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A Conversation on Writing, Craft, and Poetry

Read on below for a conversation between CavanKerry Press authors Dorsía Smith Silva (In Inheritance of Drowning) and Cati Porter (The Body at a Loss) about their writing journeys and the craft of poetry. Cati Porter: Dorsía, you read and reviewed my first poetry collection, Seven Floors Up, for a

Five Questions with Alison Bashford, author of “Decoding the Hand”

Decoding the Hand is an astounding history of magic, medicine, and science, of an enduring search for how our bodily surfaces might reveal an inner self. From sixteenth-century occult physicians to twentieth-century geneticists, and from criminologists to eugenicists, award-winning historian Alison Bashford takes us on a remarkable journey into the

Read an Excerpt from “Atlas’s Bones” by D. Vance Smith

Atlas’s Bones is a major new look at Africa’s influence on European culture and how colonization remade Africa in the image of a medieval Europe. D. Vance Smith reveals that much of what is claimed as European culture up to the Middle Ages—its great themes in literature, its sources in

Five Questions for Joshua B. Freeman, Author of “Garden Apartments”

In his new book, eminent historian Joshua B. Freeman turns his attention to an overlooked feature of the American landscape: garden apartments. He details their outsized influence on housing and social policy, helping improve living standards for working people. Inspired by the architectural innovations and socialist politics of British garden

Five Questions with Cynthia Cruz, poet and author of “Sweet Repetition”

As we continue to celebrate the amazing writers, editors, and translators in our Phoenix Poets series, we’re delighted to highlight poet Cynthia Cruz, whose latest poetry collection, Sweet Repetition, published with the series in October. Sweet Repetition centers its movement on repetition and return, integrating Lacanian and Freudian psychoanalysis, continental

Read an Excerpt from “The Adaptability Paradox” by Stephen Skowronek

Faith in the resilience and adaptability of the US Constitution rests on a long history of finding new ways to make the system work. In The Adaptability Paradox, political scientist Stephen Skowronek examines the rearrangements that regenerated the American government in the past and brings that experience to bear on

From the Archives and Spotlight Collections from Chicago Journals

In 2023, the University of Chicago Press Journals Division launched a new online feature called “From the Archives” to bring new readership to less recent and archival scholarship. Each month, our team works to choose a different topic, and articles are selected for inclusion on the page via keyword search.

Teaming UP at the South Side Science Festival

Since 2023, the University of Chicago Press has been proud to participate in the South Side Science Festival, a yearly event that brings STEM research to the families of Chicago’s South Side. Along with representatives from across the University of Chicago’s divisions, members of the press volunteer at the festival,

5 Questions for Emily Lieb, author of “Road to Nowhere”

In the mid-1950s Baltimore’s Rosemont neighborhood was alive and vibrant with smart rowhouses, a sprawling park, corner grocery stores, and doctors’ offices. By 1957, a proposed expressway threatened to gut this Black, middle-class community from stem to stern. That highway was never built, but it didn’t matter—even the failure to build it

What to Read for Native American Heritage Month

To celebrate Native American Heritage Month, we’ve put together a reading list highlighting books by and about Indigenous individuals and communities. With these books from Chicago and our distributed client presses, you can explore the work of boundary-breaking sculptor Edmonia Lewis, follow a residential school survivor’s journey to escape a

Read an Excerpt from “A Sense of Space” by John Edward Huth

We’re pleased to share a short excerpt from A Sense of Space: A Local’s Guide to a Flat Earth, the Edge of the Cosmos, and Other Curious Places, publishing November 12. Read on for an excerpt from Chapter One of this thrilling journey through humanity’s visualization of new spaces. It is remarkable

Books for Understanding the NYC Mayoral Election

On November 4th, residents of New York City will be casting their votes for mayor. It is an election that many in the United States are following closely to see if it will reveal trends about the general direction of politics in America. With this in mind, we offer a

Phoenix Poets Interview: Daniel Schonning

As we continue to celebrate the amazing writers, editors, and translators in our Phoenix Poets series, we’re delighted to highlight poet Daniel Schonning, whose debut collection will be published this month. As When Waking is an exploration of poetic form, centering on the alphabet as both its medium and constraint,

The Municipal Finance Journal joins the Chicago Journals program

We are honored to announce that the Municipal Finance Journal (MFJ) has joined the Chicago Journals publishing program. The journal is published in partnership with the Center for Municipal Finance at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. Launched in 1980, MFJ is a forum for research on the issues facing

A Reading List for Autumn!

The leaves are changing, the days are getting shorter, the nights are growing chillier, and it can all only mean one thing: fall is upon us. Below are a handful of books that celebrate everything autumnal and spine-tingling, ranging from new editions of classic Halloween tales to explorations of divination

Read an excerpt from “Wired Wisdom” by Eszter Hargittai & John Palfrey

This month we’re pleased to share a short section from the first chapter of Wired Wisdom: How to Age Better Online. Read on for an excerpt from this surprising window into the online lives of people sixty and over—offering essential insights, no matter your age. How can you thrive in