AAUP University Press Week blog tour comes to an end. We’ve had fun reading all the other presses blog posts from various individuals on “Why University Presses Matter.” Don’t forget to check out author Catherine Allgor’s post for University of Virginia Press
Lila Quintero Weaver, first time author tells us “Why University Presses Matter”
As the author of a memoir, I am grateful to The University of Alabama Press for opening its doors to non-academic writers.
My book, Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White, is an immigrant’s eyewitness account of 1960s racial upheaval in a small Alabama town. It is classified as a trade publication. The Press’s interest in my work is rooted in its long commitment to documenting the Civil Rights era through a multitude of voices.
Society needs the deeply personal voices of memoir, but these will often find a home in traditional publishing. The same cannot be said of scholarly writings. As long as university presses thrive, we can be assured that important, peer-reviewed scholarship will make its way into print and from there achieve longevity in the world’s libraries, classrooms and historical archives. University presses play an invaluable role in encouraging scholarship and disseminating knowledge. We cannot do without them.
–Lila Quintero Weaver
Witness the Wonder: A Glimpse of “Southern Rivers” by Scot R. Duncan