English,"
is a popular study of the process of translation. He has also written
"Basic Baptist Beliefs." Rawlings will speak on "The History of the
Bible" from 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m. at the Harold B. Lee Library Auditorium.
Some of the speakers on Saturday morning include LDS writers John Hall
("BYU's New Testament Commentary Project); Ron Esplin and Bob Woodford
("The Joseph Smith Papers Project"); William Brugger ("Mormon Maritime
Migration in Meter"); and Don Parry ("Isaiah's Use of Double Meanings
in the Song of Suffering Servant — Isaiah 5:3).
From 12:30-2 p.m., there will be readings of student creative works and a luncheon and awards meeting.
Afternoon speakers include Kenny Mayes ("Parallelisms in the Book of
Mormon"); Scot Bayles "(Intertextuality in Scripture"); Alan Mitchell
("This New Song — Literary Qualities of the Doctrine and Covenants");
and Neal Kramer ("The Narrative Function of Nehor").
Susan Howe of BYU's English Department will moderate a panel on "The
Writings of Clinton W. Larsen." Members of the panel include Bruce
Jorgensen and Marilyn Brown Porter.
Other afternoon speakers will be Jeff Swift ("Last Chance: Moroni's
Motivations and Epistle Rhetoric"); Dallin Lewis ("Hearken, all ye
people: The Doctrine and Covenants as an Epic"); and Stephanie Johnson
("Book of Mormon as a Complex Literary Work").
The cost of the luncheon is $15 ($20 at the door). For registration and
information about other speakers, see the full schedule of the
conference, aml@mormonletters.org.