Levi S. Peterson

Levi Savage Peterson (born 1933) is a Mormon biographer, essayist and fictionist whose best-known works include a seminal biography of Juanita Brooks,[1] his own autobiography, and his novel The Backslider, a "standard for the contemporary Mormon novel."[2] He was born and reared in the Mormon community of Snowflake, Arizona and is an emeritus professor of English at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah.[3] He served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in French-speaking Switzerland and Belgium from 1954 to 1957. He edited Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought from 2004 to 2008.

Peterson's work as a writer centers in "the possibility of wrong behavior"; his works "variously examine the tension between Sainthood as fact and Sainthood as aspiration, between belief and doubt, and between expected blessings and the traumas of reality."[4] Similarly, he taught his writing students to "write from the other side of your inhibitions."[5] In an essay entitled "In Defense of a Mormon Erotica," Peterson stated that "prudery reinforces pornography" by hiding sexual feelings.[6]: 124  He encouraged Mormon authors to include sexual content and obscenities (in an appropriate amounts) in their work, writing that "there is a vitality in sexual imagery and obscenities."[6]: 124, 127 

Peterson has been the recipient of several AML Awards: Short Fiction (1978) for "The Confessions of Augustine", Short Fiction (1982–1983) for "The Canyons of Grace", Special Award for Short Story Anthology (1982–1983) for Greening Wheat: Fifteen Mormon Short Stories, Novel (1986) for The Backslider, Special Recognition in Biography (1988) for Juanita Brooks: Mormon Woman Historian, Honorary Lifetime Membership (1988), Smith-Pettit Foundation Award for Outstanding Contribution to Mormon Letters (2009), and Short Fiction (2016) for "Kid Kirby". Additionally, his work has been a finalist in the short fiction category twice: 2014 ("Jesus Enough") and 2019 ("Bode and Iris").

  1. ^ Peterson, Levi S. (2011). Juanita Brooks: The Life Story of a Courageous Historian of the Mountain Meadows Massacre. University of Utah Press. ISBN 978-1-60781-151-0. OCLC 730412375.
  2. ^ Givens, Terryl (2007-08-23). People of Paradox: A History of Mormon Culture. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 313. ISBN 978-0-19-516711-5.
  3. ^ "Levi S. Peterson | Mormon Literature & Creative Arts Database | HBLL". mormonarts.lib.byu.edu. Retrieved 2021-09-17.
  4. ^ "1983 AML Award: Editing & Publishing Honorable Mention". Association for Mormon Letters. Retrieved 2009-11-02.
  5. ^ Karamesines, Patricia (16 February 2007). "The Bright Side of the Dark Side". A Motley Vision. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  6. ^ a b Peterson, Levi S. (Winter 1987). "In Defense of Mormon Erotica". Dialogue. 20 (4): 122–127. JSTOR 45228115.