Indiana University Press blog

Eugene Eoyang to receive IU Asian Alumni Association award

Congratulations to Eugene Eoyang, co-editor of Translating Chinese Literature, who was recently named the recipient of the IU Asian Alumni Association's Distinguished Asian Pacific American Award!

According to the press release, the award "recognizes outstanding professional achievements and community service of Asian and Pacific American alumni of IU." Eoyang arrived at IU as a graduate student in 1966. He taught East Asian languages and comparative literature at IU for 33 years, retiring in 2003; since then, he's taught English at Lignan University (until 2008) and "workshops in translation" at Hong Kong Baptist University.

Among his many accomplishments, Eoyang established—and directed for half a decade—the East Asian Summer Language Institute at IU, as well as three scholarships or prizes in honor of colleagues.

The Association will present the award to him during an August 9 ceremony at IU Bloomington's Lilly Library, held from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. The event will also feature a booksigning for his latest work, The Promise and Premise of Creativity: Why Comparative Literature Matters, published by Continuum.

Rakove's classic analysis of Chicago politics makes waves on NPR

Don't Make No Waves—Don't Back No Losers: An Insider's Analysis of the Daley Machine, the late Milton Rakove's classic about the former Democratic mayor's political machine, was featured in the June 26 episode of NPR's Morning Edition. Commentors on the segment, "Four Books to Help You Master Chicago Politics," included NPR's Steve Inskeep; former Chicago Bureau chief for NPR, Scott Simon; Frank James of NPR's It's All Politics blog fame; and former editor of the Chicago Tribune, Ann Marie Lipinski.

As Simon articulates, Rakove respected the organizational abilities of the Chicago Democratic organization and its boss, Richard Daley.

"The beauty of the ward system," he said, "was that you had somebody who lived in your neighborhood whom you could go to and say something as modest as, 'Look, I really need my trash picked up,' which is not modest, if it begins to pile up."

Yet there was also the pervasive sense of inequality and corruption, evinced at alderman's 'ward nights' during the Daley era.

"Every alderman had one," Lipinski, the former Tribune editor, said. "It was this parade of favor-askers, and if you were not somehow beloved or in the good graces of the alderman, you may or may not get your trash can changed that week."

The other works featured in the segment were Mike Royko's Boss: Richard J. Daley of Chicago; James Merriner's Grafters and Goo Goos: Corruption and Reform in Chicago; and Alex Kolowitz's There are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America.

Enter to win a free copy of Color and Form by Lynn Gamwell!

The colorful geometric sculptures of Morton C. Bradley, Jr., designed to be suspended from the ceiling, seem to float in the air like models of unknown, beautiful stars. This remarkable artist is the subject of our new book, Color and Form: The Geometric Sculptures of Morton C. Bradley, Jr.

Starting today, you can enter to win a copy of Color and Form! Send an email to winiupress@gmail.com with your name and mailing address. Entries will be accepted through August 3 at 11:59 p.m. EDT. Winners will be notified by email and books will ship via USPS.

Book review: A Guide to Playing the Baroque Guitar

“The depth of detail in this volume is thorough and fascinating. ... I cannot praise this volume highly enough. If there is anything not included in here, then it probably wasn’t worth mentioning anyway. It is a fitting tribute to a much missed musician and should be snapped up by anyone with the smallest of interest in this fine period in our instrument’s history.” —Classical Guitar

Book review: Decorum of the Minuet, Delirium of the Waltz

“[A]n important book for musicians and dance academics alike ... McKee’s holistic approach illuminates the total experience of all the participants. ... [H]ighly informative on the importance of dancing at every level of society, and its varying social functions, during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.” —Dance Europe

 

Book review: Zionism and the Roads Not Taken

"This is a daring and excellent study. In his new book, Zionism and the Roads Not Taken—Rawidowicz, Kaplan, Kohn, historian Noam Pianko questions dearly held certainties of Zionism; not by delegitimizing it but by creatively and constructively engaging with Jewish thought." —transversal

Enter to win a free autographed copy of An American Tune by Barbara Shoup!

To celebrate the release of An American Tune, we are giving away a free copy of the novel signed by author Barbara Shoup!

Enter the contest by sending an email to winiupress@gmail.com with your name and mailing address. All entries must be received by October 4 at 11:59 p.m. EDT. Winners will be notified by email and books will ship via USPS.

Learn more about An American Tune on our website or in this IU Press podcast with the author.

Shoup and Wakefield announced as recipients of the 2012 Indiana Authors Award

Barbara Shoup (An American Tune) and Dan Wakefield (Going All the Way) have been selected as winners of the 2012 Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Award. The annual program "seeks to recognize the contributions of Indiana authors to the literary landscape in Indiana and across the nation."

Shoup was named the award winner in the Regional Author category, which recognizes a writer "well-known and respected throughout the state of Indiana." She receives a $7,500 prize.

And, for Wakefield, a special honor: For the first time in the program's history, the nine-member award panel "chose to designate a Lifetime Achievement winner...whose work has exemplified great achievement over several decades." In addition, both authors will be able to "designate a $2,500 grant" for the public library of their choosing.

On September 29, the Central Library in Indianapolis will host an award dinner in honor of this year's finalists and winners in each category. The other two categories are National Author (won by John Green) and Emerging Author (finalists: Christopher Coake, Sherri Wood Emmons and Douglas Light).

More information about the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Award is available on the program's website.

Nwando Achebe captures Kanner and Chaudhuri prizes for The Female King of Colonial Nigeria

Nwando Achebe, daughter of famed Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, has been awarded the Western Association of Women Historians' 2012 Barbara 'Penny' Kanner Prize and 2012 Gita Chaudhuri Prize for her second book, The Female King of Colonial Nigeria.  

The association is "the largest of the regional women's historical associations in the United States." Its mission is to "promote the interests of women historians both in academic settings and in the field of history generally." The Gita Chaudhuri Prize is awarded for “the best monograph about women in rural environments, from any era and any place in the world, published by a WAWH member”; the Barbara 'Penny' Kanner Prize is awarded "to honor a book, book chapter, article, or electronic media that has been verifiably published or posted in the two years prior to the award year and which illustrates the use of a specific set of primary sources."

Nigeria is a familiar topic for the historian. Her research interests, according to the Michigan State University website, are "the use of oral history in the study of women, gender and power in Eastern Nigeria." Her first book, Farmers, Traders, Warriors, and Kings: Female Power and Authority in Northern Igboland, 1900–1960, was published by Heinemann in 2005.

Achebe is Professor of History at Michigan State University. The Female King of Colonial Nigeria was published in January 2011.

Louisville Courier-Journal praises two IUP books on Herman B Wells

The Louisville Courier-Journal praises two of our books on Herman B Wells:

"The power of the book is in the details. Wells writes articulate and understandable prose and is comprehensive in giving background to problems and opportunities, always giving credit to those who assisted him in taking necessary measures to get solutions. His volume of work is apparent as he writes of committee meetings, offices he was asked to lead, accounts of travels around Indiana, all through the nation and much of the world. His intelligence, persuasive influence and good humor were used to get things done and to garner resources that built IU into one of the world’s most respected teaching institutions." Continue reading review

"Capshew’s scholarly writing gives an interesting and comprehensive account of Wells and his impact on not just Indiana’s extraordinary university, but reaching far beyond the borders of the state." Continue reading review