Today for University Press Week we are featuring an interview with Will Masami Hammell, who recently joined the Press as Senior Acquisitions Editor to build new lists in Asian Studies and Africana Studies.  Below he discusses his personal and professional background as well as his editorial process. Q; What drew you to the University of Pittsburgh Press? A: I’ve admired the gumption of the Press since my earliest days as an editor. When I was starting out in acquisitions at Temple University Press, I lost my first competitive project to the Pitt Latin American Series, and I remember my less-than-mature…

Today for University Press Week, we’re interviewing Ramona Reeves, whose debut story collection, It Falls Gently All Around and Other Stories, won the Drue Heinz Prize for Literature. Below she talks about being a first-time author with a university press. Q: Tell us a bit about your background and how you became a writer A: I’ve been writing since I was eight or nine. Until I was twelve, I grew up with my mom, grandmother, and great-grandmother. I also was the only child in my house and grew up around a lot of adults. In that environment, I frequently needed…

The University of Pittsburgh Press is pleased to announce that William Masami Hammell has joined the Press as senior acquisitions editor. Will has 20 years of publishing and editorial experience, including over a decade in scholarly book acquisitions, most recently at Cambridge University Press, where he acquired new titles and managed multiple series in African and Middle Eastern studies, focusing on history, politics, religion, and anthropology. Prior to that, he was editor and director of publications at the Harvard University Asia Center, acquiring and producing award-winning monographs in East Asian studies. He got his start in book publishing at Temple…

Brazil marks the bicentennial of its political independence today, September 7th, but for many Brazilians it has been difficult to generate much excitement to celebrate the great date. Despite the country’s strong public health tradition and its high vaccination rate, its experience of the Covid-19 pandemic has been a brutal one, with almost 700,000 deaths second only to the United States. As Brazilians face the same inflation worries as much of the globe, the strong economic growth the country enjoyed in 2021 in the aftermath of the worst of pandemic-related woes has faltered this year. And the health of its…

We are pleased to announce that Lesley Rains, former manager and buyer for the City of Asylum Bookstore and founder of the East End Book Exchange (now White Whale Books), has joined the University of Pittsburgh Press as Publicity Manager. “Lesley’s experience in front-line bookselling brings a real understanding of the importance of publicity to sell books in a competitive retail environment,” said Marketing Director John Fagan. Lesley will oversee all publicity efforts at the Press, including soliciting reviews, scheduling author events, and submitting books for a wide range of regional and national prizes. She will work with all Press…