University Press Roundup: Publishing a Book in a Pandemic, Dating While Black and Free Speech Wars

Check out this collection of 8 of the most interesting university press blog posts for this month. We aim to keep you informed, engaged, and part of the ongoing scholarly conversations.

Publishing (and promoting) a book during a pandemic

Author Justin Reich speaks about his experience publishing and promoting a book during the COVID-19 pandemic. This year forced us all to change the way we operate and do things – including promoting books without the help of bookstores and tours. Find out about Reich’s idea and experience here. (Harvard University Press)

The Economic Slump of COVID-19 in Historical Perspective

Disruptive world events are often the cause of periods of economic downturn: we are all aware of the current economic slump due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Writing for Cambridge University Press, Anthem author Andrés Solimano looks at our current economic situation in a historical perspective. Find out more. (Cambridge University Press)

Remembering the History of Scottish Land Reform

Professor Ewen Cameron writes for Edinburgh University Press about his personal reflections on a topic that is close to his heart: the history of Scottish land reform. Read about his experiences, reflections and expertise here. (Edinburgh University Press)

Dating while Black: Online, but Invisible

Published on Valentines Day, this blog piece explores how for many Black Americans, dating apps never fulfil their promises. Learn more about gendered racism and the discrimination of minority daters in this insightful and timely article. (University of California Press)

The Stories We Tell

“It is our apprenticeship as discerning readers that has given us the tools to begin a poem, a story, a novel and follow it to its end”. Pamela Painter writes about how we are all storytellers, whether we know it or not. Find out about how she began writing stories, and the tools we all possess which make us capable storytellers, here. (Johns Hopkins University Press)

How Activists Put a Human Face on Climate Change

Climate change was once understood as solely an environmental issue. Now a growing class of activists claim climate change to be a gender, equity, labour, Indigenous rights, faith, and health issue. In this post, Jen Iris Allan, author of The New Climate Activism explores why and how these activists brought their issues to climate change, and why some succeeded while others did not. Read it here. (University of Toronto Press).

From Popular Culture to Culture War: Free Speech and the British Press

This blog piece introduces the topic of The Free Speech Wars, a book which has just been published by Manchester University Press. It examines how speech has and has not been controlled both historically and today, and the ways in which the concept of free speech has been weaponized or deployed as a bad faith argument by those wishing to commit harm. Find out more here. (Manchester University Press)

It’s Not The Press’s Fault (Much)!

Paul J. Heald writes about the tendency for risk aversion in academic publishing, notably in the realm of copyright infringement. Find out more about what the author thinks of the tendencies of publishing houses to advertently avoid infringement issues and what this means for published books here. (Stanford University Press)