“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
2020 Quarry Farm Symposium is Subject of Most Recent Episode of The American Vandal
Originally posted by: Center for Mark Twain Studies on November 2, 2020The 2020 Quarry Farm Weekend Symposium took place exactly one month ago. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s symposium was held online. You can watch all of the presentations on our YouTube...
Buried In The Rose Garden, And The Coroner Notified: Bill Clinton, Gore Vidal, & the Electoral Burlesque
In 1992 GQ placed the Democratic nominees on its November cover, over the headline “Huck and Tom: Gore Vidal Punches The Ticket.” In the cover story, Vidal, a distant cousin of the candidate for Vice President, rightly predicted that Bill Clinton and Al Gore would...
On A New Episode of The American Vandal, Susan K. Harris Discusses Her New Book on Mark Twain’s World Tour & Much More
Originally posted by: Center for Mark Twain Studies on October 26, 2020Susan K. Harris, author of Mark Twain, The World, & Me: Following the Equator, Then & Now, sits down with Matt Seybold to discuss the project that took her to Australia, India, New Zealand,...
2027 QUARRY FARM FELLOWSHIP GUIDELINES
VISITING THE MARK TWAIN STUDY
2026 PARK CHURCH SUMMER LECTURES
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
Elmira 2026: The Tenth International Conference
on the State of Mark Twain Studies
July 30 – August 1 – Elmira, New York
The Second Quarry Farm Graduate Student Workshop: From Seminar Paper to Academic Article”
August 3 – August 7 – Elmira, New York
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 2026 PAMLA Conference
November 12-15, 2026 – Seattle, Washington