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[Identification of item], Parks Lanier Appalachian Literature Collection, Appalachian Collection, McConnell Library, Radford University, Radford, VA. Parks Lanier Appalachian Literature Collection , Accession # AC 016, University Archives, McConnell Library, Radford University
Donated by Dr. Parks Lanier.
No additonal materials are expected.
The Parks Lanier Appalachian Literature Collection is a gift from Dr. Parks Lanier, retired professor of English at Radford University and noted authority on Appalachian literature and poetry. Dr. Lanier donated books, journals, various documents, and materials related to Marilou Awiakta to the Appalachian Collection between 2009-2011.
Professor Lanier received his AB at Pfeiffer College and his MA and PhD at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. His teaching interests include British Romanticism, Appalachian studies, advanced grammar, the study of poetry, writing poetry, and composition. Originally, Dr. Lanier is from Georgia. At RU he helped found the Highland Summer Conference in 1978, and has been very active in Appalachian Studies since then. For the past fifteen years, he has produced archival videotape interviews of visiting HSC novelists, poets, scholars, and musicians. In 1988, he served as Program Chair for the ten-state regional Appalachian Studies Conference, and again for the 2005 Conference. For five years, he was president of the Appalachian Writers' Association, which honored him in 1998 for Outstanding Contributions to Appalachian Literature. In 1991, he edited and contributed essays to The Poetics of Appalachian Space, which was published by the University of Tennessee Press. In 2001, the Appalachian Region Community Head Start program of southwest Virginia invited him to give its conference's keynote address and recognized his outstanding efforts to preserve the Appalachian culture. His poems and essays on Appalachian themes have appeared in such places as The Appalachian Journal, Now and Then The Appalachian Magazine, Blue Ridge Country and Appalachian Heritage.
The Parks Lanier Appalachian Literature Collection contains 380 books of Appalachian fiction, poetry, history, culture, folklore, and literary criticism. It also contains extensive collections of three Appalachian journals (Appalachian Journal, Journal of Appalachian Studies, and Now & Then), materials on Marilou Awiakta and Selu, and other materials.
Box 1: Marilou Awiakta materials
Box 2: Reviews, press releases, correspondence
Box 3: Now and Then Magazine
Box 4: Book jackets