“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 a approaching Mark Twain Studies from a variety of different approaches and disciplines.
RECENT ARTICLES
CFP: “Twainian Regeneration: Adaptations of the Works, Life, and Legacy of Mark Twain” at NEMLA
2026 Northeast Modern Language Association Conference March 5-8, 2026 - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania "Twainian Regeneration: Adaptations of the Works, Life, and Legacy of Mark Twain" Sponsored by the Mark Twain Circle of America Michael Torregrossa (Bristol Community...
Toni Morrison Collective: Celebrating The 70th Anniversary of her Cornell Degree (MA 1955)
Celebrating The 70th Anniversary of her Cornell Degree (MA 1955) Toni Morrison: Literature and Public Life September 18-21, 2025 Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Cornell University’s Toni Morrison Collective in collaboration with the Toni Morrison...
Howard Concludes the 2025 Park Church Summer Lectures
The 2025 Park Church Summer Lecture Series presented by the Center for Mark Twain Studies (CMTS) begins at 7:00 p.m., Wednesday, July 16 at the historic Park Church, known for its architecture and connection to Mark Twain and his close family and friends. Located at...
2027 QUARRY FARM FELLOWSHIP GUIDELINES
VISITING THE MARK TWAIN STUDY
2026 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 Second Quarry Farm Graduate Student Workshop: From Seminar Paper to Academic Article”
August 3 – August 7 – Elmira, New York
Mark Twain Circle at South Atlantic Modern Langages Association 2026 Conference
CFP Deadline: September 1, 2026
November 5-7, 2026 – Atlanta, Georgia
Call for Abstracts: Judith Yaross Lee Publication Grant in American Humor Studies
Abstract Deadline – September 10, 2026
CFP: The Thirteenth Quarry Farm Symposium –
“Black Childhood and Children’s Literature in the Nineteenth Century”
October 16 and October 17 – Elmira, New York
Accepting applictions until roster is filled
Mark Twain Circle at Pacific Ancient and Modern Langages Association 2026 Conference
November 12-15, 2026 – Seattle, Washington