University Press Week gives us an opportunity to introduce readers to some of the most interesting scholarship happening not only at the Illinois Press but also the work being published […]
Category: author commentary
“Everybody likes stories”
Daisy Turner, the shotgun-wielding centenarian, was someone Jane Beck was anxious to meet. Beck, the Executive Director Emeritus and Founder of the Vermont Folklife Center, recounted her first encounter with Daisy […]
Q&A with Fighting for Total Person Unionism author Bob Bussel
Robert Bussel is a professor of history and director of the Labor Education and Research Center at the University of Oregon. He answered some questions about his book Fighting for Total […]
RIP Grantland
Late Friday, when all of our institutions bravely shunt their bad news out the door, ESPN announced that it would shutter its prestige site Grantland, effective immediately. Founded in 2011 […]
A Mormon Tabernacle Choir FAQ
When Michael Hicks spoke at Benchmark Books in Salt Lake City about The Mormon Tabernacle Choir: A Biography, he sought to answer the top questions he’d been asked about his […]
Q&A with Blues Unlimited editor Mark Camarigg
Mark Camarigg is publications manager and former assistant editor for Living Blues Magazine and chairs The Center for the Study of Southern Culture’s annual Blues Symposium at The University of Mississippi. […]
Q&A with Becoming Beautiful author Joanna Bosse
Joanna Bosse is an associate professor of ethnomusicology and dance studies at Residential College in the Arts and Humanities at Michigan State University. She answered some questions about her book […]
The Boy Who Was Traded for a Horse
Black media pioneer Richard Durham was never an on-air star or featured player. Yet the poet, activist and script writer had a huge influence on how African Americans could be […]
Digging out of Corrupt Illinois
Some might say it is just a drop in a very deep and very full bucket but lawmakers in Illinois state government have taken at least one measure to amend […]
Bigger than life: Sinatra’s image at 100
Today our 1915: Whatta Year! series turns to pop culture colossus Frank Sinatra, born on December 12 of that storied year in Hoboken, New Jersey. “Ol Blue Eyes” made his name with his voice, […]
Q&A with the editors of Studying Appalachian Studies
Chad Berry, Phillip Obermiller, and Shaunna L. Scott are the editors of the collection Studying Appalachian Studies. The editors collaborated to answer some questions about the book, which takes a global […]
Q&A with The Magic World of Orson Welles author James Naremore
James Naremore is Chancellors’ Professor Emeritus at Indiana University. He answered some questions about the new Centennial Anniversary Edition of his touchstone work The Magic World of Orson Welles. Q: […]