In February 2002, the Wilder Society began a new series of publications, available to members only. The first of these is a short newsletter, entitled FYI, which contains updates of Wilder Society events and news.
The February 2002 FYI contained information about new Board members, a full list of our prestigious Honorary Directors, an announcement of the republication, by HarperCollins, of all seven Wilder novels in quality paperback editions, the publication of Wilder’s three Norton Lectures, new anthologies containing Wilder materials, and a detailed overview of Wilder work newly in translation. This final section is particularly impressive because it demonstrates Wilder’s global popularity, not only in English-speaking countries, but in languages such as Catalan, Lithuanian, and Hungarian, to name but a few.
The final section of the February of FYI will be helpful to all Wilder fans. In this section, we catalogue all Wilder events, particularly dramatic productions, according to region. You can use this section to discover a production of Wilder near you.
In April, the Society will publish its first Newsletter, available to members only, and intended to become a collector’s item. Articles in our Newsletter, to be designed by the gifted graphic artist Chip Kidd, will include not only an overview of Wilder in the 21st century; an article on Wilder’s fiction by our Board chairman J.D. McClatchy; an interview by Wilder’s literary executor and nephew Tappan Wilder; and the results of the Society’s collaborative project with the Lincoln Center Young Directors program. Each of these gifted young directors produced a Wilder one-act play, then wrote responses and thoughts, intended specifically for the Newsletter, on Wilder’s relevance today. In addition, the Society will release Wilder materials formerly unavailable to the public, such as short selections from Wilder’s letters, currently being edited by Board member Jackson R. Bryer and Robin Gibbs Wilder, anecdotes about Wilder, and some astonishing graphic art from programs of Wilder’s work at a number of points in his career.
Both FYI and the Newsletter will be regular features of the Society’s interest in informing members about Wilder studies. FYI will be published several times a year and will be available both in hardcopy and through email. The Newsletter, a longer and more ambitious production, will be published once or twice a year, and designed to be kept and treasured.
So join up now to receive your copy of these publications and to keep up to date with what’s new and current in Wilder events and studies.