Call for Papers

William H. Gass at 100: Essays

The year 2024 will mark the centenary of William H. Gass (1924-2017), and a collection of essays examining the work of the influential author and educator will be published by Twelve Winters Press, edited by long-time Gass scholar Ted Morrissey. Gass—who was born in Fargo, ND, grew up in Ohio, and taught primarily at Purdue University and Washington University in St. Louis, home of the William H. Gass papers—is perhaps best known for his massive and controversial novel The Tunnel (1995), famously 26 years in the writing and winner of the American Book Award (1996). He produced two other novels, Omensetter’s Luck (1966) and Middle C (2013); the highly experimental novella Willie Masters’ Lonesome Wife (1968); a collection of novellas, Cartesian Sonata (1998); two story collections, In the Heart of the Heart of the Country (1968) and Eyes (2015); the book-length essay On Being Blue (1975); and several collections of essays, including the influential Fiction and the Figures of Life (1970). The William H. Gass Reader appeared after his death in 2018. Among his many awards and accomplishments was founding the International Writers Center at Washington University, which he directed from 1990 until his retirement in 2000. His fiction and criticism won numerous awards, as did his teaching and his contributions in general to the literary community.

Essays in the collection could focus on any aspect of Gass’s life and literary contributions, including but not limited to . . .

• his works of fiction, including the less-discussed later works;
• his largely unexamined collections of criticism;
• his aesthetic emphasis on style over more traditional narrative elements;
• his efforts to promote other writers, including writers from Europe and South America;
• his devotion to and translation of the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke;
• his debates with John Gardner regarding “moral fiction”;
• his copious contributions to literary journals, especially Conjunctions;
• and his regular appearance as a book reviewer, especially in The New York Review of Books.

Essays should be between 15 and 25 double-spaced pages (roughly), and preferably in MLA citation style (but not a requirement). Expressing interest in the project or asking questions of the editor by March 1, 2024, would be appreciated. Deadline for the finished essay is April 15, 2024.

The book is planned in print as well as digital editions, available for global distribution. A companion webpage may also be created. Contact Ted Morrissey at xii.winters@gmail.com – please put “Gass Essay Project” in the subject line.

About the Editor

Ted Morrissey (Ph.D., Illinois State University, 2009) has been devoted to the work of William H. Gass for nearly 15 years, and during that time has been actively “preaching the Gass-pel” via articles, conference papers, thetunnelat25.com online symposium, and readings in Trauma Theory as an Approach to Analyzing Literary Texts (Twelve Winters, 2021). He has taught at University of Illinois and Benedictine University (Springfield campuses). Since 2016 he has been a lecturer in Lindenwood University’s MFA in Writing program. He also teaches for Southern New Hampshire University. All of his Gass papers can be accessed at his blog and several via Academia.edu. Visit tedmorrissey.com and his various social media sites.