The International Raymond Carver Society
Welcome to the International Raymond Carver Society (IRCS). The purpose of the IRCS is to encourage worldwide interest in and study of the works and life of American writer Raymond Carver (1938-1988). Our goal is to promote activities that lead to the exchange of ideas and information about Carver by sponsoring sessions at conferences, organizing occasional international symposiums, and publishing an updated bibliography relevant to the study of Carver. We hope our website and activities facilitate communication between scholars, students, and general enthusiasts of Carver around the world.
Brief History
The International Raymond Carver Society was founded by a group of panelists presenting on Carver at the 2005 American Literature Association convention in Boston. In 2006, the interim officers of the Society started a busy period of establishment, recruiting members, sponsoring sessions at several conferences, and pursuing affiliation with the American Literature Association and other literary organizations.
There are currently over 50 registered members of the International Raymond Carver Society, from Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Russia, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Wales, and the United States. The IRCS is affiliated with the Midwest Modern Language Association, The Louisville Conference on Literature and Culture since 1900, and other literary organizations, as well as The Raymond Carver Review, which operates out of St. Jerome’s University in Waterloo, Ontario, and Kent State University at Stark in North Canton, Ohio.
Membership
The International Raymond Carver Society is a non-profit organization, and membership is free. Members may join the IRCS to receive pre-calls for conference panels and other pertinent news regarding new publications or upcoming events. Members may chair panel sessions hosted by the IRCS, submit proposals for activities, be selected for panel or roundtable presentations, and attend IRCS meetings. To request membership in the IRCS, please fill out the contact form.
Officers of the International Raymond Carver Society
Photo: ©Bob Adelman Estate
Executive Committee:
Director: Molly Fuller, United States
Assistant Director: Chad Wriglesworth, Canada
Executive Officers: Claire Fabre-Clark, France GP. Lainsbury, Canada Robert Miltner, United States
Advisory Board:
Sandra Lee Kleppe, Norway
Vasiliki Fachard, Switzerland
Randolph Runyon, United States
“There has to be tension, a sense that something is imminent, that certain things are in relentless motion, or else, more often, there simply won’t be a story. What creates tension in a piece of fiction is partly the way the concrete words are linked together to make up the visible action of the story. But it’s also the things that are left out, that are implied, the landscape just under the smooth (but sometimes broken and unsettled) surface of things.”
| "On Writing," Raymond Carver