UNP contributor wins Nobel Prize in Literature

Good things come in threes, right? UNP is proud to share that Peruvian writer, Mario Vargas Llosa is the third consecutive Nobel Prize in Literature winner to publish with our press. He was a contributor to The Global Game: Writers on Soccer published in 2008. The Global Game is a collection of writings that reflect the universal and infinitely varied ways in which soccer connects with human experience.  UNP is also the publisher of Nadirs (Nebraska, 1999) by 2009 Nobel Laureate Herta Mueller, as well as Onitsha (Nebraska, 1997) and The Round and Other Cold Hard Facts (Nebraska, 2002) by … Continue reading UNP contributor wins Nobel Prize in Literature

UNP contributor wins the genius grant

Coastal Encounters is a collection of research about the transformation of the Gulf South in the Eighteenth Century. It reveals the history of the coast’s collision of European, African and Native peoples with different perspectives about the changes that occurred. One of the contributors is Shannon Lee Dawdy, who is one of the nation’s leading researchers on topics related to New Orleans and the Caribbean. She has also just been named a 2010 MacArthur Fellow. Dawdy received the award  — also known as a "genius grant" — from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which includes a $500,000 … Continue reading UNP contributor wins the genius grant

UNP authors win three national awards

Two UNP authors — Jay Gallentine and Margaret D. Jacobs — recently won three prestigious national awards, and we couldn’t be more proud.   Ambassadors from Earth: Pioneering Explorations with Unmanned Spacecraft, by Jay Gallentine, won the annual Eugene M. Emme Astronautical Literature Award, which is sponsored by the American Astonautical Society. Ambassadors from Earth tell the story behind the first unmanned space probes and planetary explorers. It includes everything from the Sputnik and Explorer satellites in the 1950s to the Voyager Missions of the 1970s. Gallentine uses original interviews with keyplayers, never-before-seen photos and journal excerpts to illustrate the … Continue reading UNP authors win three national awards

Author recognized in The Best American Essays collection

Great news for the Press: an excerpt of Black Elephants by Karol Nielsen (due out in Fall 2011) has been selected as a notable essay by The Best American Essays 2010!  The Best American Series is a collection of the best literature in North America, edited by a respected author in their particular field, and published on a yearly basis.   Black Elephants is Nielsen’s story of romance and reality, war and peace.  As a young journalist, her quest for adventure and a story led her to backpack through South America, where she fell in love with an Israeli soldier.  Nielsen … Continue reading Author recognized in The Best American Essays collection

A big honor, two awards, and accolades from the Washington Post

Today’s a big news day for the University of Nebraska Press! Let’s cut right to the chase. Sleep in Me by Jon Pineda has been selected as a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers selection for the holiday season. Sleep in Me, which will be published in September, is Jon’s very beautiful and very moving memoir, which is part coming-of-age story, part remembrance of his big sister, Rica, who was severely disabled in a car accident when she was a teenager.  Intrigued? Read an excerpt online. And look for displays of this book and the other Discover selections this holiday … Continue reading A big honor, two awards, and accolades from the Washington Post

Congratulations Jonis Agee, winner of the 2010 AWP George Garrett Award!

Like much of the writing world, the University of Nebraska Press is still processing all of the people, panels, parties, signings, conversations, and (naturally), the books of this year’s AWP conference. A great time was had by authors and publishers alike, but that is not the purpose of this post. No, the purpose of this post is to congratulate Jonis Agee, University of Nebraska-Lincoln creative writing professor, Bison Books author (Sweet Eyes, 2003), and winner of this year’s  George Garrett Award for Community Service, given each year by AWP. The award was given in recognition of Jonis’ teaching and mentoring … Continue reading Congratulations Jonis Agee, winner of the 2010 AWP George Garrett Award!

UNP author wins Bancroft Prize! Plus, a great interview with the authors of Rooney and an AWP preview

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, University of Nebraska Press readers! Lots of things happening at the University of Nebraska Press today: First, the big news: Margaret Jacobs, author 2009 UNP title White Mother to a Dark Race has won the 2010 Bancroft Prize, widely considered among the most prestigious awards for history. In White Mother to a Dark Race, Jacobs writes about the forced removal of indigenous children from their families and their assimilation into American and Australian culture. In both countries, white women played large roles in the removal and assimilation process – they served as teachers in boarding schools, … Continue reading UNP author wins Bancroft Prize! Plus, a great interview with the authors of Rooney and an AWP preview

UNP author winner of France’s top literary award

And the winners of major literary awards just keep rolling in: Marie NDiaye is the winner of the Prix Goncourt, France’s top literary Prize. NDiaye is the first black woman to win the award, which was announced on Monday. NDiaye won the award for her novel Trois femmes puissantes, which translates to Three Powerful Women. The book traces the lives of three women in Africa and France and the places their lives intersect. More details about book, award and author are in this story in The Guardian. Interesting fact about the Prix Goncourt via the L.A. Times – the prize money … Continue reading UNP author winner of France’s top literary award

UNP reprinting Nadirs, and a few words from the translator

One of the first things I did on Thursday when I learned that Herta Müller, author of UNP title Nadirs, had won the Nobel Prize for Literature, was call translator Sieglinde Lug. Lug, professor emeriti at Denver University, didn’t answer my call. Or the calls of various international media seeking a comment. She was inside a studio, recording audio books for the blind. And by the time she got the news that Müller, who Lug has met, had won the prize, most of the rest of the world already knew. When she called me back on Friday, an exhilarated Lug … Continue reading UNP reprinting Nadirs, and a few words from the translator

University of Nebraska Press author winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature (again!)

Longtime readers of our blog may remember that last year, J.M.G. Le Clézio, who has published two translation titles with the University of Nebraska Press, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. A year later, it's happened again. Herta Müller, a German writer, is this year's winner, and the University of Nebraska Press published the translation of her first book in 1999. Following is the full press release: LINCOLN, Neb. (Oct. 8, 2009) – German writer Herta Müller, whose short story collection Nadirs was published by the University of Nebraska Press in 1999, is the winner of this year’s Nobel Prize … Continue reading University of Nebraska Press author winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature (again!)