Within his lifetime, it is estimated that Ernest Hemingway wrote between 8,000 to 10,000 letters.

Sandra Spanier, associate professor of English, was chosen to lead the effort in publishing these letters, most of which are scattered throughout the world.

Spanier has attended many Hemingway conferences and has served on the board of editors for the Hemingway Review.

She was selected by the Hemingway Foundation this spring for what will be a decade-long project.

"I'm delighted and honored," Spanier said. "I've been interested in Ernest Hemingway ever since I was in college and visited his house in Key West."

Spanier, who is married to Penn State President Graham Spanier, said the project will be more than a one-person job.

A team of international scholars will assist her in collecting and editing the correspondence.

Locating the thousands of letters will take at least a year to a year and a half, Spanier said.

The letters are currently in numerous libraries and in the hands of many individuals.

Spanier receives calls several times a week from people around the world who say they have letters from Hemingway.

"He knew a lot of people," she said.

Spanier said Hemingway maintained correspondence with high-profile figures of the time, such as other writers and sports figures, but he also befriended many ordinary people.

Co-sponsoring the letters project are the College of the Liberal Arts and the University Libraries.

These units are handling the logistics and helping to provide the resources for the project, such as space.

"We're very excited about this project," said Susan Welch, dean of the College of the Liberal Arts.

"It's already bringing a lot of attention to Penn State and the Department of English."

Welch said Spanier has a lot of experience in editorial work, including a play by Hemingway's third wife Martha Gellhorn and several works by another one of Hemingway's contemporaries, Kay Boyle.

Boyle was a friend to Spanier in the last 13 years of her life and had asked her to publish some 20,000 letters she wrote.

Welch said the Hemingway project is doing a real service to future Americans and that the collection, when it's completed, will be of great value to writers and scholars everywhere.

Dean of University Libraries Nancy Eaton also expressed excitement in the letters project.

"From what I understand, this is a 10-year project that will produce a 10 volume publication," she said.

Eaton said the library was especially interested to help because it is attempting to broaden its special collections section, particularly with works of 20th century American literature.

Hemingway was an eyewitness to many major historical events, Spanier said.

He drove an ambulance in World War I and returned to reside in Paris as one of the Lost Generation.

The expression was coined by Gertrude Stein who said the war had such a devastating effect on the values of the generation that they found it difficult to fit back in when they returned home.

"Because Ernest Hemingway was such a huge figure in pop culture, as well as fiction reading, his letters will give us new understanding into the '20s cultural scene, in addition to insight into his personal life," Spanier said.