Learn Something New on the UNC Press Presents Podcast

Learn something new or find your next read on the UNC Press Presents podcast. The podcast, produced in partnership with the New Books Network, features authors talking about their books & areas of expertise. In this post we’re highlighting some of our recent episodes but you can browse all episodes on the UNC Press Presents webpage, or wherever you get your podcasts. Learn… Continue Reading Learn Something New on the UNC Press Presents Podcast

Food As a Weapon: An excerpt from “Food Power Politics”

This week for Black History Month, we’re sharing an excerpt from the introduction of Food Power Politics: The Food Story of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement by Bobby J. Smith II which was the first book in our Black Food Justice Series. “[Smith] shows how the struggles of the region’s Black communities laid the groundwork for the modern food justice… Continue Reading Food As a Weapon: An excerpt from “Food Power Politics”

New This Week

A new week means new books! Today marks the official pub day for Our Higher Calling: Rebuilding the Partnership between America and Its Colleges and Universities, second edition by Holden Thorp and Buck Goldstein. Now available in paperback this second edition includes a new preface by the authors. “Compelling…. Thorp and Goldstein outline a blueprint for trustees, presidents, faculty and… Continue Reading New This Week

Q&A with Sonya Bonczek: A Publicity Director’s Tips for Authors

Sonya Bonczek, the Director of Publicity here at UNC Press, enlightens us on what the publicity department does, how the landscape has changed over the years, and what authors can do to set their book up for success. Q: What does the publicity department at UNC Press do and how do they work with authors? The publicity department plays a… Continue Reading Q&A with Sonya Bonczek: A Publicity Director’s Tips for Authors

Biographies to Read During Black History Month

February is Black History Month and to celebrate we’ve been sharing book excerpts and reading lists of our African American studies titles here on the blog. Black History cannot be understood without taking an individual look at the lived experiences and stories of Black people themselves. As such, we have curated a list of Biographies highlighting the Black experience. Ranging… Continue Reading Biographies to Read During Black History Month

A Douglass Day Reading List

Happy Douglass Day 2024! From DouglassDay.org: Although Frederick Douglass (born circa 1817/1818-died February 20, 1895) never knew his birth date, he chose to celebrate every year on February 14th. We mark this day with a collective action that serves & celebrates Black history. The following UNC Press titles celebrate the incredible accomplishments of Frederick Douglass. Frederick Douglass: America’s Prophet by… Continue Reading A Douglass Day Reading List

2024 AWP Annual Meeting

UNC Press is excited to be exhibiting in-person at AWP 2024 – we hope you’ll stop by our table (T1408) to say hello to editors Lucas Church & Cate Hodorowicz and to browse our literary nonfiction titles on display. If you can’t join us in-person, you can always visit our virtual booth! Everywhere the Undrowned: A Memoir of Survival and… Continue Reading 2024 AWP Annual Meeting

Worry about Yourself: An Excerpt from “Eating While Black”

During the second week of Black History Month, enjoy this excerpt of Eating While Black: Food Shaming and Race in America by Psyche A. Williams-Forson, which was awarded the 2023 James Beard Foundation Book Award in Food Issues and Advocacy. Worry about YourselfWhen Food Shaming Black Folk Is a Thing In May 2019, an unsuspecting female African American employee of… Continue Reading Worry about Yourself: An Excerpt from “Eating While Black”

New This Month: February 2024

Happy February! This month marks the start of our Spring/Summer 2024 season and we’re excited to share some of the great titles we have lined up. Scroll down to browse all of the new books publishing this month, including a bunch of new paperbacks or browse our full Spring/Summer 2024 catalog to see everything that’s coming this season. Everywhere the… Continue Reading New This Month: February 2024

Must-Read Books During Black History Month

Happy Black History Month! Since 1976 the US has been celebrating Black History during the entire month of February. Long before that, however, UNC Press was already publishing distinguished scholarship on African American studies and we are proud to continue to do so. Most recently we announced the launch of our Black Women’s History Series which also hosts an incubator… Continue Reading Must-Read Books During Black History Month

Stromae’s Relational Aesthetic: An Excerpt From “Black Time and the Aesthetic Possibility of Objects”

The following is an excerpt from Black Time and the Aesthetic Possibility of Objects by Daphne Lamothe, which is available wherever books are sold. In May 2013, someone anonymously uploaded a sixty-second video titled “Stromae Bourré à Bruxelles!” (Stromae Drunk in Brussels!) to YouTube. The images, seemingly captured by a cellphone, show the musician Paul Van Haver in a state of… Continue Reading Stromae’s Relational Aesthetic: An Excerpt From “Black Time and the Aesthetic Possibility of Objects”

Fuel Your Curiosity With the Latest UNC Press Presents Episodes

Listen to authors talk about their books and find your next read on the UNC Press presents podcast, produced in partnership with the New Books Network. In this post we’re highlighting some of our recent episodes but you can also browse all episodes directly from the UNC Press Presents webpage, or wherever you get your podcasts. Listen to Katherine Rye Jewell talk about… Continue Reading Fuel Your Curiosity With the Latest UNC Press Presents Episodes

Read “Gun Country” for Free  

In advance of Andrew C. McKevitt’s panel at Flyleaf Books on the origins of gun culture and gun violence in America, UNC Press is making his recent book Gun Country: Gun Capitalism, Culture, and Control in Cold War America available to the public for free for one week.   On Tuesday, January 30 at 6pm, Flyleaf Books will host a panel… Continue Reading Read “Gun Country” for Free  

Archiving Birmingham Jazz: A Reader’s Guide to the Southern Music Research Center 

The following is a guest post by Burgin Mathews, author of Magic City: How the Birmingham Jazz Tradition Shaped the Sound of America which is now available wherever books are sold. For much of the twentieth century, the city of Birmingham, Alabama, was home to one of American music’s most essential unsung communities, a thriving network of musicians whose lives… Continue Reading Archiving Birmingham Jazz: A Reader’s Guide to the Southern Music Research Center 

Trending This Month: January

Check out what’s trending at UNC Press with this list of the most viewed books on our website this month. See something you like? Our Holiday Sale is extended until 1/31/24 which means you can save 30% on all of these titles, and more, with code 01UNCP30 at checkout. Veil and Vow: Marriage Matters in Contemporary African American Culture by Aneeka Ayanna Henderson Finalist, 2021 Outstanding First… Continue Reading Trending This Month: January

Lawless Law Enforcement: An Excerpt from “The Politics of Safety”

The Politics of Safety: The Black Struggle for Police Accountability in La Guardia’s New York by Shannon King is now available wherever books are sold. The following is an excerpt from Throughout the mid- to late 1920s, as a result of widespread corruption in the criminal justice system, the problem of “lawless law enforcement” loomed large across the nation, especially… Continue Reading Lawless Law Enforcement: An Excerpt from “The Politics of Safety”

Fighting to Desegregate the American Calendar (1968–1983): An Expert from “Living the Dream”

Today, in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we’re featuring an excerpt from Living The Dream: The Contested History of Martin Luther King Jr. Day by Daniel T. Fleming. “In the first book-length study of its kind, Daniel Fleming has added significantly to our understanding of the King holiday and debates around it.” Renee Romano, author of Racial Reckoning: Prosecuting… Continue Reading Fighting to Desegregate the American Calendar (1968–1983): An Expert from “Living the Dream”

Recent UNC Press Presents Podcast Episodes

Find your next read on the UNC Press presents podcast. Produced in partnership with the New Books Network, the podcast features interviews with UNC Press authors about their books. In this post we’re highlighting some of our recent episodes but you can browse all episodes and stream directly from the UNC Press Presents webpage, or wherever you get your podcasts. Andrew C. McKevitt… Continue Reading Recent UNC Press Presents Podcast Episodes

I Thought Liberation Would Be a Happy Story

The following is an excerpt from Between Two Worlds: Jewish War Brides after the Holocaust by Robin Judd, which is available wherever books are sold. “A fresh perspective on the aftermath of trauma . . . . Drawing on rich archival sources, historian Judd makes her book debut with a sensitive, well-researched history of marriages between survivors of the Holocaust… Continue Reading I Thought Liberation Would Be a Happy Story