“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
“Work An’ Buy Yo’ Freedom”: The Story of Henry Washington’s Promise To His Mother
150 years ago this day, Mary Ann Cord told the story of being separated from her son at a human auction and reunited with him during Sherman’s March.
Criticism LTD: Continuing The Dialogue (A Project Narrative Event)
Originally posted by: Center for Mark Twain Studies on February 26, 2024 SpotifyApple PodcastsRecorded at The Ohio State University, as part of the Project Narrative series, Matt Seybold reflects on the making of “Criticism LTD” [3:15], as well as ongoing Ponzi...
Close Reading Feudalism(s) in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with James Phelan (A Project Narrative Crossover)
Originally posted by: Center for Mark Twain Studies on February 23, 2024SpotifyApple PodcastsFrom the production studios of The Ohio State University, Matt Seybold, the host of The American Vandal Podcast, and James Phelan, the Director of Project Narrative, read...
2027 QUARRY FARM FELLOWSHIP GUIDELINES
VISITING THE MARK TWAIN STUDY
ALL CMTS 2025 LECTURES
All CFPs for Elmira 2026: The Tenth International Conference
on the State of Mark Twain Studies & Graduate Student Workshop
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
First Book Institute
Center for American Literary Studies (CALS) at Pennsylvania State University
Application Deadline: February 9, 2026
J19 Online Forum on “Big Jim and the White Boy”
by David F. Walker and Marcus Kwame Anderson
February 10, 2026
Registration Information Available
CFP: American Humor Studies Association at Elmira 2026: The Tenth International Conference on the State of Mark Twain Studies (Paper Panel and Roundtable)
July 30 – August 1 – Elmira, New York
CFP Deadline: February 13, 2026
CFP: Mark Twain Circle at Elmira 2026: The Tenth International Conference on the State of Mark Twain Studies (Two Paper Panels and Roundtable)
July 30 – August 1 – Elmira, New York
CFP Deadline: February 15, 2026
CFP: Elmira 2026: The Tenth International Conference on the State of Mark Twain Studies
July 30 – August 1 – Elmira, New York
CFP Deadline: February 20, 2026
CFP: The Second Quarry Farm Graduate Student Workshop: From Seminar Paper to Academic Article”
August 3 – August 7 – Elmira, New York
CFP Deadline: February 20, 2026
“Twainian Regeneration: Adaptations of the Works, Life, and Legacy of Mark Twain” at NEMLA
2026 Northeast Modern Language Association Conference
Pittsburgh, PA – March 5-8, 2026
Mark Twain Circle at 2026 ALA Conference
May 20-23, 2026 – Chicago, Illinois
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