About the Map of Kansas Literature

This Map of Kansas Literature began is a project of Washburn University students who have enrolled in a Kansas Literature course titled Mapping Kansas Literature. Taught three times by Tom Averill of the English Department and Carol Yoho, then adjunct with the Art/CIS departments, the course is designed to combine a standard literature course with the use of Internet and Web technology. The site is created using Dreamweaver.

Each semester, students have a hefty list of required books. Their first assignment is to create a web page that is their response the work of one of those Kansas writers. Then, using the Overview of Kansas Literature, they are asked to select another Kansas writer to research for a second web page, to be posted by the end of the semester.

During the past several years, Tom Averill has been lucky to have the help of work-study students Miranda Ericsson-Kendall, Rachel Metzger, Jordan Loomis, Saleem Holden and Michelle Clearwater. Each has worked hard to create new pages, and to update existing ones, and the Center for Kansas Studies hopes to continue in that tradition.

We are proud to present the 155 pages we've posted so far, but we are aware that many Kansas writers who deserve a presence on our map have not yet been researched and included. We hope to continue to expand our contribution to the understanding of Kansas wrters and Kansas. Meanwhile, we have created as many links to as many other websites as we can find, and those are at the bottom of each Author page. As you follow those links, you will see a wealth of writers who have created, and continue to create, Kansas Literature.

If you have any questions about the map, or if you deserve a place on the map, or know of someone else who does, don't hesitate to contact Tom Averill at Washburn University: tom.averill@washburn.edu