The Monroeville Literary Festival and the Association of College English Teachers of Alabama are pleased to announce that Dr. Alan Gribben has been selected as the recipient of the 2021 Eugene Current-Garcia Award for Alabama’s Distinguished Literary Scholar. The Eugene Current-Garcia Award for Alabama's Distinguished Literary Scholar is selected annually by the Association of College English Teachers of Alabama. It is awarded to notable scholars with Alabama roots, or who have made significant contributions to the study of the literary arts in Alabama. It is named in memory of the founding editor of the Southern Humanities Review, Eugene Current-Garcia. The award is sponsored by George Landegger.
Dr. Alan Gribben devoted forty-five years to university teaching experience and administration, most recently as Professor of English, Auburn University at Montgomery, 1991-2019; previously, Head, Department of English and Philosophy, Auburn University at Montgomery, 1991-2010; Director, English Composition Program, Auburn University at Montgomery, 2007-09; Faculty representative, Auburn University Board of Trustees, 2003-09; President, Department Heads Council, Auburn University at Montgomery, 2003-06, 2008-09. Before his move to Auburn University at Montgomery, Dr. Gribben was Professor of English, University of Texas at Austin, 1988-1991; Associate Professor of English, University of Texas at Austin, 1980-88; Chairman, English Graduate Studies, University of Texas at Austin, 1984-88; Assistant Professor of English, University of Texas at Austin, 1974-1980. He began his teaching career as an English instructor at the University of California at Berkeley, 1972-73. From 1967 to 1974, Dr. Gribben was an assistant research editor for the Mark Twain Project, Bancroft Library, University of California at Berkeley.
Dr. Gribben’s main scholarly work is Mark Twain’s Literary Resources: A Reconstruction of His Library and Reading (3 vols.). Volume One appeared in 2019. This fifty-year project to locate, catalog, and evaluate Mark Twain’s literary resources received praise from Publishers’ Weekly (“scrupulously researched”), Frederick Crews (“masterwork”), Joe B. Fulton (“definitive guide to Mark Twain’s intellectual universe”), Maxine Hong Kingston (“magnificent”), and Kevin Mac Donnell (“a model for all future enquiries into the wellsprings of the creative process”).
Dr. Gribben has been recognized for exceptional classroom teaching and university service. He was the inaugural recipient of the “Excellence Through Diversity Award,” Auburn University at Montgomery, 2015; the “Nance Alumni Professorship,” Auburn University at Montgomery, 2006-09; the “Alumni Faculty Service Award,” Auburn University at Montgomery, 2005; the “Distinguished Research Professorship,” Auburn University at Montgomery, 1998-2001; and the “President’s Associates Teaching Excellence Award,” University of Texas at Austin, 1983.
Dr. Gribben was the Editor and Publisher of the Mark Twain Journal: The Author and His Era (scholarly journal), 2009-2020. He is also the editor, author, or reviewer of the following works: reviewer, “Mark Twain” essays in American Literary Scholarship: An Annual, 1995-2010, 2012; editor, Mark Twain’s Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn (two versions), 2011; co-editor, Mark Twain on the Move: A Travel Reader, 2009; author, Harry Huntt Ransom: Intellect in Motion (biography), 2008; co-editor, Overland with Mark Twain, 1992; Editor, “‘The Heart Is Insatiable’: A Selection from Edith Wharton’s Letters to Morton Fullerton, 1907-1915,” The Library Chronicle, 1985; editor, Mark Twain’s Rubáiyát, 1983; author, Mark Twain’s Library: A Reconstruction, 1980. Dr. Gribben has been a frequent contributor to scholarly journals.
Dr. Gribben served on the Alabama State Graduation Requirements Task Force, 1995-96; was Co-chair, “The State of Mark Twain Studies” international conference, Elmira College, New York, 1993; and Co-chair, “Cotton: The Fiber, The Land, The People” national conference, Auburn University at Montgomery, 1994. He has served as an Honorary Trustee, Mark Twain House and Museum, Hartford, Connecticut, 1980-present; Special consultant, Mark Twain Library Association, Redding, Connecticut, 1980-present; Member, Executive Board, American Literature Association, 1989-1996; Member, National Advisory Council, American Literature Section, Modern Language Association, 1985-87; Associate Editor, Libraries & Culture (journal), 1980-1990; Member of Editorial Boards, American Literary Realism (journal), 2004-present; Studies in American Realism and Naturalism Series, University of Alabama Press, 2005-present; Studies in American Humor (journal), 1982-2016; Western American Literature (journal), 1991-98; Studies in American Fiction (journal), 1988-1997; University of Mississippi Studies in English (journal), 1986-1997; Member, National Committee of Advisors, Center for Mark Twain Studies, Elmira College, 1987-2012.
Dr. Gribben’s honors include the “Henry Nash Smith Fellowship,” Center for Mark Twain Studies, Elmira College, 1997-99; a “Lifetime Honorary Membership,” Mark Twain Circle of America, inducted 1995; and the “Langdon Research Fellowship-in-Residence,” Quarry Farm, Elmira College, 1990. He was a co-founder of the Mark Twain Circle of America (a scholarly society), 1986, and was its president from 1987-89. He remains a consultant to various publishers, academic societies, and other scholars. Dr. Gribben is also a member of Phi Kappa Phi honor society. In 2019 he was awarded the rank of Professor Emeritus by Auburn University at Montgomery. In 2020 he was named Editor Emeritus of the Mark Twain Journal and serves on its editorial board.
Dr. Gribben earned a Ph.D. in English, University of California at Berkeley, 1974; an M.A. in English, University of Oregon at Eugene, 1966; and a B.A. in English, University of Kansas at Lawrence, 1964.
He will receive the Eugene Current-Garcia Award during the 2021 Monroeville Literary Festival in March. Further details are forthcoming at www.MonroevilleLiteraryFestival.com .
The Monroeville Literary Festival is a project of Coastal Alabama Community College. It is made possible with support from the Alabama State Council on the Arts. It is sponsored by the Georgia Pacific Foundation, George Landegger, the City of Monroeville, the Monroeville/Monroe County Chamber of Commerce, Monroeville Main Street, and the Monroe County Museum.