Category: Interviews

Author Interview: A conversation with Scott Huler, author of A Delicious Country

Scott Huler is the author of A Delicious Country: Rediscovering the Carolinas along the Route of John Lawson’s 1700 Expedition, just published this month by UNC Press.  In 1700, a young man named John Lawson left London and landed in Charleston, South Carolina, hoping to make a name for himself. For reasons unknown, he soon undertook a two-month journey through… Continue Reading Author Interview: A conversation with Scott Huler, author of A Delicious Country

Interview with Keith Allen, owner of Allen & Son Barbecue Restaurant in Chapel Hill, on the occasion of its closing

This past month, the renowned Chapel Hill restaurant, Allen & Son Barbecue, quietly closed its doors for the final time.  It’s owner, Keith Allen, was interviewed in depth by John Shelton Reed, Dale Volberg Reed and William McKinney, in their book, Holy Smoke:  The Big Book of North Carolina Barbecue. For those of us who will forever miss this landmark… Continue Reading Interview with Keith Allen, owner of Allen & Son Barbecue Restaurant in Chapel Hill, on the occasion of its closing

In Memory of Dale Volberg Reed

In memory of Dale Volberg Reed, who passed away in October, we are reprinting this 2008 interview with her and her co-authors of Holy Smoke: The Big Book of North Carolina Barbecue, John Shelton Reed and William McKinney. ### Q: How did two Tennesseans (John and Dale) and a South Carolinian (William) get the nerve to write a book about… Continue Reading In Memory of Dale Volberg Reed

Author Interview: A conversation with Jennifer Brulé, author of The New Vegetarian South

Today UNC Press publicity director Gina Mahalek chats with Jennifer Brulé, author of The New Vegetarian South: 105 Inspired Dishes for Everyone. In her enlightening cookbook, chef Brulé brings southern-style food together with plant-based approaches to eating. Her down-to-earth style and 105 recipes will immediately appeal to vegetarians, vegans, and meat-eaters alike. These dishes are also a boon for those… Continue Reading Author Interview: A conversation with Jennifer Brulé, author of The New Vegetarian South

Author Interview: A Conversation with Jeff Wiltse, author of Contested Waters: A Social History of Swimming Pools in America

As we approach the Labor Day weekend and the end of the summer swimming pool season, UNC Press publicity director Gina Mahalek talks to Jeff Wiltse, author of Contested Waters:  A Social History of Swimming Pools in America. From 19th-century public baths to today’s private backyard havens, swimming pools have been a provocative symbol of American life. In this social… Continue Reading Author Interview: A Conversation with Jeff Wiltse, author of Contested Waters: A Social History of Swimming Pools in America

Author Interview: A conversation with Douglas Reichert Powell, author of Endless Caverns

UNC Press Publicity Director Gina Mahalek talks with Douglas Reichert Powell, author of Endless Caverns: An Underground Journey into the Show Caves of Appalachia. For generations, enterprising people in the southern Appalachians have turned the region’s extensive network of caves into a strange, fascinating genre of tourist attraction. Show caves, as Douglas Reichert Powell explains in Endless Caverns, are at… Continue Reading Author Interview: A conversation with Douglas Reichert Powell, author of Endless Caverns

Author Interview: A Conversation with Sara B. Franklin, editor of Edna Lewis: At the Table with an American Original

Today UNC Press publicity director Gina Mahalek chats with Sara B. Franklin, editor of Edna Lewis: At the Table with an American Original, just published by UNC Press. ### Gina Mahalek: Edna Lewis can be said to be having something of “a moment.” Why this resurgence of interest in her, and why now? Sara B. Franklin: That’s a really complicated… Continue Reading Author Interview: A Conversation with Sara B. Franklin, editor of Edna Lewis: At the Table with an American Original

Interview with Lane Demas, author of USGA award winner, Game of Privilege

Today, as we continue to celebrate African American History month, we’re sharing an interview with Lane Demas, whose book, Game of Privilege:  An African American History of Golf, won the 2017 Herbert Warren Wind Book Award from the United States Golf Association (USGA).   This award is part of the USGA’s annual Service Awards, celebrating the the leadership, dedication and exemplary… Continue Reading Interview with Lane Demas, author of USGA award winner, Game of Privilege

Author Interview: Stephanie Elizondo Griest, All the Agents and Saints

Today UNC Press publicity director Gina Mahalek talks to Stephanie Elizondo Griest, author of All the Agents and Saints: Dispatches from the U.S. Borderlands, about liminal spaces/borderlands, spirituality, shared struggles, and more. ### Gina Mahalek: Your first four books are a celebration of wanderlust, which has fueled your travels to nearly 50 countries. Why did you leave the open road for… Continue Reading Author Interview: Stephanie Elizondo Griest, All the Agents and Saints

A Conversation with Joo Ok Kim: On the Korean War and the Global Gothic of U.S. Empire

In the Fall 2016 issue of south: a scholarly journal, Joo Ok Kim published a piece entitled, “Declining Misery: Rural Florida’s Hmong and Korean Farmers.” She is an Assistant Professor of American Studies and Latino/a Studies at the University of Kansas. Her work has appeared in the Journal of Asian American Studies and Verge: Studies in Global Asians. Her book… Continue Reading A Conversation with Joo Ok Kim: On the Korean War and the Global Gothic of U.S. Empire

Author Interview: Adam Gussow, Beyond the Crossroads

  Today, UNC Press Publicity Director Gina Mahalek talks with Adam Gussow, author of Beyond the Crossroads: The Devil and the Blues Tradition, about Sterling Magee, the blues tradition and folklore in the American South, and more. You can also read Adam’s Book Notes post over at the Largehearted Boy blog, where he also shares a cool Spotify playlist of classic… Continue Reading Author Interview: Adam Gussow, Beyond the Crossroads

Author Interview: Emily Herring Wilson, The Three Graces of Val-Kill

Gina Mahalek talks to Emily Herring Wilson, author of The Three Graces of Val-Kill: Eleanor Roosevelt, Marion Dickerman, and Nancy Cook in the Place They Made Their Own. # # # Q: How did you discover this story? A: I wanted to understand Eleanor Roosevelt as a woman making her own private life—after a troubled marriage and children going away to… Continue Reading Author Interview: Emily Herring Wilson, The Three Graces of Val-Kill

Author Interview: Karen L. Cox, Goat Castle

“From the time I learned about Goat Castle and the real-life characters that inhabited it, I could see it as a film. Every person I’ve ever talked to about this book project has said, without fail, ‘This needs to be a movie.’” Continue Reading Author Interview: Karen L. Cox, Goat Castle

Interview: Eric Muller Gives Voice to Injustice with Scapegoat Cities Podcast

On the 75th anniversary of the opening of the Japanese American internment camps, Eric L. Muller, editor of Colors of Confinement: Rare Kodachrome Photographs of Japanese American Incarceration in World War II, talks to UNC Press Publicity Director Gina Mahalek about his related podcast, Scapegoat Cities, launching on September 6, 2017. Read on for a chance to win a copy of Colors of Confinement! Continue Reading Interview: Eric Muller Gives Voice to Injustice with Scapegoat Cities Podcast

Interview: Judy Kutulas on the “Me Decade” and Man Buns

Judy Kutulas, author of After Aquarius Dawned: How the Revolutions of the Sixties Became the Popular Culture of the Seventies, talks to UNC Press Publicity Director Gina Mahalek about making sense of the “me decade” and whether man buns are here to stay.  Continue Reading Interview: Judy Kutulas on the “Me Decade” and Man Buns

Interview: Brian Tochterman on the “Summer of Hell”

Where the dying city is most critical, however, is how New York is becoming a victim of its own success. Hyper-gentrification and the polarization of wealth within the landscape, particularly in respect to housing, make it extremely difficult for long-term residents to find housing upon displacement or shifting rents, not to mention to allow space for the intrepid migrants with a dream who reinvigorate the city and keep it fresh, as E.B. White wrote seventy years ago. Everyday it seems—highlighted in the work of local bloggers like Jeremiah Moss—there are stories about some neighborhood institution vanishing due to exorbitant rent increases, which in the long-term will destroy opportunities for independent small business development. This was where I see fears about the dying city, and, from my personal perspective, it’s a very convincing argument. Continue Reading Interview: Brian Tochterman on the “Summer of Hell”

Interview: Sandra Gutierrez on The New Southern-Latino Table

Author Sandra Gutierrez talks with publicist Catherine Cheney about her award-winning book, The New Southern-Latino Table: Recipes That Bring Together the Bold and Beloved Flavors of Latin America and the American South. Continue Reading Interview: Sandra Gutierrez on The New Southern-Latino Table

Interview: Jennifer Ritterhouse on Jonathan Daniels’s Travels in 1930s America

The heart of his own book about his trip was his conversations with the people he met, and a lot of the appeal for me in following him on his journey was to see and hear from them, too, in all of their variety. Continue Reading Interview: Jennifer Ritterhouse on Jonathan Daniels’s Travels in 1930s America

Interview: Dr. Peggy Valentine on the Journal of Best Practices in Health Professions Diversity

Q: How do you see the journal advancing research and teaching at Winston-Salem State University (WSSU)?

A: An important goal of any institution of higher learning is to advance the body of knowledge through research and scholarship. Given its important mission as a Historically Black College and University, WSSU was founded on principles of social justice, and promotes equity intentionally and comprehensively. A journal that addresses the need for a more diverse health professions workforce, therefore is consistent with the university’s mission. This journal has provided an opportunity for faculty to serve as peer reviewers and on publish their research that undergo the peer review process like any other submitted manuscripts. The journal has also provided an opportunity for graduate students to gain experience in working with authors from around the nation, to market the journal to potential subscribers, and to solicit articles for publication. Continue Reading Interview: Dr. Peggy Valentine on the Journal of Best Practices in Health Professions Diversity