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A spread of seven papers demonstrating the literary output of Saint Louis.
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John M. Olin Library, Ginkgo Reading Room

Literary St. Louis

Home to literary giants Mark Twain, T.S. Eliot, Marianne Moore, Maya Angelou, and John Keene (to name a few!), St. Louis is renowned for its literary roots—a history that lives on in its vibrant literary arts scene.

A packed bar of people attending an event.
Audience members watching the Arthur Brown Memorial Reading at Duff’s on July 22, 1990. Photograph by Paul C. Neuenkirk

The Literary St. Louis exhibition traces the literary arts in St. Louis through the lens of three institutions that served as creative hubs in the region from the 1970s to now—River Styx, the International Writers Center, and the Fort Gondo/100 Boots poetry series—and ends with a celebration of WashU’s new Center for the Literary Arts.

Postdoctoral fellow with the WashU Center for the Literary Arts Ashley Colley organized this exhibition.