Parks Lanier Appalachian Literature Collection , 1955-2008

Access and use

Location of collection:
Radford University
University Archives
McConnell Library
Radford University
P.O. Box 6881
801 East Main Street
Radford, VA 24142
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Bud Bennett
Phone: (540) 831-5694
Phone: (540) 831-5701

Summary

Extent:
31.0 Linear feet Contains 380 books, extensive collections of three journal titles, and four boxes of documents and other materials.
Creator:
Parks Lanier
Abstract:
Contains books, journals, papers, maps, correspondence, cassette tapes, and ephemera of Parks Lanier from 1955-2008. See the full collection finding aid here. Books can be searched through this link to the library's online catalog: Parks Lanier Appalachian Literature Collection.
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

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.

Biographical / historical:

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.

Acquisition information:
Donated by Dr. Parks Lanier.
Arrangement:

Box 1: Marilou Awiakta materials

Box 2: Reviews, press releases, correspondence

Box 3: Now and Then Magazine

Box 4: Book jackets

Physical location:
Located in locked compact shelving, level 1.
Physical description:
.