The first full week in January is always the official week of buckling down, returning to pre-holiday routines and hunkering down for another few months of winter (let’s hope we don’t see a return to the sub-zero temps we had here in Nebraska in the weeks before the holidays). January may not be as crazy as December, but over the years many important events have still happened this month. Let’s take a look, shall we? January 5, 1972 – President Richard Nixon orders the development of an organized space shuttle program. Homesteading Space: The Skylab Story, by David Hitt, Owen … Continue reading This Week in History: January 5-9, 2009

New this month from the University of Nebraska Press:Narrative Beginnings: Theories and Practices, edited by Brian Richardson. This is a book about beginnings, an appropriate topic as we begin a new year. But specifically, Narrative Beginnings is about the beginnings of stories – sometimes descriptions of people or places, sometimes interruptions of actions, sometimes bold, unforgettable statements that stick with a reader long after he or she has finished the book. Yet for as powerful as beginnings can often be, they’re a little-studied topic. In Narrative Beginnings, sixteen essays shed some light on this important element of any story. This … Continue reading Linking in Lincoln: January 8, 2009

New this month from the University of Nebraska Press: a new edition of Allen Barra's biography of Wyatt Earp, a look at the aesthetics of boxing, an essay collection that examines regionalism in the humanities, plus many others. Read about all of our new books here. Continue reading New this month from the University of Nebraska Press

New this month from the University of Nebraska Press, is The Art and Aesthetics of Boxing by David Scott. What separates a street fight from a boxing match? What link is there between boxing and cubist painting? Scott addresses these questions, and many more, by making daring correlations between the athletic world and the artistic one. He suggests that not only does boxing have intrinsic aesthetic qualities but that these qualities have been influencing artists throughout history. This weeks Tuesday Trivia will try and test that theory by quizzing all you literature buffs on how well versed you are in the … Continue reading Tuesday Trivia: January 6, 2009

Well readers, it’s a new year! I don’t know about you but I plan on keeping all my new year’s resolutions in 2009. I have a feeling the dieting one will probably be the hardest though. I’ve heard it always is! The weather seems to be looking up, so that has to be a good karmic sign. If anything, we’ve got a few things this week to give your new year a very bright start! December 29, 1851: The first YMCA opens in Boston, Massachusetts. The YMCA has always been a proponent for joining communities through athletics and physical activity. … Continue reading This Week in History: December 29- January 2, 2009

New this month from the University of Nebraska Press is Song of the Oktahutche: Collected Poems by Alexander Posey, edited and with an introduction by Matthew Wynn Sivils. Muscogee (Creek) writer and humorist Alexander Posey (1873–1908) lived most of his short but productive life in the Muscogee Nation, in what is now Oklahoma. He was one of the most prominent American Indian literary figures of his era. Song of the Oktahutche collects for the first time all of Posey’s poetry, which has until now been scattered in various rare volumes, either unpublished or replete with textual errors. This week Linking … Continue reading Linking in Lincoln: January 1, 2009