They seek to expose what they see as the corruption and insularity in the American book-publishing establishment while providing alternative avenues for writers who don't easily fit into mainstream institutions and agendas.
Among many other activities, they have gained considerable attention for their exposure of an insular literary practice whereby establishment authors serve on juries to award monetary prizes to their writing friends.
These founders, and their zines, were: Karl Wenclas, New Philistine; Michael Jackman, inspector 18; Steve Kostecke, Seoul in Slices; Joe Smith, The Die; Ann Sterzinger, Bottle-Fed; and Doug Bassett, a literary theorist.
The six of them met in Hoboken, New Jersey, in October, 2000, in order to launch the group and commence their activism by signing a statement of protest against a Guggenheim grant given to Rick Moody, an already-wealthy writer.
Current ULA members include Patrick Simonelli, editor of litvision.org, Leopold McGinnis, author of Game Quest, Tom Hendricks, creator of the Zine Hall of Fame, and poet Frank Walsh.
[12][13] In April 2006, the ULA protested against the reading of Allen Ginsberg’s Howl at Miller Theater at Columbia University, which was hosted by elite literati and had no representation of the "underground", from which the Beat Generation had sprung.
The ULA also reported the connection between the CIA and Matthiessen, in May, 2005, in an article by Richard Cummings, who has described himself as "a member of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers, having served on the Board of the AFIO-New England chapter."