Four publishing-related units located at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the University of Illinois Alumni Association, will collaborate on an exhibit at the 2008 Chicago Tribune Printers Row Book Fair in Chicago. The University of Illinois Library, University of Illinois Press, the Illini Union Bookstore, Dalkey Archive Press, and the Alumni Association will gather under one tent on June 7-8, 2008, from 10 a.m.-6 p.m., to display and sell recent books, host author signings, and promote University of Illinois unity and scholarship.
The Printers Row Book Fair was founded in 1985 by the Near South Planning Board to attract visitors to the Printers Row neighborhood. By 2002, it had grown to five city blocks (on Dearborn, from Congress to Polk), attracting more than 190 booksellers from across the country displaying new, used and antiquarian books, and featuring seven stages with more than 90 free literary programs. It is considered the largest free outdoor literary event in the Midwest, drawing more than 100,000 book lovers to the two-day showcase.
“Printer’s Row is such a great venue to meet people who care about books—from authors, publishing people and librarians, to the folks who read and buy them,” said Joan Catapano, Associate Director and Editor-in-Chief at the University of Illinois Press. “The author panels are stimulating, and the exchanges between writer and reader are refreshing and interesting. For the University of Illinois Press the book fair presents an opportunity to further our mission of contributing to the enrichment of the cultural and intellectual life of our communities—in Illinois and beyond.”
In previous years, the University Library and University Press have shared half of a tent, increasing traffic and sales each year. This year they are joined for the first time by the Illini Union Bookstore, Dalkey Archive Press, and the Alumni Association to create a literary whole greater than the sum of its parts.
“This event gives the Library an opportunity to reconnect with its former users, including students who used the Library for their research and study. Many also remember the Library as a destination where they met their friends and classmates for joint project or even for a social gathering,” said Paula Kaufman, University Librarian and Dean of Libraries. “This year, we will show the citizens of Illinois and our University of Illinois alumni how they can continue to use the Library through interlibrary loan, the Library’s digital archives, and various online services.”
The University of Illinois Press, which will feature an array of titles from its ninety-year history, finds its perfect partner in Dalkey Archive Press, a renowned translations publisher that has been in business for 23 years and affiliated with the University for just over one year. Together they will sponsor the Printers Row panel Translating the World: Illinois as a Center of International Publishing, which will include University of Illinois Press director Willis Regier, Dalkey Archive Press founder and publisher John O’Brien, Andrew Wachtel of Northwestern University Press, and moderator Patrick Reardon of the Chicago Tribune.
“This gives us an opportunity to return to our Chicago roots and to a Fair that we have been a part of several times before,” said Dalkey’s John O’Brien. “Chicago has always been a great match for Dalkey Archive because both are so focused on international matters. And we return now with our partners from the University of Illinois, an international leader in higher education.”
The opportunity to host author signings in Chicago is a major attraction for the Illini Union bookstore. The store, located in the middle of campus in Champaign, hosts hundreds of events a year. For Printers Row, they will invite Chicago authors, University of Illinois faculty authors, and nationally known writers to meet fans and sign books at the University of Illinois exhibit.
This year, the University of Illinois Alumni Association, which has worked for nearly 140 years to keep alumni closely connected to their Alma Mater, joins the Illinois Printer’s Row team. The Association has brought alumni authors back to campus through programs such as “Writers Come Home” and has consistently promoted their literary efforts in Illinois Alumni magazine. Through sponsoring lectures, concerts, educational programs and special events in Chicagoland, the UIAA continues to build “a relationship for life” between the University and the thousands of UI alumni in the area. Please visit www.uiaa.org for more information.
The five participating University of Illinois organizations expect that 2008 will be the first of many years working together at Printers Row to showcase literature and scholarship in Chicago.
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The University of Illinois Library’s mission involves providing expert assistance and access to information both for academic purposes and lifelong learning. It is a leader in developing electronic tools that provide immediate and easy access to collections and services. The Library engages in a number of programs and partnerships that impact the community, state, nation, and world. These initiatives include collection development, customized services, and new strategies for information delivery. These initiatives contribute to the Library’s ongoing excellence and the University’s standing as an institution of worldwide preeminence. For more information visit the Library’s website at www.library.uiuc.edu.
The University of Illinois Press supports the mission of the University through the worldwide dissemination of significant scholarship, striving to enhance and extend the reputation of the University. Through its publishing programs, the Press promotes research and education, enriches cultural and intellectual life, and fosters regional pride and accomplishments. In 2008 the Press is celebrating 90 years of publishing excellence. For more information visit the Press’s website at www.press.uillinois.edu.
Founded in the early 1920s by students at the university, The Illini Union Bookstore, the official bookstore of the University of Illinois, is one of the largest independent college bookstores in the country. All proceeds from the Illini Union Bookstore are used to support student programs. For more information visit the bookstore’s website at www.uofibookstore.uiuc.edu.
For over 20 years, Dalkey Archive Press along with its critical publications, the Review of Contemporary Fiction and CONTEXT, has published and promoted the finest works of modern and contemporary literature from around the world. As a nonprofit organization, the Press works to find new ways to reach readers with these books, and to foster an ongoing cross-cultural dialog around books and literature. For more information visit the Dalkey’s website at www.dalkeyarchive.com.
Contacts:
Roxanne Frey
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801
frey@uiuc.edu
Michael Roux
University of Illinois Press
1325 S. Oak St.
Champaign, IL 61820
217-244-4689
mroux@uillinois.edu
Franne Davis
Illini Union Bookstore
809 S. Wright St.
Champaign, IL 61820
217-244-1522
fadavis@uiuc.edu
Martin Riker
Dalkey Archive Press
217-244-5700
riker@dalkeyarchive.com
Lynn Marie Chaney, Associate Director
University of Illinois Alumni Association
Alice Campbell Alumni Center
601. S. Lincoln Ave.
Urbana, IL 61801
217-333-3597
lmchaney@uiuc.edu
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University of Illinois Tent at Printers Row, Chicago
June 7-8, 2008
Roster of Author Book Signings in the tent
Saturday, June 7th
1:00 PM-1:30 PM
Dustin Dumas Weeks
UIUC, B.S. Business Administration, 1990
Ms. Weeks is a consultant, investment banker, television show host and author of Lessons from a Recovering Worker Bee, (2007).
2:00 PM-2:30 PM
Alice B. McGinty and Patricia Hruby – Powell
Alice B. McGinty: UIUC alumnus, author of 38 fiction and non-fiction books for children. Her latest publication is Thank You, World (Dial Books, 2007).
Patricia Hruby – Powell: UIUC, B.F. A. Dance, 1979 and M.S. Library and Information Science, 1994, storyteller, dancer, librarian and children’s author. Her latest book is Frog Brings Rain, (Salina Bookshelf, 2006).
2:30 PM-3:00 PM
Denise Swanson
UIUC alumnus, author of the Scumble River Mystery series published by Penguin Group Inc. Her first book, Murder of a Small-Town Honey was nominated for the Agatha Best First Mystery. Murder of a Chocolate-Covered Cherry is the tenth and latest in the series.
3:30 PM -4:00 PM
Andrew Ervin, Bayo Ojikuto and Amy Sayre-Roberts
Andrew Ervin- UIUC, M. F. A., 2008. His short stories have appeared in a number of anthologies, including Chicago Noir, (Akashic Books, 2005).
Bayo Ojikuto-UIUC, M.F.A. Contributor to Chicago Noir and author of two other novels, 47th Street Black, and his latest, Free Burning (Three Rivers Press, 2006).
Amy Sayre-Roberts-UIUC, M.F.A., 2008. Her work has appeared in a number of reviews including Chicago Noir.
Sunday, June 8th
1:00 PM — 1:30 PM
Paula Kamen
UIUC, B. S. Editorial News, 1989. Chicago journalist and playwright, Paula Kamen is the author of four books including All in My Head ( Da Capo, 2005) and the latest, Finding Iris Chang, (Da Capo, 2008).
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The following authors will appear for book signings but their times are not set as of this date (5/14/08):
Orville Vernon Burton
UIUC Professor of History and Sociology, Senior Research Scientist, National Center for Supercomputing Applications(NCSA) and author of the award-winning book, The Age of Lincoln (Hill and Wang, 2007).
Kevin Davis
UIUC, B.S. Editorial News, 1985. Author and journalist, he is the author of Wrong Man, (HarperCollins, 1996) and Defending the Damned: Inside Chicago’s Cook County Public Defender’s Office, (Simon & Schuster, 2007).
Miles Harvey
UIUC, B.S. Editorial News, 1984. Author and journalist, the author of Booksense 76 Pick
Island of Lost Maps and the forthcoming Painter in A Savage Land: The Strange Saga of the First European Artist in North America, (Random House, 2008).
Kim Strickland
UIUC, B. S. Broadcast Journalism, 1985. United Airlines pilot, author of The Wish Club, (Random House, 2007).
