UNC Press Blog » Fiction

UNC Press Goes West (And Likes It)

Rachel — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:08:03 +0000

First, let’s set the scene:

A little closer…

Last Sunday, UNC Press held a book party at the historic Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC. The event celebrated three of our fall 2009 titles:

Foy Allen Edelman, author of SWEET CAROLINA, spent six years traveling every inch of North Carolina to collect the best in local dessert recipes; the result is both an easy-to-use cookbook and an enjoyable read, featuring biographical information about those from whom the recipes came, tidbits of folklore, and surprising anecdotes about the food and cooks featured inside SWEET CAROLINA.

Mississippi native and renowned folklorist William Ferris brings together for the first time his years of work traveling the Delta in the 1960s and 1970s to interview, record, and photograph blues legends from James “Son Ford” Thomas to B.B. King. Of GIVE MY POOR HEART EASE Morgan Freeman writes, “Like Bill Ferris, I grew up in Mississippi. My life is continually shaped by the blues. This book captures those rich voices so well.” The book is accompanied by both a CD and DVD featuring footage of blues legends and those who connected with the blues in this turbulent and important time in American history.

LONG STORY SHORT, edited by Marianne Gingher, features selections of flash fiction by 65 of North Carolina’s best writers, including work by Daniel Wallace, Lee Smith, Sarah Dessen, and, you guessed it, 62 others. These are truly short short stories; most of them can be read in under five minutes, making this the perfect gift for your friends who can’t seem to find the time to read anymore.

Among authors and contributors was a great crowd of lively book lovers. Malaprop’s, famed Asheville bookstore, had an array of UNC Press titles available for sale. After some mingling, glass clinking, and chow, party-goers gathered round for remarks from UNC-Asheville Chancellor Anne Ponder, who stressed the importance of supporting university presses, especially in such dire economic times. After her remarks, Chancellor Ponder joined in a rendition of “This Little Light of Mine” as performed by Doug Orr (co-author of UNC Press’s THE NORTH CAROLINA ATLAS), Darcy Orr, Marc Rudow, and David Brown. The band entertained guests throughout the afternoon with favorite tunes of the North Carolina mountains.

David Stick 1919-2009

admin — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:45:47 +0000

UNC Press author Bland Simpson has made his name on a myriad of talents, one of which is his superb ability to write about North Carolina’s coastline. Since 1993, UNC Press has published five of Simpson’s books about the area, with the most recent work–The Inner Islands–scheduled for paperback publication in the spring of 2010.

I mention Simpson because his contemporary writings on the North Carolina coast follow in the path of another celebrated UNC Press author–David Stick.

Stick, who passed away on May 24, 2009 at the age of 89, published a total of 13 books and countless articles on the Outer Banks area. Of Stick’s works, four are currently available from UNC Press, including his first UNC Press book, Graveyard of the Atlantic, published in 1952, and the 1998 collection he edited, An Outer Banks Reader, which features writing on the area from the 16th century through the present day.

Stick, who started his career with the Elizabeth City Independent, was a recipient of the North Caroliniana Society Award, the first Outer Banks Living Legend Award, and served as a U.S. Marine Corps combat correspondent in World War II. He even led the development and served as the first mayor of Southern Shores, a town north of Kitty Hawk in Dare County.

And while David Stick’s books of Outer Banks history definitely hold their own, his most lasting work may be the conservation and environmental work he completed. Stick was crucial in convincing the North Carolina General Assembly to adopt the Coastal Area Management Act in 1973. His 1956 publication, Handbook for Erosion Control, focused on how individual property owners could save the beach front. Scientific and government efforts on the issue didn’t truly get started until the following decade.

With David Stick’s passing, the Outer Banks, North Carolina, and the coastal literary tradition have lost a leading figure. Thankfully, Stick’s many years of writing and work can be accessed today, and will hopefully be available for a long time to come.

Special thanks to the following sources for much of the information above: Bland Simpson, Jack Betts, The News & Observer.

- Matt

UNCP books now available in small doses through DailyLit

admin — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 19:34:14 +0000

It’s an old idea that now has a very modern twist, like a newspaper serial for the 21st century. . . .

Want to read a book but don’t have large blocks of time for settling in and curling up? We’ve found a solution for you with DailyLit — the first e-book vendor to send easy-to-read segments of books to your iPhone or to your computer as an RSS feed. You can read just one small piece or ask for more and look forward to ongoing installments. Several UNC Press titles are launching this week on DailyLit, and we hope you’ll try one or more. The books are priced to make this easy and affordable! Click on any of the jacket images below (or click from the list of text links at the bottom of this post) to get further details from DailyLit .

Che's Chevrolet, Fidel's Oldsmobile: On the Road in Cuba - by Richard Schweid

Come Go Home with Me: Stories by Sheila Kay Adams

Consider the Eel - by Richard Schweid

Hot Peppers: The Story of Cajuns and Capsicum - by Richard Schweid

Ghost Ship of Diamond Shoals: The Mystery of the Carroll A Deering - by Bland Simpson

Parting: A Handbook for Spiritual Care Near the End of Life - by Jennifer Sutton Holder and Jann Aldredge-Clanton

The Pearl: A Failed Slave Escape on the Potomac - by Josephine F. Pacheco

Taffy of Torpedo Junction - by Nell Wise Wechter

Teach's Light: A Tale of Blackbeard the Pirate - by Nell Wise Wechter

Yellow Dogs, Hushpuppies, and Bluetick Hounds: The Official Encyclopedia of Southern Culture Quiz Book - compiled by Lisa Howorth

The Secret Eye: The Journal of Ella Gertrude Clanton Thomas, 1848-1889 - edited by Virginia Ingraham Burr

Christensen, Shelby, Hogan earn awards

admin — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 19:00:55 +0000

Three UNCP authors deserve special cheers for winning awards recently:

Rob Christensen, author of The Paradox of Tar Heel Politics, has been awarded the 2008 Ragan Old North State Award for Nonfiction by the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association. The successor to the organization’s Mayflower Cup, the Ragan Old North State Award honors Sam Ragan: poet, critic, publisher, and the first Secretary of what is now the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources.

Anne Shelby, author of The Adventures of Molly Whuppie and Other Appalachian Folktales, has received an Aesop Accolade from the Children’s Folklore Section of the American Folklore Society. This book of fourteen stories for readers age 10 and up is like a series of Jack Tales — but with a girl hero (who ends up saving Jack more than once)! Traditional folktale plots meet contemporary sensibility.

Wesley C. Hogan, author of Many Minds, One Heart: SNCC’s Dream for a New America, has earned the 2008 Library of Virginia Literary Award for Nonfiction. This is the third award for Hogan; Many Minds has also been awarded the 2008 Lillian Smith Book Award by the Southern Regional Council as well as the 2009 Scott Bills Memorial Prize by the Peace History Society.

Congratulations to all three authors for your good work!

–ellen