Something to look forward to

Forthcoming from the University of Nebraska Press this spring is, Mondo and Other Stories by 2008 Nobel Laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio. Mondo is a collection of almost — but not quite — supernatural stories told through the eyes of children. Haunting and beautiful, these stories speak to a universal longing for a life beyond the confines and trappings of modern existence. Mondo is the third book by Le Clezio published by the University of Nebraska Press (the others are Onitsha and The Round and Other Cold Hard Facts) and we've been looking forward to this book for some … Continue reading Something to look forward to

Review from Brevity

Sleep in Me by Jon Pineda is a story of how a boy comes to deal with his sister’s tragic accident that leaves her paralyzed and mute. Pineda’s memoir is a heartrending coming-of-age story about a boy haunted by a family tragedy. Brevity, which is an online journal associated with Creative Nonfiction, gave Sleep in Me a great review. Ira Sukrungruang said, “Pineda treats the incident with a poet’s gaze, without overly sentimental impulses, with concise and concrete language, and intelligent and heartbreaking exposition.” Read the full review at Brevity Book Reviews. Continue reading Review from Brevity

50th Anniversary of Bison Books

In 1961 the University of Nebraska Press inaugurated the Bison Books trade paperback line, conceived as a way to bring affordable works of enduring literary merit to a mass audience. This year is Bison’s 50th year anniversary. The first season of publication included eight Bison Books with prices ranging from $1 to $1.50 each. Today there are more than 900 Bison Books in print, and the herd continues to grow. Last week, Governor Heineman signed a proclamation celebrating this milestone. Check out the official proclamation below. Also make sure to check out the Bison Book of the Month and register … Continue reading 50th Anniversary of Bison Books

Off the Shelf: The Rhythm Boys of Omaha Central by Steve Marantz

Marantz Read the Prologue from The Rhythm Boys of Omaha Central: High School Basketball at the '68 Racial Divide by Steve Marantz:

"In March 1968, two high school basketball teams played for the Nebraska state championship, a contest with decades of wholesome tradition. But this game was different.

A few days earlier former Alabama governor George C. Wallace had come to Omaha to campaign for president. He brought the Deep South—“segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever” and the jackboots of Selma—and set it down two blocks from Omaha Central High School. His searing rhetoric scalded the sensibilities of many, including eighteen-year-old Dwaine Dillard, Central’s African American basketball superstar.

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UNP author in two blogs and award finalist announced

Sonya Huber, author of Cover Me: A Health Insurance Memoir, was a guest writer on the blog Largerhearted Boy on Jan. 14. The blog is currently featuring a series called Book Notes, where authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates to their book. Cover Me is about Huber’s personal experiences navigating the nation’s health-care system and brings an awful and necessary dose of reality to the political debates and propaganda surrounding health-care reform. For Huber, her music selections hightlight each chapter in a different light. Everything from "Pink Houses" by John Mellencamp to “Sabotage” by The Beastsie Boys … Continue reading UNP author in two blogs and award finalist announced

Lincoln author on local radio

Local author Bill Kloefkorn will be on The Joy Factor radio show on KZUM tomorrow, Wednesday, Jan. 19 at 6 p.m. to discuss his new poetry collection, Swallowing the Soap, published in October by the University of Nebraska Press. If you are in the Lincoln area, tune to 89.3 FM. The host of the show is Sheila Stratton. For more information visit The Joy Factor’s Facebook page.   William Kloefkorn is Nebraska’s state poet and emeritus professor of English at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln. He has published many books with the University of Nebraska Press, including a four-part memoir … Continue reading Lincoln author on local radio

Off the Shelf: Bird at the Buzzer by Jeff Goldberg

Goldberg Read the beginning of Chapter 1, "Tip-Off" from Bird at the Buzzer: UConn, Notre Dame, and a Women's Basketball Classic by Jeff Goldberg, Foreword by Doris Burke:

"Storrs, March 6, 2001

Sue Bird awoke this snowy Tuesday morning after a night unlike any other in her three years at the University of Connecticut. During the night, while a powerful snowstorm blanketed the state of Connecticut, Bird had lain under her blankets hooked up to a portable stimulus machine, electronic impulses coursing into her balky lower back in an attempt to prevent it from going into spasm any further.

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Advice on writing memoirs

Tracy Seeley, author of the forthcoming My Ruby Slippers, wrote a guest post on the Writer’s Digest blog. In the post, she discusses three privacy issues that come up when a writer decides to tell her personal story. To read all of her advice, check out the blog. My Ruby Slippers is Seeley’s memoir of her personal search for home. In her childhood, her father’s dreams kept them moving constantly. By the time she was nine, she had lived in seven towns and thirteen different houses. My Ruby Slippers describes Seeley's search for the true meaning of home.  Lewis Buzbee, … Continue reading Advice on writing memoirs

Holiday News

Welcome back! While we were out on break, quite a lot happened. Here’s a quick round up of the news that you may have missed over the holidays:   In Scoreboard, Baby, Ken Armstrong and Nick Perry undercover the true and shocking story about the University of Washington’s 2000 football season and what some players got away with off the field. Krystina Lucido from PressBox reviewed Scoreboard, Baby saying that it  “is not only a closer look into a system that has failed victims who have suffered at the hands of star athletes, but is a call to the court … Continue reading Holiday News

Off the Shelf: My Ruby Slippers by Tracy Seeley

Seeley Read the beginning of Chapter 2, "The Good Land" from My Ruby Slippers: The Road Back to Kansas by Tracy Seeley:

"I shiver in the backseat in the corner against the door. I hold my cheek against the cold metal until it hurts. I hold myself very still. I am five, and we are moving away. My father drives. My mother sits next to him and says nothing. I will not look at them. Instead, I stare out the window and hear the car tires slub, slub, slub on the
red brick streets. My chest hurts. The narrow dark windows of my school slide by—window, window, window, window. I can’t see in. But I know that Mrs. Little’s kindergarten is going on without me. The children are using quiet voices, cutting paper and coloring, reading and writing in the big yellow workbooks with smooth, dry pages and an elephant on the front. They are listening to stories and taking a quiet nap on cool mats with the lights turned out. I had waited a whole year for school, while my older sister fell in love with Mrs. Little and sat in a circle on the braided rug and came home singing new songs. All of that has been mine for less than half a year. I can hardly breathe. My throat aches. I do not speak or cry. We turn a corner and the brick streets end. We are moving away.

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