Category: UNC Press News

UNC Press 100th Anniversary Celebration Remarks by John Sherer

On March 25th, UNC Press held its first in-person, public celebration of the anniversary of our centennial year at the Chapel Hill Public Library. The following is an edited version of the speech given by Spangler Family Director John Sherer that evening. I try to keep up on trends in university presses, so I do a lot of reading. I… Continue Reading UNC Press 100th Anniversary Celebration Remarks by John Sherer

2022 Latin American Studies Association Annual Meeting

UNC Press is excited to be exhibiting virtually at the 2022 LASA annual meeting! We hope you’ll stop by our virtual booth on our website to browse our recent titles, to learn more about our Envisioning Cuba, Latin America in Translation, and Latinx Histories Series, and to connect with editors Debbie Gershenowitz and Andreina Fernandez. And be sure to check… Continue Reading 2022 Latin American Studies Association Annual Meeting

An Edible North Carolina History

Available today wherever ebooks and books are sold, Edible North Carolina: A Journey across a State of Flavor edited by Marcie Cohen Ferris shows how culinary excellence, entrepreneurship, and the struggle for racial justice converge in shaping food equity, not only for North Carolinians, but for all Americans. Starting with Vivian Howard, star of PBS’s A Chef’s Life, who wrote the… Continue Reading An Edible North Carolina History

2022 Society for Military History Annual Meeting

UNC Press is excited to be exhibiting in-person at SMH 2022—we hope you’ll stop by booth 207 and say hello to Debbie Gershenowitz! And if you can’t join us in-person, please visit our virtual booth! Forthcoming The Whartons’ War: The Civil War Correspondence of General Gabriel C. Wharton and Anne Radford Wharton, 1863–1865 Edited by William C. Davis and Sue… Continue Reading 2022 Society for Military History Annual Meeting

Detroit and Toxic Debt

Today marks eight years since the beginning of the ongoing Flint water contamination crisis. The following is an excerpt from Toxic Debt: An Environmental Justice History of Detroit by Josiah Rector, officially on sale tomorrow wherever ebooks and books are sold. Between 2014 and 2019, the City of Detroit shut off water for over 141,000 residential accounts, denying more than… Continue Reading Detroit and Toxic Debt

From Unquestioned Obedience to Disintegrating Abeyance: Children’s Toys and U.S.’s Racial Order in the Late 19th Century

The following guest blog post by Mahshid Mayar, author of Citizens and Rulers of the World: The American Child and the Cartographic Pedagogies of Empire, is an edited version of an essay originally published under the title “Verbs of Violence 19th-Century Jigsaw Puzzles, Otherness, and American Childhood” in the Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth, and is reproduced… Continue Reading From Unquestioned Obedience to Disintegrating Abeyance: Children’s Toys and U.S.’s Racial Order in the Late 19th Century

The Territories of Elaine Maisner

Executive editor Elaine Maisner retired earlier this month after 28 years working at UNC Press. The following guest blog post is by Laurent Dubois, John L. Nau III Bicentennial Professor in the History & Principles of Democracy and Director for Academic Affairs of the Democracy Initiative at the University of Virginia. Dubois is also the author of A Colony of… Continue Reading The Territories of Elaine Maisner

George Moses Horton, the Black Bard of North Carolina

Happy National Poetry Month! For our centennial year, we are highlighting iconic publications from our past, including today’s excerpted poem taken from The Black Bard of North Carolina: George Moses Horton and His Poetry, edited by Joan R. Sherman, which collects sixty-two of Horton’s poems. Enslaved from birth until the close of the Civil War, the self-taught Horton was the first… Continue Reading George Moses Horton, the Black Bard of North Carolina

Happy Endings: A Century of Inspiring Art and Scholarship at UNC Press

Guest blog post written on the occasion of UNC Press’s centennial year by Steve Estes, author of I Am a Man!: Race, Manhood, and the Civil Rights Movement, Ask and Tell: Gay and Lesbian Veterans Speak Out, Charleston in Black and White: Race and Power in the South after the Civil Rights Movement, and the forthcoming Surfing the South: The… Continue Reading Happy Endings: A Century of Inspiring Art and Scholarship at UNC Press

Berkley Hudson discusses “O.N. Pruitt’s Possum Town: Photographing Trouble and Resilience in the American South” at Flyleaf Books

Watch the archived presentation given by Berkeley Hudson on his recently released book published in partnership between Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University and UNC Press, O.N. Pruitt’s Possum Town: Photographing Trouble and Resilience in the American South, held on March 31st, 2022 at Chapel Hill, North Carolina’s Flyleaf Books. The New York Times Book Review proclaimed that “O.N.… Continue Reading Berkley Hudson discusses “O.N. Pruitt’s Possum Town: Photographing Trouble and Resilience in the American South” at Flyleaf Books

North Carolina Extension Gardener Handbook: Second Edition, Available Now

Distributed by UNC Press for the NC State Extension, the national award winning North Carolina Extension Gardener Handbook by Kathleen A. Moore and Lucy K. Bradley is available now in a new second edition. Developed especially for Master Gardener volunteers and home gardeners, the book is a primary source for research-based information on gardening and landscaping successfully in North Carolina… Continue Reading North Carolina Extension Gardener Handbook: Second Edition, Available Now

In Appreciation of Elaine Maisner: Kathleen Purvis

Executive editor Elaine Maisner retired last week after 28 years working at UNC Press. The following guest blog post is by Kathleen Purvis, award-winning food writer, food editor for the Charlotte Observer, and the author of three UNC Press books: Distilling the South, Bourbon, and Pecans._________________________________________________________________________________________ Elaine Maisner is a literary ninja. A stealth fighter jet of editors. You’ll never… Continue Reading In Appreciation of Elaine Maisner: Kathleen Purvis

“Pauli Murray: A Personal and Political Life” Selected for NCH’s 2022 NC Reads Book Club

Pauli Murray: A Personal and Political Life by Troy R. Saxby has been selected for North Carolina Reads, the North Carolina Humanities statewide book club for 2022 that features five books that explore issues of racial, social, and gender equality and the history and culture of the state. “All five books pose critical questions about how North Carolinians view their role in helping… Continue Reading “Pauli Murray: A Personal and Political Life” Selected for NCH’s 2022 NC Reads Book Club

2022 Organization of American Historians Annual Meeting

It was so good to be back in-person at OAH 2022! If you missed seeing us in Boston, please visit our virtual booth to browse our recent American history titles, learn more about our great book series, or connect with one of our acquisitions editors. Congratulations to all of our award winners from this weekend! Recasting the Vote: How Women… Continue Reading 2022 Organization of American Historians Annual Meeting

An NCAA/College Basketball Reading List (Go Heels!)

If you’d like to do some reading up on past North Carolina Tar Heels seasons and successes, as well as learn about the history of the NCAA and college hoops in general, we offer you a curated baskeball reading list (plus take 40% off at checkout with promo code 01DAH40; valid for print books only). And: GO HEELS! Carolina Basketball:… Continue Reading An NCAA/College Basketball Reading List (Go Heels!)

UNC Press Centennial Celebration at Chapel Hill Public Library

Last Friday, March 25th, UNC Press had its first organization-wide, open to the general public event since 2019 in celebration of the 100th anniversary of our founding, on the beautiful grounds of the Chapel Hill Public Library (thank you again for hosting us!). It was a wonderful gathering on a perfect early spring afternoon of authors, friends of the Press,… Continue Reading UNC Press Centennial Celebration at Chapel Hill Public Library

Happy Retirement to Executive Editor Elaine Maisner!

After a stellar publishing career of more than 35 years, including almost 28 at UNC Press, our beloved colleague and executive editor Elaine Maisner has decided the time is right to take a well-deserved retirement. Elaine first entered into university press publishing by working at Yale University Press, serving in several roles in acquisitions, administration, and contracts and rights management. She joined the UNC… Continue Reading Happy Retirement to Executive Editor Elaine Maisner!

New Editorial Roles for Mark Simpson-Vos and Debbie Gershenowitz

As UNC Press launches its new acquisitions strategy in its centennial year, effective April 1, 2022, two senior members of the Press’s editorial team are taking on new roles to align oversight of key lists with the Press’s strategic priorities. Editorial Director Mark Simpson-Vos will substantially shift his focus, taking over responsibility for the Press’s prestigious list of general-interest and… Continue Reading New Editorial Roles for Mark Simpson-Vos and Debbie Gershenowitz

Women’s History Month 2022 Reading List (Curated by Helen Kyriakoudes)

Happy Women’s History Month! In celebration of this historical month, we’ll be sharing reading lists curated by our staff featuring all authors who identify as women. Today we’re sharing a list from our Publicity Assistant Helen Kyriakoudes. Click here to see the previously shared lists and learn more about how Women’s History Month came about. If you’re interested in purchasing any of these books,… Continue Reading Women’s History Month 2022 Reading List (Curated by Helen Kyriakoudes)

2022 American Society for Environmental History Annual Meeting

After two years away, UNC Press is excited to be exhibiting in-person at ASEH 2022 – we hope you’ll stop by our booth! And if you can’t join us in-person, please visit our virtual booth! And be sure to check out our Flows, Migrations, and Exchanges series. Flows, Migrations, and Exchanges publishes works of environmental history that explore the cross-border movements… Continue Reading 2022 American Society for Environmental History Annual Meeting