Indiana University Press blog

Enter our Goodreads book giveaways!

We're currently hosting two giveaways on Goodreads! If you're a member, enter today for a chance to win advance reading copies of these books:

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Pere Marie-Benoit and Jewish Rescue

by Susan Zuccotti

Giveaway ends May 22, 2013.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

  Enter to win

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The House at Ujazdowskie 16

by Karen Auerbach

Giveaway ends May 22, 2013.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

  Enter to win

Staff pick: Sightings by B.J. Hollars

Reviewed by Michelle Sybert, manuscript editor

Coming of age novels and stories have reverberated with authors and writers for so long that a fresh telling is a rare creature indeed. In Sightings, B.J. Hollars manages to capture not one, but ten fresh tales of growing up and coping with loss in Indiana. Though the Indiana that Hollars describes is a mystical land populated with 21st century pioneers, clowns, Confederate soldiers, and robots, their experiences perfectly capture our own, passed along in the sage, but fanciful voice of a child.

In one story, a child describes his creation of Brady, a vacuum cleaner robot named for his dead brother, while in another, a benchwarmer helps Sasquatch prepare for a hot prom date. Though each of these stories can stand alone as an enjoyable read, Hollars weaves subtle connections between the stories, drawing the reader into this unbelievable world, populated with characters who have experiences reminiscent of our own, allowing us to reconnect with childhood, with the absurdity that we survived.

Though we have not all lost a brother at a young age and have not all suffered through an Oregon Trail re-enactment, complete with apple cider, venison, and no cell phones, we have all lost. We have all been thrust into the awkward and foreign world of adulthood, yet somehow we made it. Though we couldn't laugh about it then, Hollars ensures that we can now. And more importantly, by pulling us from our known adult world back into the alien and the absurd, he offers us the chance to reconnect with our past and to capture glimpses of insights we missed while we were caught up in the excitement and the terror of growing up and losing things and people we held dear—family, friends, childhood itself.

The truly rare quality of Sightings is that in addition to the opportunity presented for reflection and reconnecting with our past and our loss, this is the funniest book you will read all summer.

Norbert Krapf to perform at Bob Dylan Birthday Bash

On May 22 from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m., the Indianapolis ArtsGarden will host a Bob Dylan Birthday Bash to celebrate the singer/songwriter's 72nd birthday. This second annual tribute will feature IUP author Norbert Krapf and bluesman Gordon Bonham.

During the event, Krapf will recite poetry from his Songs in Sepia and Black and White collection (IUP, 2012) and from his new prose poem cycles collection American Dreams (Mongrel Empire Press).

Admission is free. Check the Indianapolis ArtsGarden website for more details on the event.

Learn more about Norbert Krapf and his book Songs in Sepia and Black and White on our website or in this review by the Yearbook of German-American Studies:

"Pursuing a tri-fold creative concept that unites poetry, art in the form of photography, and music is certainly not a light challenge. Norbert Krapf has mastered it with remarkable virtuosity and once again reinforced his reputation as the pre-eminent German-American poet of the English language."

Three IUP books win 2013 IPPY Awards

We are pleased to announce that three of our books have won Gold, Silver, and Bronze in the 2013 Independent Publisher Awards (IPPY)! In the Religion category, Claiming Society for God by Nancy J. Davis and Robert V. Robinson, tied for Gold. In the Biography category, Howard Fast by Gerald Sorin tied for Silver. And in the Great Lakes—Best Regional Non-Fiction category, Indiana Covered Bridges by Marsha Williamson Mohr tied for Bronze.

These awards will be presented on May 29 at the 17th Annual IPPY Awards at Providence NYC, kicking off the annual BookExpo America convention.

All IPPY Award medalists will receive a medal, a certificate, and 20 awards seals. For more information, visit the IPPY's website.

May events for Today I Am a Woman editors

Today I Am a Woman editors Barbara Vinick and Shulamit Reinharz have the following events scheduled for this month:

May 17
The Jewish Federation of the Berkshires will present a book discussion with the editors at 10:45 a.m. at the Hevreh of Southern Berkshire in Great Barrington, MA. Admission is $3. More information is available on the federation's website.

May 18

The editors will give a noontime presentation about their book at the Kane Street Synagogue in Brooklyn, NY.

See a complete list of upcoming events on the editors' Today I Am a Woman website.

 

 

Two IUP employees win Pat Hoefling Memorial Grants

We're pleased to announce that IUP staff members Laura Baich, Electronic Marketing Manager, and June Silay, Project Editor, were recently awarded professional developments grants from the Pat Hoefling Memorial Fund. This fund allows new and mid-career level staff to attend publishing conferences in order to learn about new technologies and practices within the industry. Baich and Silay will use their grants to attend the AAUP annual meeting in Boston this June. 

The Pat Hoefling Memorial Fund, which is supported by donations, has helped send several IUP staff members to AAUP over the last few years. Past winners include Production Coordinator Dan Pyle, Sponsoring Editor Raina Polivka, and Trade Marketing and Publicity Manager Mandy Clarke.

Pat Hoefling was sales and marketing director at IU Press from November 2005 until her death in July 2010. During her tenure at the Press, she positively affected staff members by generously sharing her knowledge and encouraging them to learn new skills to advance their professional development.

Both of this year's winners spoke of how Pat’s legacy endures through these grants. "I'm very honored to receive this grant," Baich said. "Pat was a great advocate of my career development while she my boss, and it means a lot that she can still help me further my professional goals."

"I am pleased and grateful for this opportunity," said Silay. "It is gratifying to know that this memorial fund is stimulating more and more interest and applicants each year. In itself, this is a testament and a tribute to Pat's spirit."

To learn more about the fund or to make a donation, visit the Pat Hoefling page on our website.

Michael Homoya to sign copies of book at Native Plant Sale

Author Michael Homoya will sign copies of his field guide Wildflowers and Ferns of Indiana Forests May 18 at the Native Plant Sale in Avon, IN. The booksigning takes place from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. at the Avon Outdoor Learning Center. For more information, visit the event website.

Celebrate National Train Day with these railroad reads!

Today is National Train Day! Learn more about railroad history and why trains still matter in these books:

Railroads and the American People
H. Roger Grant

"With plenty of detail, Grant brings a bygone era back to life, addressing everything from social and commercial appeal, racial and gender issues, safety concerns, and leaps in technology. But Grant never loses sight of the big picture and the essential role the railroads played in American life. He writes with authority and clarity in a work that can appeal to both casual and hardcore enthusiasts." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

 Read excerpt

Available July 2013
Off the Main Lines
A Photographic Odyssey
Don L. Hofsommer

In this visually stunning and comprehensive photographic essay, railroad historian and photographer Donovan L. Hofsommer records the end of branchline passenger service, the demise of electric railroads, the transition from steam to diesel power, as well as the end of common carrier freight service on the Colorado narrow gauge.

Learn more

Available August 2013
The Rock Island Line
Bill Marvel

This richly illustrated book tells the story of a legendary railroad whose tracks spanned the Midwest, serving farms and small-town America for more than 140 years.

Learn more

Available October 2013
John Frank Stevens
Civil Engineer
Clifford Foust

One of America's foremost civil engineers of the past 150 years, John Frank Stevens was a railway reconnaissance and location engineer whose reputation was made on the Canadian Pacific and Great Northern lines. Drawing on Stevens’s surviving personal papers and materials from projects with which he was associated, Clifford Foust offers an illuminating look into the life of an accomplished civil engineer.

Learn more

And if you're looking for more than just a railroad reading adventure, search the National Train Day website for events in your area.

May events with Scott Russell Sanders

Scott Russell Sanders. Photo by Ruth Sanders.

Scott Russell Sanders, author of Earth Works and A Conservationist Manifesto, has the following events scheduled for this month: 

May 17-19

Sanders, along with IUP author Rebecca McClanahan, will be a featured guest speaker at the River Teeth Nonfiction Conference held at Ashland University in Ashand, OH. For more information, contact Sarah M. Wells at swells@ashland.edu or call 419-289-5957.

May 23

Sanders will speak at "Minnesota Made," sponsored by the Minnesota Land Trust. The talk takes place at 6:00 p.m. in New Century Theater in Minneapolis. Tickets are required and can be purchased online.

May 24

Sanders will give a talk at 7 p.m. at the Wood Lake Nature Center in Richfield, MN. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, visit the Minnesota Land Trust website.

See a complete list of upcoming events for Scott Russell Sanders on his website.

Author Jeffrey Belth to present Gardening for Butterflies workshop

The Area 10 Agency on Aging in Bloomington will host a workshop on Gardening for Butterflies with Sandy Belth and Jeffrey Belth, author of Butterflies of Indiana. The presentation will take place May 15 from 1 to 2 p.m. in the Endwright Center.

The Belths will discuss how to make yards and gardens more inviting to butterflies, and will also cover butterfly biology, larval host plants, and butterfly identification in their talk.

A limited supply of Butterflies of Indiana will be available for purchase and signing by the author at the event.

For more information, contact Jaime Sweany, Endwright Center Director, at 812-876-3383 or jsweany@area10agency.org. More information is also available on the Area 10 Agency website.