''A Believing People: Literature of the Latter-day Saints'', edited by Richard H. Cracroft and Neal E. Lambert, and published in 1974, was "the first significant anthology of the literature of the Latter-day Saints" and began the establishment of the field of Mormon literature as a legitimate

discipline Discipline is the self-control that is gained by requiring that rules or orders be obeyed, and the ability to keep working at something that is difficult. Disciplinarians believe that such self-control is of the utmost importance and enforce a ...

, and remains, according to ''A Motley Vision'' in 2012, " the only comprehensive Mormon Literature anthology ever published." Cracroft and Lambert released an anthology with a more modern focus, '' 22 Young Mormon Writers'', the following year.Three writers appear in both ''A Believing People'' and ''22 Young Mormon Writers'': Ann Doty, Clifton Holt Jolley, and Linda Sillitoe.

Included authors

The collection includes works of many sorts (letters, poetry, sermons, etc.), mostly from LDS authors, but also some by those friendly to the

Mormons Mormons are a Religious denomination, religious and ethnocultural group, cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's d ...

(e.g. Thomas L. Kane) or with early-life connections (e.g. Ina Coolbrith) or similarly tangential relationships. Authors are listed alphabetically. Works without a listed author are not reflected in this list.

History

Lucy Mack Smith Lucy Mack Smith (July 8, 1775 – May 14, 1856) was the mother of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. She is noted for writing the memoir, ''History of Joseph Smith by His Mother, Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith, the Pr ...

* Joseph Smith Jr. * B. H. Roberts * Thomas L. Kane * Leonard J. Arrington * James E. Talmage

Biography and Autobiography

* Parley P. Pratt * John Taylor * Daniel W. Jones * S. A. Kenner * Florence A. Merriam Bailey * Karl G. Maeser *

Juanita Brooks Juanita Pulsipher Brooks (January 15, 1898 – August 26, 1989) was an American historian and author, specializing in the American West and Mormon history. Her most notable contribution was her book related to the Mountain Meadows Massacre, to wh ...

Letters

* Joseph Smith Jr. *

Brigham Young Brigham Young ( ; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1847 until h ...

*Ursulia B. Hascall *Irene Hascall Pomeroy * Ellen Spencer Clawson

Journals and Diaries

* Hosea Stout * William Clayton * Mary Goble Pay *

Priddy Meeks Priddy Meeks (August 29, 1795 – July 30, 1886) was an American frontier doctor who practiced Thomsonian medicine. He was a polygamist member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and helped settle areas in Utah as a Mormon pionee ...

*Joseph Smith Black

Discourses

* Joseph Smith Jr. *

Orson Pratt Orson Pratt Sr. (September 19, 1811 – October 3, 1881) was an American religious leader and mathematician who was an original member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints). After the succession cri ...

* J. Golden Kimball * B. H. Roberts * Gordon B. Hinckley

The Essay

* Orson F. Whitney *William Mulder *Parley A. Christensen *Robert K. Thomas *

Hugh Nibley Hugh Winder Nibley (March 27, 1910 – February 24, 2005) was an American scholar and member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) who was a professor at Brigham Young University (BYU) for nearly 50 years. He was a prolif ...

* Truman G. Madsen *Edward Geary

Nineteenth-Century Poetry

* William W. Phelps * Joseph Smith Jr. * John Lyon * Joel H. Johnson * Eliza R. Snow * Parley P. Pratt * Cyrus H. Wheelock * William Clayton * John Jaques *

Charles W. Penrose Charles William Penrose (February 4, 1832 – May 16, 1925) was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1904 to 1911. Penrose was also a member of the First Presidency ...

* Richard Smyth * Ina Coolbrith * Augusta Joyce Crocheron * Joseph L. Townsend * Orson F. Whitney * Josephine Spencer

Twentieth-Century Poetry

* S. Dilworth Young *Vesta Pierce Crawford *Christie Lund Coles *Veneta Leatham Nielsen * Arthur Henry King * Edward L. Hart *Marden J. Clark *Lael W. Hill *

May Swenson Anna Thilda May "May" Swenson (May 28, 1913 – December 4, 1989) was an American poet and playwright. Harold Bloom considered her one of the most important and original poets of the 20th century. Born to Margaret and Dan Arthur Swenson, she ...

* Clinton F. Larson *Max Golightly *R. Paul Cracroft * Emma Lou Thayne *John Sterling Harris *David L. Wright *Thomas Asplund *Harrison Davis *Nolyn Hardy * Marilyn McMeen Miller *Robert A. Christmas *

Carol Lynn Pearson Carol Lynn Wright Pearson (born December 1, 1939) is an American poet, author, screenwriter, and playwright. She frequently addresses the topics of LGBT acceptance and the role of Latter-day Saint women. Personal life A fourth-generation Latte ...

*Charis Southwell *Clifton Holt Jolley *Dennis Drake *Dennis Marden Clark *Helen Walker Jones * Linda Sillitoe *Ann Doty * Naomi W. Randall

Fiction

* Parley P. Pratt * Josephine Spencer * Nephi Anderson * Virginia Sorensen *Eileen G. Kump * Douglas H. Thayer *Donald R. Marshall

The Novel

* Nephi Anderson * Vardis Fisher * Maurine Whipple

Drama

* Clinton F. Larson *Martin Kelly

Notes

References

External links

Archive.org
s online text of ''A Believing People'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Believing People 1974 books Mormon literature