News - Ohio University Press

Young Lions Fiction Award Goes to Currie

Wed, 30 Apr 2008

The 2008 Young Lions Fiction Award was given to Ron Currie, Jr., for his novel God Is Dead at an April 28 ceremony in New York City. Swallow Press’s Peter Malae, author of Teach the Free Man: Stories(2007), was one of the five finalists. According to Rachel Weiss, a Young Lions member and marketing manager for the Association of American University Presses, Teach the Free Man is the first university press book ever to be included among the Young Lions Fiction finalists. A follow-up story in the New York Times’s blog, “Papercuts” notes that a “terrific” reading from Teach the Free Man was delivered at the Young Lions ceremony by actor Michael Shannon.

Olmanson Wins Jackson Prize

Fri, 18 Apr 2008

Eric Olmanson’s 2007 book, The Future City on the Inland Sea: A History of Imaginative Geographies on Lake Superior is the winner of the 2007 John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize awarded by the Association of American Geographers. The annual prize is given to American geographers who write books about the United States which convey the insights of professional geography in language that is interesting and attractive to a lay audience. Our congratulations to Eric for receiving this honor.

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Granary of Rome Wins Geography Award

Fri, 18 Apr 2008

Resurrecting the Granary of Rome: Environmental History and French Colonial History in North Africa, by Diana K. Davis, is the winner of the 2007 Meridian Book Award for Outstanding Scholarly Work in Geography. Awarded by the Association of American Geographers, the annual prize goes to a book that makes an unusually important contribution to advancing the science and art of geography. Congratulations to Diana, whose book has also won the 2007 George Perkins Marsh Prize in Environmental History.

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Matthew Cohen Wins Benda Prize for Best Book in Southeast Asian Studies

Mon, 14 Apr 2008

The Komedie Stamboel, Matthew Cohen’s 2007 study of popular theater in colonial Indonesia, is the 2008 winner of the Harry Benda Prize for best book on Southeast Asia, awarded by the Association for Asian Studies. “It is a tremendous career honour for me,” said Cohen, who lives and teaches in London. The award was presented at the AAS annual meeting in early April.

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William Logan Foreword on New Critics Appears in VQR

Mon, 14 Apr 2008

Poetry critic William Logan’s foreword to the forthcoming anthology Praising It New: The Best of the New Criticism (June) appears in the spring 2008 issue of Virginia Quarterly Review.

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Malae a 2008 Young Lions Fiction Award Finalist

Thu, 27 Mar 2008

Peter Nathaniel Malae’s first collection of short fiction, Teach the Free Man: Stories, is one of five finalists for the 2008 Young Lions Fiction Award sponsored by the New York Public Library. The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony hosted by actor Ethan Hawke in New York on April 28th.
“We are honored to have a book whose author is being recognized by the Young Lions program,” said David Sanders, director of Ohio University Press. “Peter’s writing deserves the attention it’s been getting.”
The New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award is a $10,000 prize awarded each spring to a writer age 35 or younger for a novel or a collection of short stories. Established in 2001, this award recognizes the work of young authors and celebrates their accomplishments publicly.
Teach the Free Man was published in the spring of 2007. The stories in the collection revolve around characters whose lives are or have been affected by incarceration.
“I still have a very visceral response to the stories,” noted Sanders, who said he was initially drawn to Malae’s powerful use of language and the compelling storylines. “I think Peter does a remarkable job of portraying the fragility of characters who walk a fine line in their lives.”

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Two OU Press Books Named Ohioana Award Finalists

Tue, 25 Mar 2008

Two books published by Ohio University Press in 2007 are finalists for 2008 Ohioana Book Awards. Good Roots: Writers Reflect on Growing up in Ohio, edited by Lisa Watts, and Out of the Woods: A Bird Watcher’s Year, by Ora Anderson and edited by Deborah Griffith, are both candidates for the category of books about Ohio. Winners will be announced at the end of August and honored at the annual Ohioana Day Awards Ceremony on Saturday, October 18, 2008.

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Resurrecting the Granary of Rome Wins Top Prize in Environmental History

Tue, 18 Mar 2008

Diana K. Davis’s 2007 book Resurrecting the Granary of Rome has won the top book award in environmental history, the George Perkins Marsh Prize. Davis's book, the first one to examine the environmental history of northern Africa, reveals how French colonials perpetuated a myth about land degradation in order to exert their influence in areas like Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. The George Perkins Marsh Prize is awarded by the American Society for Environmental History for the best book in that field. The prize was awarded on March 16th at the ASEH annual conference. Jim Webb, the editor for OU Press’s Series in Ecology and History, was present to accept the award on behalf of Davis and OU Press.

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Four Books Chosen as CHOICE Outstanding Titles

Wed, 27 Feb 2008

Four books published in 2007 by Ohio University Press and Swallow Press were named Choice Magazine Outstanding Academic Titles. The books are The Forgotten Frontier: Colonist and Khoisan on the Cape's Northern Frontier in the 18th Century, by Nigel Penn; J. M. Coetzee and the Idea of the Public Intellectual, edited by Jane Poyner; Rewriting Modernity: Studies in Black South African Literary History, by David Attwell; and Blank Verse: A Guide to Its History and Use, by Robert Shaw.

Religion in Ohio Editor Still Promoting Interfaith Dialogue

Mon, 25 Feb 2008

Years after the publication of Religion in Ohio, (2004), editor Tarunjit Singh Butalia is still actively promoting interfaith dialogue across Ohio and in other communities. He will be the guest speaker at an annual MultiFaith Banquet in Toledo this March.

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