William H. Gass Centenary Celebration

On October 3, 2024, WashU Libraries hosted a centenary celebration of William H. Gass (1924–2017), an esteemed writer, distinguished professor emeritus, and prominent member of the Modern Literature Collection. The event was just one way we commemorated Gass this year. To learn more about these other activities, please visit our event page.

The program started in Holmes Lounge with Mimi Calter, University Librarian and Vice Provost, giving welcome remarks. Then, a panel of former students and colleagues gave presentations and had a discussion moderated by Ted Morrissey, a novelist, educator, publisher, and Gass scholar.

Patrick Davis, founder and editor of Unbound Edition Press, talked about the major moments of Gass’s impact on his life: from first reading him to working closely with him during graduate school to the publication of The Tunnel, Gass’s 1995 novel, and the role all of this played in how Unbound Edition Press got started.

Next, Michelle Komie, Publisher for Art and Architecture at Princeton University Press, talked about the workings, programs, and publications of the International Writer’s Center, which Gass co-founded in 1990 and directed until 2001. Komie worked at the IWC with Gass and associate director Lorin Cuoco for three years. She discussed how Gass’s work there involved students and resonated in the community.

Then, Gerhild Williams, the Barbara Schaps Thomas & David M. Thomas Professor Emeritus in the Humanities at WashU, spoke of her years as a colleague of Gass’s at WashU, with a focus on his devotion to faculty, students, family, and the written word, as well as his work as a translator of Rilke. She then described the importance of the International Writers Center in upholding academic freedom and in bringing the best writers and translators from around the world to St. Louis.

Following a short break, WashU’s Martin Riker sat down with novelist and Conjunctions founder and editor, Bradford Morrow, for a conversation about Morrow’s long friendship with Gass. Morrow taught at Bard College and invited Gass to speak to his classes a few times, much to the students’ delight. He commented that to hear Gass read was an event, in many senses of the word.

Morrow recalls seeking out Gass at the beginning of Conjunctions and how they “hit it off” right away (there are over 700 letters between them at two archives). They bonded over their respective bibliomania and enjoyed visiting bookstores together. Morrow put his Gass friendship in context with other luminary writers and talked about Gass’s important contributions to the long success of Conjunctions.

Morrow wrapped up by telling an amusing story of Stephen King lauding Gass and reading from The Tunnel at one of his own readings, which Gass couldn’t believe when he heard about from Morrow the next day. Then Riker invited questions and comments from the audience.

We handed out free “On Being Blue” broadsides, which were designed and printed in collaboration with the Nancy Spirtas Kranzberg Studio for the Illustrated Book. Also, we gave away buttons Patrick Davis made of Gass quotes (and an IWC slogan), and the remaining copies of the 1991 “Fifty Literary Pillars” exhibition catalog. The broadside and buttons are still available to order. Contact joelminor@wustl.edu to find out more.

Following the program, we hosted a reception and exhibition viewing in Olin Library. William H. Gass: Fifty New Acquisitions is on display until April 13, 2025, and digitized content can be accessed on the digital exhibition The Soul Inside the Sentence. This includes audio clips from newly acquired cassette tapes containing interviews with and talks by Gass.

Photos from the exhibition viewing in Olin Library