Walter Van Tilburg Clark and Margaret Robb

Walter Van Tilburg Clark (1909-1971) was author of The Ox-Bow Incident (1940), a novel that received literary acclaim and was adapted into the 1943 film of the same title, starring Henry Fonda. Clark's work includes the well-received short story "The Portable Phonograph" and the novels, The City of Trembling Leaves (1945) and The Track of the Cat (1949). During the 1950's, he taught creative writing at the University of Montana in Missoula. Clark was inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame, established in 1988 by the Friends of the University of Nevada Libraries.

Begun in 1930, the Writers' Conference was held during the summers at the University of Colorado, Boulder, as part of the Summer School program. The conference was established to provide professional training by experienced writers. Margaret Robb, who taught English and sponsored Associated Women Students at the University of Colorado, Boulder, directed the summer Writers' Conference. Robb was a recipient of the University of Colorado's Robert L. Stearns Award (awarded yearly for extraordinary achievement or service) in 1967.