“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
CFP – AHSA Zoom Series: Works in Progress by Emerging Scholars
CFP: AHSA Zoom Series, Spring 2026: Works in Progress by Emerging Scholars For its Spring 2026 Zoom series, AHSA seeks to continue its commitment to fostering the development of graduate students. To this end, AHSA plans to put together 2-3 panels of 2-3 graduate...
Dwayne Eutsey, Twain Scholar, Contributes a Quarry Farm Testimonial
“From Independent Scholar to Scrub Angel: My Time at Quarry Farm” (A Quarry Farm Testimonial) EDITOR’S NOTE: We occasionally feature testimonials from recent Quarry Farm Fellows and Residents, which combine conversational illustrations of their research and writing...
“The Noble Red Man” Information Page Now Available
Editor’s Note: CMTS is committed to giving accurate, accessible information related to Mark Twain, his literature, his circle, and his world. These resource pages have been written by Mark Twain scholars, often times experts in the particular field. These are meant...
2027 QUARRY FARM FELLOWSHIP GUIDELINES
VISITING THE MARK TWAIN STUDY
ALL CMTS 2025 LECTURES
CFP – 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
CFP: “Periodicals, Period: Humor and Nineteenth-Century American Newspapers and Magazines”
Special Issue of Studies in American Humor
CFP Deadline: January 1, 2026
Upcoming Fellowship Opportunities at
American Antiquarian Society
Application Deadline: January 15, 2026
CFP: American Humor Studies Association
at 2026 ALA Conference
May 20-23, 2026 – Chicago, Illinois
CFP Deadline: January 15, 2026
CFP: American Humor Studies Association Zoom Series – Works in Progress by Emerging Scholars
Virtual Event
CFP Deadline: January 15, 2026
CFP: W.D. Howells Society Panels at
2026 ALA Conference
May 20-23, 2026 – Chicago, Illinois
CFP Deadline: January 19, 2026
First Book Institute
Center for American Literary Studies (CALS) at Pennsylvania State University
Application Deadline: February 9, 2026
CFP: Elmira 2026: The Tenth International Conference on the State of Mark Twain Studies
July 30 – August 1 – Elmira, New York
CFP Deadline: February 20, 2026
CFP: The Second Quarry Farm Graduate Student Workshop: From Seminar Paper to Academic Article”
August 3 – August 7 – Elmira, New York
CFP Deadline: February 20, 2026
“Twainian Regeneration: Adaptations of the Works, Life, and Legacy of Mark Twain” at NEMLA
2026 Northeast Modern Language Association Conference
Pittsburgh, PA – March 5-8, 2026