“We are perched on a hill top that overlooks a little world of green valleys, shining rivers, sumptuous forests and billowy uplands veiled in the haze of distance. We have no neighbors. It is the quietest of all quiet places, and we are hermits that eschew caves and live in the sun.”
~ Mark Twain
ABOUT THE CENTER FOR MARK TWAIN STUDIES
Mark Twain wrote his most famous works in an octagonal study overlooking Elmira, NY, the hometown of his wife, Olivia. For more than two decades the Clemens family summered with Olivia’s siblings at Quarry Farm. All are buried at the nearby Woodlawn Cemetery. In 1983, both Quarry Farm and the study, since relocated to the Elmira College campus, became part of the Center for Mark Twain Studies. CMTS is dedicated to serving an international community of scholars interested in approaching Mark Twain Studies from a variety of different approaches and disciplines.
RECENT ARTICLES
“Jean Clemens” Information Page Now Available
Editor's Note: CMTS is committed to giving accurate, accessible information related to Mark Twain, his literature, his circle, and his world. These resource pages have been written by Mark Twain scholars, often times experts in the particular field. These are meant...
Registration for Ron Chernow’s Talk at Elmira College Now Open
Wednesday, October 8 in Gibson Theater, Elmira College (7:00 PM) Ron Chernow's Mark Twain Book Tour Ron Chernow, Pulitzer-Prize Winning Biographer Mark Twain ranks as America’s most beloved humorist, the largest literary figure this country has produced. Posterity...
CFP: W.D. Howells Society at 2026 ALA Chicago
The W.D. Howells Society will host two panels at the American Literature Association’s 37th annual conference, which will meet at the Palmer House in Chicago, May 20-23, 2026 (Wednesday through Saturday of Memorial Day weekend). PANEL 1: HOWELLS & MEDIA From...
2027 QUARRY FARM FELLOWSHIP GUIDELINES
VISITING THE MARK TWAIN STUDY
2026 FALL TROUBLE BEGINS LECTURES
2026 QUARRY FARM SYMPOSIUM: “BLACK CHILDHOOD AND CHILDREN’S LITERATURE IN THE 19th CENTURY”
MARK TWAIN DAY BY DAY
TROUBLE BEGINS
LECTURE ARCHIVES
ONLINE RESOURCES
FOR MARK TWAIN STUDIES
THE MARK TWAIN ARCHIVE
PHOTO GALLERY
RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS & STUDENTS
QUARRY FARM TESTIMONIALS
“FROM THE STUDY”
CMTS POST INDEX
PAST CONFERENCES & SYMPOSIA
KEEP MARK TWAIN’S LEGACY ALIVE
Upcoming Events & Calls for Papers
The Thirteenth Quarry Farm Symposium –
“Black Childhood and Children’s Literature in the Nineteenth Century”
October 16 and October 17, 2026 – Elmira, New York
CFP: “Speculative Souths” Symposium
Denbo Center for the Humaniteis and Arts
CFP Deadline: November 2, 2026
June 10-12, 2026 – Knoxville, Tennessee
Mark Twain Circle at South Atlantic Modern Langages Association 2026 Conference
November 5-7, 2026 – Atlanta, Georgia
Mark Twain Circle at Pacific Ancient and Modern Langages Association 2026 Conference
November 12-15, 2026 – Seattle, Washington