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by Julieta González
From a New York Times reviewed-best seller to the dictionary of the Hopi language, the University of Arizona Press has published more than 1,000 titles on almost as many topics since it was founded in 1959. More than 600 of those books are in print. As the only university press in the state, the UA Press "is a cornerstone of the intellectual infrastructure of the University of Arizona," says director, Christine Szuter.
The best-seller title is "Edward Abbey: A Life," by James M. Cahalan. This biography of the "patron saint of monkeywrenchers" and hero to environmentalists won the Thomas J. Lyon Award of the Western Literature Association and received "rave" reviews from critics nationally. Szuter adds that the author utilized the Special Collections archives at the UA Library to make this "definitive biography" on Abbey "well grounded in research scholarship."
"Hopi Dictionary/Hopìikwa Lavàytutuveni," a Hopi-English dictionary of the Third Mesa dialect, was compiled by the Hopi Dictionary Project. Royalties from the sale of the dictionary go to the Hopi Foundation and to the Hopi Tribe. The tome was the result of a long-term effort and extensive research conducted at the University with Emory Sekaquaptewa of the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology as the cultural editor. The first comprehensive dictionary of the Hopi language contains 30,000 entries, and, according to Szuter, is used widely.
UA Press authors are both new and established scholars in anthropology, archaeology, astronomy and space sciences, environmental sciences, Native American and Latino studies and literature, and western and environmental history. The Press also publishes many regional trade books that rely on research conducted at the University.
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"We ultimately form a core part of the intellectual foundation of a Research I institution." -- Christine Szuter, UA Press Director (Photo: FOTOSMITH) |
"We publish about 50 books a year," says Szuter. "About half of those books are based upon research conducted by faculty at the University of Arizona along with those from Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University. Other authors hail from all over the world. We publish widely and internationally."
The topics for publication are diverse. A glance at published titles shows that the UA Press has a strong focus on subjects close to UA academic activities. For example, "The Anthropological Papers" series, first published in 1959, represents original scholarship in anthropology and archaeology in the 67 volumes of the series. "For many graduate students, this is their opportunity to see their revised dissertations published. It's a real jumping off point for their academic careers to have their first research results published," says Szuter.
"The UA Press was founded by anthropologists, so we also work very closely with the department of anthropology and the State Museum. The anthropology department is one of the top five departments in the nation, so we are certainly reflecting some of the greatest strengths of the University through the UA Press," says Szuter.
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"The Southwest is a core area of publication," explains Szuter. "We have always published books with a strong geographical focus on the region as well as on the Americas, but not exclusively. We have extremely high quality publications in space sciences. The UA Press "Space Science" series started in 1974 and we'll bring out the 31st book in that series this year."
Many of the UA Press scholarly publications and authors have been award winners. "Sun Tracks: An American Indian Literary Series" has been published by the Press since 1982. UA English department chairman Larry Evers was its first editor; its current editor is UA MacArthur Fellow and UA linguistics Professor Ofelia Zepeda, who has won three prestigious American Book Awards. There are 51 volumes in the Sun Tracks series. "Camino del Sol," a Latino/a Literary Series begun in 1994, has received two American Book Awards within the last three years.
Additionally, in 2002, 35 UA Press books and authors received recognition for their scholarship and creativity. Major awards include five Latino Literary Hall of Fame Book Awards and the Western Heritage Award for Short Story.
While the UA Press does not usually publish textbooks in the classic model of textbooks, the scholarly works are used in the classroom. The series titled the "Mexican American Experience" was developed specifically to be used in the classroom. Titles in that series to date are "Mexican Americans and the U.S. Economy," by UA Assistant Professor Arturo Gonz‡lez of the Mexican American Studies and Research Center (MASRC); "Chicano Popular Culture" by Charles M. Tatum, dean of the College of Humanities; and "Mexican Americans and Health," by Adela de la Torre and Antonio Estrada. De la Torre is the former director of MASRC, and Estrada is the current director.
In the future, the UA Press will continue its role as a book distributor for other specialized publishing units of Arizona's universities and the region's nonprofit organizations. Distribution agreements have been beneficial for both the UA Press and the groups involved because it provides both with a broad audience. Groups involved include the Arizona State Museum, the UA Museum of Art, the Critical Languages Program, the Center for Mineral Resources and MASRC. The UA Press also distributes publications for Arizona State University's Center for Latin American Studies Press and the Herberger Center for Design Excellence.
The UA Press is also responsible for a Southwest-focused series on environmental concerns. The series, coordinated with the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, includes books on everything from invasive exotic species and the desert tortoise to migratory pollinators.
"I see us publishing more books in the environmental sciences than we have done in the past. I think that's a critical area of research that we have been able to support and which will only expand in the future," says Szuter.
Szuter believes the stability the UA Press has shown since 1959 will be its strength in the future. One of the first, if not the first title published by the UA Press, "A Pima Remembers," is still in print today. Written by George Webb, the book presents Pima Indian legends, games and recollections of the Apache wars. Szuter says of the Press, "we have the ability and the longevity to keep books in print for quite some time. We ultimately form a core part of the intellectual foundation of a Research I institution."
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