Indiana University Press blog

Author event: Daniel Orr to appear at Southern Festival of Books

Daniel Orr, author of Paradise Kitchen and FARMfood, is part of this year's Southern Festival of Books lineup, which takes place October 14-16 at the Legislative Plaza in Nashville, TN. Daniel will speak at a session entitled Meet Me in the Kitchen—Recipes for the New World Cook on October 16 at from 12:00-1:30 p.m.

Celebrating its 23rd year, the Southern Festival of Books is a free festival that gives readers a chance to interact with their favorite writers. For a complete schedule of events, visit the festival's website. 

Book review: The Politics of Polio in Northern Nigeria

"The Politics of Polio in Northern Nigeria takes an interesting look at a public health issue from a sociological and cultural aspect [and] contains important insight into the Northern Nigerian culture." —The Journal of the American Medical Association

Book review: The End of the Holocaust

"The End of the Holocaust is an illuminating exploration that offers a worried look at Holocaust representation in contemporary culture and politics, reminding us that the great works focus on the distinctive tragedy of extermination, killing, radical dehumanization, and continuing trauma." —H-Holocaust

Author event: Michael Martone reading at Boxcar Books

Double-wide author Michael Martone will give a reading from his book Wednesday, October 5 at 7 p.m. at Boxcar Books in Bloomington. In addition to reading from Double-wide, he will read from two of his University of Alabama Press books: Four for a Quarter and The Blue Guide to Indiana.

The event is co-sponsored by the Press and the Indiana Review. For more information, visit Boxcar Books's website.

Michael Martone is Professor of English at the University of Alabama–Tuscaloosa. He is author and editor of several books, including three for IU Press: Fort Wayne is Seventh on Hitler’s List, Double-wide, and Not Normal, Illinois. He is also series editor of IU Press's Break Away Books.

Book review: Italy in Early American Cinema

“Bertellini's sophisticated interdisciplinary study addresses questions of race moving between Italy and America in the prehistory and early history of film. ... [His] persuasive thesis that identity-formation works, among other things, through the picturesque, provides a further explanation for our persistent need for a local aura of realist 'authenticity' in our idea of what Italian cinema should give us.” —Times Literary Supplement

Book review: Ramayana Stories in Modern South India

"On the surface ... it might appear challenging for an anthology of Ramayana Stories in Modern South India to tell us something new about the epic. This is, however, precisely what Paula Richman has been able to do through this lively and engaging volume. ... The translations ... are lucid and of consistently high quality. ... The utility of this book for active undergraduate learning cannot be overstated." —H-Asia

Saskia Sassen is the first visiting scholar for IU's Framing the Global project

From the IU News Room's press release:

Saskia Sassen, an internationally renowned sociologist and global studies scholar, will be the first visiting scholar for the Framing the Global project at Indiana University.

Sassen, the Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology and co-chair of the Committee on Global Thought at Columbia University and also a professor of sociology at the London School of Economics, will present a public lecture on Monday (Sept. 26), "Beyond National Versus Global: Emergent Assemblages of Territory, Authority and Rights."

Her talk will begin at 5 p.m. in the Moot Court Room of the IU Maurer School of Law, 211 S. Indiana Ave.

Framing the Global is a five-year initiative of IU Press and the IU Center for the Study of Global Change, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The project supports scholarly research and publication that features new knowledge, approaches and methods in the field of global research.

Book review: Citizenship Across the Curriculum

"In Citizenship Across the Curriculum, eight post-secondary teachers from diverse institutions...break the silence on their own teaching practices and make a valuable contribution to public discourse on teaching and learning. ...[T]his book is an excellent contribution to the scholarly work on teaching and learning in higher education." —H-Education

Celebrate Banned Books Week!

Banned Books Week begins today! Founded in 1982, this annual event celebrates the benefits of free and open access to information and brings attention the problems of censorship. In honor of this year's Banned Books Week, everyone is invited to join a virtual read-out. You can create a video of yourself reading from your favorite banned book and upload it to a special Banned Books Week channel.

You can see which of your favorite books appear on these lists of banned literary classics and frequently challenged books. I've read 24 of the banned literary classics. How many have you read?

If you participate in the virtual read-out, we'd love to see your video. Please share your links with us on the blog!

Book review: Victorian Investments

"Victorian Investments is an outstanding example of the merits of economic cultural studies. ... This is a generous collection in every sense of the term, commendable for the breadth of its voices and for the wealth of information it offers both newcomers to and veterans of the study of Victorian finance." —Journal of British Studies