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Federal Writers’ Project in the news — and subject of new UNP book

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Lincoln seems to finally be settling into the autumn season with bright leaves blowing across streets and people dressing in cozy sweaters. For this week, Wyoming Folklore is hot off the press. This book is based on writings collected via the Federal Writer's Project, which was issued by Franklin Roosevelt in an attempt to employ out-of-work teachers, writers, and scholars. They fanned out across the country to collect and document local lore. This book reveals the remarkable results of the FWP in Wyoming at a time when it was still possible to interview Civil War veterans and former slaves, homesteaders … Continue reading Federal Writers’ Project in the news — and subject of new UNP book

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Off the Shelf: Wyoming Folklore collected by the Federal Writers’ Project

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Wyoming Folklore Read the beginning of "Cowboy Days with the Old Union Cattle Company: Life Notes of Thomas Richardson" from Wyoming Folklore: Reminiscences, Folktales, Beliefs, Customs, and Folk Speech collected by the Federal Writers' Project, edited by James R. Dow, Roger L. Welsch, and Susan D. Dow:

"In 1884 my father decided that he had had enough of the Niobrara [River] (in northwestern Nebraska). Mostly, we had known hard times, strife, and disappointment there. In June we loaded up two covered wagons and started out on a long trek to find a new location.

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UNP author announced as laureate

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Some exciting news!  Author of Just Breathe Normally, Peggy Shumaker, was announced as the new Alaska State Writer Laureate 2010-2012 by The Alaska State Council on the Arts. As State Writer Laureate, Shumaker will represent the Council and the State of Alaska in communities, conducting workshops and readings as well as connecting Alaskan writers with each other and with the outside world. She succeeds former poet laureate Nancy Lord, who is the author of Rock, Water, Wild (University of Nebraska Press, 2009).  In Just Breathe Normally, a traumatic cycling accident causes Shumaker to search for meaning within extremity. The book … Continue reading UNP author announced as laureate

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End of the week news

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As we head into the weekend (Go Big Red!), here's a roundup of UNP news: For those of you who are in the Lincoln area, Steve Edwards, author of Breaking into the Back Country will be at NeBoo(formerly known as the Nebraska Bookstore) today at 6 p.m. for a signing. Breaking into the Backcountry is the story of how Edwards left his job as an English professor and headed into the Klamath Mountains where he discovered: that alone, in a wild place, each day is a challenge and a gift. There, he served as a caretaker for a homestead along a … Continue reading End of the week news

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UNP editor talks about immigration

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In 2009, the University of Nebraska Press published Hurricane Katrina: America’s Unnatural Disaster,  which questions the efficacy of the national and global responses to Katrina’s central victims, African Americans. This collection of essays explores the extent to which African Americans and others were — and are — disproportionately affected by the natural and manmade forces that caused Hurricane Katrina.  One of the book's editors, Dr. Matthew Whittaker (also a historian at Arizona State University) spoke at A Conversation with Cornel West – How We Got Here on Oct. 2. He spoke about the Arizona immigration law and the history of … Continue reading UNP editor talks about immigration

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UNP author ahead of current news

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As I am writing the Chilean miners who have been trapped underground for 69 days are being rescued. At the time of this posting, there has been 20 out of the 33 miners rescued. Definite progress and hope for their families. See more news and a count down of those being rescued at CNN.com. One of UNP’s authors, Susan Kushner Resnick, brings a light to problems that miners have had way before the Chilean miners were trapped. In her book, Goodbye Wifes and Daughters, she explores a WWII -era mine explosion in Montana that killed 75 men. Sue discusses the disregard for safety back … Continue reading UNP author ahead of current news

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Two more awards for UNP

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Last Friday, Oct.8, the Nebraska Book Awards were announced and UNP came away with two awards.   Bruce A. Glasrud and Charles A. Braithwaite’s  African Americans on the Great Plains: An Anthology won for the anthology category. This book, the first of its kind, supplies the critical missing chapter in American history of African Americans in the western frontier. There might have been a mention of Estevan, slavery, or the Dred Scott decision, but the rich and varied experience of African Americans on the Great Plains went largely unnoted until recently.    For the nonfiction honor, Robert Cochran’s Louise Pound:  … Continue reading Two more awards for UNP

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UNP author wins research award

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What’s that cliché saying again… When it rains, it pours? Because that is exactly what is happening right now with UNP awards. David L. Preston has been selected to receive the 2010 Annual Archives Award for Excellence in Research for his book, The Texture of Contact: European and Indian Settler Communities on the Frontiers of Iroquoia, 1667-1783. The award is given by the New York State Archives for extensive research using the records at the Archives as a Hackman Resident in 1999 and the publication of the book this year.The Texture of Contact is a landmark study of Iroquois and … Continue reading UNP author wins research award

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UNP contributor wins Nobel Prize in Literature

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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

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UNP October book sale

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What would be a better way to kick off the fall season than with a good read? UNP would like to announce the October book sale! Save 25 percent off new October books like these:   Muscogee Daughter by Susan Supernaw is her account of finding her Native American identity amoung the distractions and difficulties of American life. Throughout a childhood that was surrounded with poverty, alcoholism and abuse, Supernaw finds an escape in academics, dance and eventually the Miss Oklahoma crown in 1971. She did not win the Miss America pageant that year, but she did call attention to … Continue reading UNP October book sale