March 20, 2009

New (old) bird species named for biologist Alan Feduccia

Congratulations to author Alan Feduccia, who has just had a 120-million-year-old bird named after him! The fossil of the early Cretaceous period bird, named Confuciusornis feducciai, was recently discovered in ancient, dried up lake deposits in Liaoning Province in northeastern China, an area that has produced a “gold rush” of fossils in the last decade, Feduccia said. He helped to… Continue Reading New (old) bird species named for biologist Alan Feduccia

Categories Biology/Birds & Birding/Science/UNC Press News
March 18, 2009

These mad days

Just minutes from now, our Point-Guard-in-Chief ™ will be releasing his brackets for the NCAA tournament on ESPN. But we’ve already learned that he’s got our Tar Heels in his final four! Here at the Press, Joanne and I are in the home stretch, sort of . . . almost? . . . putting together the fall 2009 catalog of… Continue Reading These mad days

Categories Events/North Carolina/UNC Press Authors
March 11, 2009

Places to go, people to see

The sun is just starting to break through the morning cloud cover on this warm spring day. Last day of sunshine before we roll into a week of rain here in the Triangle, say the weather forecasters, so let’s make the most of it! In the next few days, there will be several opportunities to hear various UNC Press authors… Continue Reading Places to go, people to see

Categories African American Studies/American History/Biography / Autobiography/Civil War/Cooking / Food/Current Events/Events/Gay / Lesbian Studies/Gender Studies/Health / Medicine/History/Interviews/Local Indy Booksellers/Military History/Military Studies/North Carolina/Podcasts/Southern Studies/The Book Biz/UNC Press Authors/UNC Press News
March 6, 2009

Anoop Makes It to the Top 13!

Yes, it’s another post about American Idol. I swore off American Idol as a huge Time Drain after last season (the first season we’d watched in years) and was brought back into it ONLY because one of my former students, Anoop Desai, (a UNC alum who did his graduate thesis on NC Barbecue!) was in the semi-finals. For those of… Continue Reading Anoop Makes It to the Top 13!

Categories UNC Press News
March 5, 2009

The fisher poets, then and now

“On the boat, I don’t have a TV,” he said. “We just read.” So it has been for hundreds of years. A recent New York Times article about the Fisher Poets Weekend (which was held this past weekend in Astoria, Oregon) introduces several of the seafaring poets who gather once a year to share verse inspired by their working lives.… Continue Reading The fisher poets, then and now

Categories American History/Literature/Poetry
March 2, 2009

Women and Obama’s First 100 Days

What does the Obama presidency mean for women, especially in a time of financial crisis?  We’re pleased to have a guest post today from Lisa Levenstein, assistant professor of history at UNC-Greensboro and author of A Movement Without Marches: African American Women and the Politics of Poverty in Postwar Philadelphia, which we will publish May 1 (we’re accepting orders now).… Continue Reading Women and Obama’s First 100 Days

Categories African American Studies/American History/Current Events/Economics/Gender Studies/Guest Bloggers/Politics/Public Policy/Women's Studies
February 27, 2009

Your Weekend To-Do List

Yes, you! Cool stuff happening this weekend. Radio, Internet, and Real-Life events that deserve your attention: Robert McElvaine on All Things Considered – Today, Friday, to discuss FDR’s letters from Americans and the letter-reading habit President Obama has picked up. I know, we teased you earlier in the week because we thought his conversation would air Wednesday or Thursday. Well,… Continue Reading Your Weekend To-Do List

Categories African American History/African American Studies/American History/Biography / Autobiography/Cooking / Food/Ethics/Events/Health / Medicine/North Carolina/Podcasts
February 25, 2009

Harwood follows up on ethical issues at stake in the octuplets case

  We’ve had a lot of passionate responses to Karey Harwood’s recent guest post about the ethical issues surrounding the California octuplets case. Harwood gave some helpful responses for further reading in the comments thread to that post. Here, we’re pleased to have a follow-up post from her, in which she addresses the pressures on patients and providers in the… Continue Reading Harwood follows up on ethical issues at stake in the octuplets case

Categories Current Events/Ethics/Guest Bloggers/Health / Medicine/UNC Press News
February 23, 2009

Dear Mister President

[ed. note: see updates from 2/24 and 2/25 at bottom of post] ABC reports that President Obama is reading ten letters a day from all kinds of people all across the country, “to help him get outside of the bubble,” says press secretary Robert Gibbs. Each day he is handed a purple envelope containing the day’s selection of letters. Sometimes… Continue Reading Dear Mister President

Categories American History/American Studies/Biography / Autobiography/Economics/UNC Press News
February 20, 2009

A Stimulus Proposal: Invest in Books

One of the great things about Citizen Journalism is that all of us can take what we think is a Good Idea and put it out into the blogosphere and see if it takes wings. One such idea was forwarded to me by my wonderful wife with the subject line “now this would be a good blog entry for the… Continue Reading A Stimulus Proposal: Invest in Books

Categories American Studies/Business/Economics/Local Indy Booksellers/The Book Biz
February 17, 2009

An Idol from UNC – Chapel Hill

Yes, this is a blog posting about American Idol. I’m in charge of the blog for a while and I’m going to write about things that I think should be brought to the public’s attention.  And Anoop Desai is certainly one of those things. Back in a former life I was a Children’s Librarian in two Wake County, North Carolina… Continue Reading An Idol from UNC – Chapel Hill

Categories Awards/Ethics/Events/Media Studies/Music/North Carolina
February 17, 2009

Good stuff from the internet that we think you might like

Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with all the good stuff going on up on the interwebs. All of these stories warrant posts here, but instead of falling way behind, I’ve decided to round ’em up and toss ’em out to you as a batch. You’ll find public history, Sidney Poitier, Catholic feminism, Civil War, black women academics, university presses,… Continue Reading Good stuff from the internet that we think you might like

Categories African American Studies/American Studies/Biography / Autobiography/Civil War/Cooking / Food/Gender Studies/Local Indy Booksellers/Religion/Reviews/Southern Studies/The Book Biz/UNC Press Authors/UNC Press News/Women's Studies
February 13, 2009

Last Sunday in Durham

The past few weeks here in the Raleigh -Durham -Chapel Hill area were filled with the type of weather you’d rather read about than have to live through: rain, snow, black ice in the mornings, a damp cold and the occasional wind to cut through most clothing. This section of North Carolina tends to get a serious dose of what… Continue Reading Last Sunday in Durham

Categories African American History/African American Studies/American History/Awards/Civil Rights/History/North Carolina/UNC Press Authors/UNC Press News
February 12, 2009

UNC Press Authors at the Lincoln Presidential Library

While Google may be marking today as the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin, many of us here at the UNC Press are thinking of another 200th birthday. Today marks the bicentennial birthday our our 16th President, Abraham Lincoln, a reoccurring subject in many of our titles. Two titles in particular come to mind today. The first is Russell McClintock’s “Lincoln… Continue Reading UNC Press Authors at the Lincoln Presidential Library

Categories American History/Biography / Autobiography/Civil War/History/Military History/Military Studies/UNC Press Authors
February 6, 2009

Ethics and the California octuplets case

When news about a woman who had given birth to octuplets last week first hit the airwaves, the story was that all had survived the premature Caesarean delivery, and the eighth kid was one doctors hadn’t even known was coming! Surprise! Within days, however, as we learned more about the birth family – that the mother was single and already… Continue Reading Ethics and the California octuplets case

Categories Current Events/Ethics/Guest Bloggers/Health / Medicine
February 3, 2009

Leslie Brown and “Upbuilding Black Durham”

This is quite the week for Leslie Brown, author of “Upbuilding Black Durham.” On February 1st it was announced that Ms. Brown book on the history of the black community in Durham, North Carolina had won the 2009 Frederick Jackson Turner Award. This award, first given in 1959 as the Prize Studies Award of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, has… Continue Reading Leslie Brown and “Upbuilding Black Durham”

Categories African American History/African American Studies/American Studies/History/Interviews/North Carolina/TSoT/UNC Press Authors/Women's Studies
February 2, 2009

Fatemeh Keshavarz to appear on Just Peace radio show this evening

As Iran celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, a network of individuals and associations inside and outside of Iran known as Iranians for Peace have written to President Obama to encourage direct dialogue with Iranian authorities to find political solutions to nuclear standoffs. They also call for “a nuclear-weapon-free zone for ALL the countries in the Middle East,… Continue Reading Fatemeh Keshavarz to appear on Just Peace radio show this evening

Categories Biography / Autobiography/Current Events/Islamic Studies/Middle Eastern Studies/UNC Press Authors/UNC Press News
January 29, 2009

I laughed, I cried, I feared for my job

Oh, Gawker, you make me giggle but hurt me so.  It’s like getting tickled and laughing really hard until you get the hiccups and an awful cramp in your side and suddenly the game is over. Feeling depressed because the recession and the internet are both killing the book publishing industry, and hurting your hopes for the big literary contract… Continue Reading I laughed, I cried, I feared for my job

Categories The Book Biz/UNC Press News
January 28, 2009

Caldecott and Newbery Award Winners Announced

In a former life I was a Children’s Librarian.  Books written for kids is still one of my most preferred genres when seeking out books to read (much to my wife’s constant bewilderment).  And while the UNC Press has published two recent titles for kids (“The Adventures of Molly Whuppie and Other Appalachian Folktales” and “Taffy of Torpedo Junction“) neither… Continue Reading Caldecott and Newbery Award Winners Announced

Categories UNC Press News