Today’s blog prompt for University Press Weeks asks who’s #NextUP in the world of bookselling. We love our local book stores, so we’re featuring an interview Anna Weber, who is the events director at White Whale Bookstore, an indie bookstore in Pittsburgh. Q: Tell us a little about White Whale Bookstore and why you enjoy working there.  A: White Whale Books is a family-owned, general interest, independent bookstore that focuses in particular on literary fiction and local writers. It’s a space that, since day one, has always had a warm vibe, and has always encouraged curiosity, conversation, and connection. The…

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…

Welcome to the University Press Week 2019 Blog Tour! University presses across the county will be sharing articles, interviews, and excerpts from titles that relate to various sub-themes of the main UP Week theme: Read. Think. Act. Today’s posts are all on “How to practice compassion.” Check out these posts from our university press friends: “How Empathy Can Help Us Become More Compassionate” by Elizabeth Segal, Columbia University Press * * * “How the Transformations Series Invites Us to Practice Compassion — University Press Week Blog Tour” by Heather Gernenz, University of Illinois Press * * * “Leaving Vanni” by…

Welcome to the University Press Week 2019 Blog Tour! University presses across the county will be sharing articles, interviews, and excerpts from titles that relate to various sub-themes of the main UP Week theme: Read. Think. Act. Today’s posts are all on “How to build community.” Check out these posts from our university press friends: “University Press Week Blog Tour: How to build community” by Paul Farber, Temple University Press * * * “The Press’s Role in Building Digital Scholarship Communities” by Charles Watkinson, University of Michigan Press * * * “AAUP #UniversityPressWeek: Community” by Paul Kirst, Syracuse University Press…