AML Announcements & Awards

(Sounds like a sacrament mtg releasing/calling & sustaining of church officers)

Eric Samuelson (past-president): Boyd and I decided AML wouldn't die on our watch. Kept it healthy through difficult times. Revamped website; Irreantum in good hands; new blog, etc.

Margaret Blair Young, new prez: won't die on my watch either. Mormon letters on the cusp of great things.

Ask not what AML can do for you, but what you can do for AML.

Support options:
1. $10 contribution for next year's conf.
2. $25 sustaining member of AML (gets membership in AML + Irresntum subscription)
3. $50 honor contribution, helps fund mtgs
4. $100 makes AML contests possible
5. $200+ allowing movement beyond AML's present boarders

Part of vision for AML: go international. Forge connections beyond present boundaries.

Scott Bronson: awards

*Award for online writing: Sandra Taylor, onecobble.com

one cobble at a time, blog

Collection of/connections b/w entries

*Humor: wit leads to wisdom

Elna Baker: New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance

*Short Fiction: Larry Menlove, Path of Antelope, Pelican, and ??? (published in Irreantum)

*Memoir: Kathryn Lynard Soper, The Year My Son and I Were Born

*YA Lit: Carol Lynch Williams, The Chosen One

Struggle against polygamy. Williams' heart is in every word of this book.

*Poetry: Lance Larsen, Backyard Alchemy

Speaks softly and leads our poems where they yearn to wander. Awakens in our minds subtle new insights into what we've taken for granted. He draws us toward the Divine.

*Publishing: Chris Bigelow, Zarahemla Books

Critically acclaimed and culturally relevant books for the Mormon market. Serving with diligence and conviction.

*Film: Dennis Packer/Packard (?), et al., Fire Creek,

Compelling exploration of being fallen, then raised up. Commitment to redemption through Christ. "This film aspires to great things."

*Drama: Melissa Leilani Larson, Little Happy Secrets

Dark and dangerous spaces where the political and personal crash, choosing to light a candle. Compassionate, compelling.

*Honorable Mention: Jamie Ford, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Romance b/w Japanese-American girl and Chinese-American boy. Chance to heal.

*Novel: Todd Petersen, Rift

Get out of Jens Thorsen's way. Each sentence artfully crafted, cajoling readers on. Great sense of humor. Explores rift b/w two men in small community.

*Special Award—Service to AML: Kathleen Dalton Woodbury

*Smith-Petit Lifetime Achievement Award: Levi Petersen

Gifted, ironic, pressing. Found grace in unsuspecting places. Mormon-others are always in God's hands. (No sure what I think of that term: Mormon-others.)

*Contribution for the study of Mormon Film: James D'Arc

The giant upon whose shoulders we all stand when studying Mormon Film.


(Notes taken during the changing of the guard and the awards "ceremony")


- Tyler-at-large: chasing clouds, blogging live