West Virginia University Press
West Virginia University Press is a university press and publisher in the state of West Virginia. A part of West Virginia University, the Press publishes books and journals with a particular emphasis on Appalachian studies, 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, winner of the 2020/21 Story Prize, winner of the "Los Angeles Times" Art  Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction, and a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction 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." 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." West Virginia University Press is part of the Association of American University Presses. 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, during which time 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, 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." Books. The Press publishes books in the following scholarly areas : African American literature, Appalachian studies, art, digital writing and literature, energy and environment, geography, history, medieval studies, music, natural history, sociology, sports, and West Virginia, as well as creative nonfiction and fiction. Notable WVU Press books include Anthony Harkins and Meredith McCarroll's edited collection "Appalachian Reckoning: A Region Responds to Hillbilly Elegy," a new edition of Muriel Rukeyser's long poem "The Book of the Dead", 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," the anthology "Eyes Glowing at the Edge of the Woods", Katharine Antolini's "Memorializing Motherhood", and Deesha Philyaw's "The Secret Lives of Church Ladies". 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, Vandalia Press, West Virginia and Appalachia, and 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.