Happy University Press Week! Help us celebrate university presses November 13-17. Since 2012, members of the Association of University Presses have participated in an annual celebration of University Presses. Following the example of the first University Press week, proclaimed by US President Jimmy Carter in the summer of 1978, this event recognizes the impact that a global community of university presses has on every one of us.
This year’s theme for UP Week is “Speak UP.” This is meant to provide an opportunity for presses and their supporters to shout to the rooftops about the value of the essential work of university presses: giving voice to the scholarship and ideas that shape conversations around the world.
The #UPweek blog tour today features “WHO does your press help #SpeakUP?” Visit the following press blogs to read more on today’s topic.
University of Alberta Press: #SpeakUP with oral history projects
Temple University Press: TUP authors write about what it has meant for them to be published by Temple University Press.
Columbia University Press: In May, an exciting collaboration unfolded between Columbia University Press and Sundial House, a publishing house founded in the Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures at Columbia University. Their mission is to promote and showcase the voices of Latin American, Iberian, Latinx, and Hispanic Caribbean authors, both in their original languages and in English. To celebrate this new partnership, Hanna Askarpour interviewed Eunice Rodríguez Ferguson, a founding editor of Sundial House, about their remarkable initiative.
University Press of Florida: Exploration on writing Black Women’s History
Brandeis University Press: An interview with Diane Dimond, author of We’re Here to Help: When Guardianship Goes Wrong, and a fierce advocate for individuals experiencing guardianship/conservatorship abuse.
University of Illinois Press: Guest post from Shreerekha Pillai, editor of Carceral Liberalism, writing on Brown lives needing to speak for Black lives lost.
Bucknell University Press: Ryan Hediger, editor of Planet Work: Rethinking Labor and Lesiure in the Anthropocene, writes about what motivated this collection of essays, which demonstrates the urgent need to rethink models and customs of labor and leisure in the Anthropocene, what it means to speak up about the traumas and hazards plaguing planet Earth, finding ways to redirect cultures toward more sustainable modes of life, and what it means to publish work like this with a university press.
Leuven University Press: Guest post from the press’ director.
Purdue University Press: Guest post on minorities in education
University of Toronto Press: Social Media Specialist, Kayla Kiteley, discusses how she engages with books and content, and amplifies the voices of our authors.
University of Notre Dame Press: Notre Dame Press staff member Katie Campbell interviews Jordan Pérez, author of Santa Tarantula, about her poetry and her work to prevent child sexual abuse.
LSU Press: Poet Jenny Molberg explores how individuals and institutions employ language, legal linguistics, and figures of speech to distort truth and punish those who seek it. She also discusses how metaphor and poetry can provide safe shelter for survivors, offering them space to process, heal, and reclaim themselves.
University Press of Kentucky: Guest blog from Melissa Helton, literary arts director at Hindman Settlement School, writes about the devastation of the July 2022 catastrophic flash flood that claimed the lives of more than 40 people in Central Appalachia, and celebrates and gives voice to the Appalachian community—its strength, determination, and resilience.
Bristol University Press: A look at BUPs EDI initiatives
University of Rochester Press: Author Donna Nicol shares what it means to #SpeakUP about and for Claudia Hampton, the California State University system’s first Black woman trustee. Her forthcoming book is Black Woman on Board: Claudia Hampton, the California State University, and the Fight to Save Affirmative Action.
UNP blog 