West Virginia University Press (WVU Press) is a

university press A university press is an academic publishing house specializing in monographs and scholarly journals. They are often an integral component of a large research university. They publish work that has been reviewed by scholars in the field. They pro ...

and publisher in the state of

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

. A part of

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

, the press publishes books and journals with a particular emphasis on

Appalachian studies Appalachian studies is the area studies field concerned with the Appalachian region of the United States. Scholarship Some of the first well-known Appalachian scholarship was done by Cratis D. Williams. His 1937 MA thesis in English from the Uni ...

, history, higher education, the social sciences, and interdisciplinary books about energy, environment, and resources. The press also has a small but highly regarded program in fiction and creative nonfiction, including Deesha Philyaw's '' The Secret Lives of Church Ladies'', winner of the 2021

PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction The PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction is awarded annually by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation to the authors of the year's best works of fiction by living Americans, Green Card holders or permanent residents. The winner receives US$15,000 and each of ...

, winner of

the Story Prize The Story Prize is an annual book award established in 2004 that honors the author of an outstanding collection of short fiction with a $20,000 cash award. Each of two runners-up receives $5,000. Eligible books must be written in English and first ...

2020/21, winner of the ''Los Angeles Times''

Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

, and a finalist for the

National Book Award for Fiction The National Book Award for Fiction is one of five annual National Book Awards, which recognize outstanding literary work by United States citizens. Since 1987, the awards have been administered and presented by the National Book Foundation, bu ...

in 2020. John Warner wrote in the ''Chicago Tribune'', "If you are wondering what the odds are of a university press book winning three major awards, being a finalist for a fourth, and going to a series on a premium network, please know that this is the ''only'' example." In 2021, another of WVU Press's works of fiction, Jim Lewis's ''Ghosts of New York'', was named a ''New York Times'' Notable Book of the Year. WVU Press also collaborates on digital publications, notably ''West Virginia History: An Open Access Reader''. In ''The Chronicle of Higher Education'', Rachel Toor described the press as "a new publishing heavyweight." The press has also been described as "a small but intellectually ambitious press that prides itself on placing regional issues in dialogue with global concerns." Writing in the ''New York Times'', Margaret Renkl cited two titles from West Virginia University Press as evidence that "University Presses Are Keeping American Literature Alive." West Virginia University Press is part of the

Association of University Presses The Association of University Presses (AUPresses) is an association of nonprofit, mostly, but not exclusively, North American university presses. It is based in New York City. Until December 2017, it was known as the Association of American Univ ...

. West Virginia University Press maintains Booktimist, a blog about books and culture, at https://booktimist.com/.

History

West Virginia University Press was founded in the mid-1960s by Dean of Libraries Dr. Robert Munn. It focused on publishing bibliographies and histories of the coal industry. In 1999, the press was relocated to within the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences under the direction of Dr. Patrick Conner. In 2008, Carrie Mullen took over leadership of the press as director. In 2014, Derek Krissoff, previously editor in chief at the

University of Nebraska Press The University of Nebraska Press (UNP) was founded in 1941 and is an academic publisher of scholarly and general-interest books. The press is under the auspices of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the main campus of the University of Ne ...

, began his tenure as director. In a forum on the future of the university press in the ''Chronicle of Higher Education'', Krissoff said "The book is necessary and important—and, while it's hardly a static artifact, it's proved remarkably durable. Books are also expensive, especially in terms of the skilled labor necessary to acquire and market them. But they're worth it." Krissoff resigned in May, 2023. Sarah Munroe became interim director, and resigned in September, 2023.

Publishing categories

The press publishes books in fiction and nonfiction, as well as in the following scholarly areas: * African American literature * Appalachian studies * art * digital writing & literature * energy and environment * geography * history * medieval studies * music * natural history * sociology * sports * West Virginia

Notable books

* Anthony Harkins and Meredith McCarroll's edited collection ''Appalachian Reckoning: A Region Responds to Hillbilly Elegy'' * Muriel Rukeyser's long poem ''The Book of the Dead'' in a new edition * Greg Bottoms's ''Lowest White Boy'' * Tom Hansell's ''After Coal'' * Joshua R. Eyler's ''How Humans Learn: The Science and Stories behind Effective College Teaching'' * Andrew and Alex Lichtenstein's ''Marked, Unmarked, Remembered'' * Lee Maynard's ''Crum'' trilogy * Davitt McAteer's ''Monongah: The Tragic Story of the Worst Industrial Accident in US History'' * ''Eyes Glowing at the Edge of the Woods'' (an anthology) * Katharine Antolini's ''Memorializing Motherhood'' * Deesha Philyaw's '' The Secret Lives of Church Ladies'' * Neema Avashia's ''Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer and Indian in a Mountain State''

Series

The press publishes series in the following areas: * Central Appalachian Natural History * Energy and Society * Histories of Capitalism and the Environment * In Place * Radical Natures * Regenerations * Rural Studies * Sounding Appalachia * Teaching and Learning in Higher Education * West Virginia and Appalachia * West Virginia Classics

Open Access Reader

In January 2016, WVU Press and WVU Libraries launched ''West Virginia History: An Open Access Reader'' as a free, online collection of previously published essays drawn from the journal ''West Virginia History'' and other WVU Press publications.

Journals

West Virginia Press publishes the following peer-reviewed journals in the humanities and education. *''Essays in Medieval Studies'' *'' Tolkien Studies: An Annual Scholarly Review'' *''Victorian Poetry'' *''West Virginia History: A Journal of Regional Studies''

References

External links

Official website
*

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Press Press may refer to: Media * Publisher * News media * Printing press, commonly called "the press" * Press TV, an Iranian television network Newspapers United States * ''The Press'', a former name of ''The Press-Enterprise'', Riverside, California ...

University presses of the United States Publishing companies established in the 1960s