Duke University Press Log

Books Inspire Art

We're very pleased that two of our books have recently inspired exciting artistic projects. 

If you're in New York City next Friday, June 8, you can catch a staged reading of The Hopefulness of Esperanza, a play by Raquel Almazán which was inspired by Denise Brennan's 2004 book What's Love Got to Do with It?: Transnational Desires and Sex Tourism in the Dominican Republic. The play is about two Dominican sisters, sex workers, who stow away on a cargo ship from the Dominican Republic to France. It transpires entirely inside a storage container in which they are slowly suffocating to death. After the reading there will be a Q&A with Almazán and Brennan. Click here to make reservations for free tickets to the show at the Studio Theater on 42nd Street.

 

Enda Duffy's book The Speed Handbook: Velocity, Pleasure, Modernism (2009) recently inspired an art installation by Tao G. Vrhovec Sambolec entitled "City Velocities-Body Speeds." The project involved measuring velocities of several trams in Amsterdam, streaming the data to the exhibition space in real time, and recreating them by several powerful fans. Visitors stood among the fans and experienced the feeling of the trams' actual speed. The exhbition was part of the Dutch arts festival Sonic Arts, and Duffy was pleased to give a talk during the festival. He noted that the tram operators, initially skeptical about the project, were invited to the exhibition and found it quite interesting.

 

Duke Authors at the 2012 LASA Convention

We had a great weekend selling books and meeting authors in San Francisco at the annual meeting of the Latin American Studies Association. 

Diego Armus with his book The Ailing City: Health, Tuberculosis, and Culture in Buenos Aires, 1870–1950.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Michelle Bigenho with her book Intimate Distance: Andean Music in Japan. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Claudia Calirman, whose book Brazilian Art Under Dictatorship: Antonio Manuel, Artur Barrio, and Cildo Meireles, was the first to sell out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paulo Drinot with this books The Allure of Labor: Workers, Race, and the Making of the Peruvian State and Che's Travels: The Making of a Revolutionary in 1950s Latin America. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Matthew Karush with his new book Culture of Class: Radio and Cinema in the Making of a Divided Argentina, 1920–1946.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edward McCaughan with his book Art and Social Movements: Cultural Politics in Mexico and Aztlán.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

David Smilde, co-editor (with Daniel Hellinger) of Venezuela's Bolivarian Democracy: Participation, Politics, and Culture under Chávez.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

John Tutino, author of Making a New World: Founding Capitalism in the Bajío and Spanish North America.

 Check out our Facebook page for more pictures from our booth and our wine and cheese party. And watch this blog later in the week for a post about our titles that won awards at LASA. All photos Copyright Helena Knox.

 

 

Duke Press Goes to The Daily Show

It's not often that a university press author gets on television at all, let alone onto one of the country's most popular comedy shows. So we were all very excited at Duke University Press when author Ben Lowy, the fifth winner of the Center for Documentary Studies/Honickman First Book Prize in Photography, told us he might get to be on The Daily Show. Lowy was assigned to take behind-the-scenes photos of the show for Rolling Stone. Jon Stewart found his work as a war photographer fascinating and asked him to come on the show. Once the book, Iraq | Perspectives, came out, it was up to us at the Press to ship copies, follow-up with producers, and make sure that invite became reality.

  The show was booked, logistics were coordinated and at last the big day arrrived. Two of us from the Press, Emily Young, Marketing Director, and Laura Sell, Senior Publicist, attended the taping, along with Alexa Dilworth from the Center for Documentary Studies, several of Ben Lowy's contacts at Getty Images, and his wife, Marvi Lacar. While Ben and Marvi relaxed backstage in the green room, meeting Jon Stewart and checking out the swag, the rest of us picked up our pink "VIP" tickets and went through security. Then we waited in an area outside the studio for what seemed like an hour but was probably half that. An intern reminded us to turn off our phones, spit our our gum, and told us we couldn't take pictures inside the studio. Finally we were ushered into the studio, where the audience coordinators made sure we had front row seats. A comedian warmed the audience up, telling us it was our responsibility to laugh and clap really, really loud, so the home audience wouldn't get bored and "be forced to interact with their families" instead of watching the show. 

At last Jon Stewart came out. He took questions from the audience, made fun of Canada, and threatened to walk out of the studio when someone suggested he run for office. And then it was time for the show! With the audience around us, it felt even funnier than at home. Our attention was split between the live Jon and screens all around the studio that played the video clips. A previously taped piece by John Oliver ran, and during the commercial break Oliver came out, waved to us in the audience, and conferred with Jon about how they would edit the piece for final broadcast. The interview portion is the third act in the show, so by the time Ben came on stage our excitment was high. He looked relaxed, though later he told us he was afraid he might trip on the raised stage as he came out. Each time Jon showed the book we were thrilled, and Alexa Dilworth, the book's editor, even teared up a bit watching it. 

Too soon the show was over and we were ushered out of the studio. Ben met us on the sidewalk outside where we all congratulated him for a great interview. And now, of course, we hope it sells some books! Head over to our website or to your favorite bookstore or online retailer and pick one up. It's gorgeous and makes a great gift. 

 

 

American Anthropological Association, 2011

We had a terrific meeting in Montreal this year, where we enjoyed selling books, meeting authors, and celebrating our journal Public Culture at a wine and cheese party.

Jafari Allen and his book ¡Venceremos?: The Erotics of Black Self-making in Cuba.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tim Choy and his book Ecologies of Comparison: An

Ethnography of Endangerment in Hong Kong.

 

Kregg Hetherington and his book Guerrilla Auditors: The Politics of Transparency in Neoliberal Paraguay.

 

 

 

 

Carole McGranahan and her book Arrested Histories: Tibet, the CIA, and Memories of a Forgotten War

 

 

 

For mor photos, please visit our Facebook page. Thanks to Helena Knox for taking them.

Author Events Today

We've got five great author events going on today. Hope you can make one!

Today at the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University catch Kellie Jones talking about her book EyeMinded: Living and Writing Contemporary Art. A signing follows. It's at 6:00 pm.

Also in New York today, you can hear poet and playwright Sonia Sanchez, author of I'm Black When I'm Singing, I'm Blue When I Ain't and Other Plays, speak at Lehman College in the Bronx. Her speech begins at 12:30 pm and she'll be singing books afterwards.

Today at 6 pm, Benjamin Lowy will speak about his work as a war photographer and his new book Iraq | Perspectives at the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York. 

California readers can enjoy a reading and signing by Judith Halberstam at City Lights Books in San Francisco. She's promoting her new book The Queer Art of Failure. That event begins at 7:00 pm.

Tonight Canadian fans can see Ella Shohat speak at Ryerson University. Part of their Distinguished Speaker Series, she will give a lecture following a screening of the film Forget Baghdad. The film begins at 6:00 pm and the lecture at 8. Shohat is the author of Taboo Memories, Diasporic Voices.

 

Swanee Hunt to Speak on Security Lessons from Bosnia

This month PBS is airing the acclaimed new series Women, War, and Peace, spotlighting the stories of women in conflict zones from Bosnia to Afghanistan and Colombia to Liberia. The first episode, "I Came to Testify," featured women in Bosnia. Swanee Hunt, former Ambassador to Austria, has written extensively on women's role in war and peace in the Balkans. Her first book This Was Not Our War, featured many stories of women rebuilding the troubled region. Her new book Worlds Apart: Bosnian Lessons for Global Security, brings the concerns of ordinary people, especially women, into global policymaking. On Tuesday, October 25, Hunt will appear in a panel discussion at the U.S. Institute of Peace, along with Abigail Disney and Pamela Hogan, who produced "I Came to Testify." Hunt and Disney have traveled to war-torn regions together in the past, and Hunt helped fund the development of the PBS series. The film will be screened at the event and a discussion will follow. After the panel, join the conversation on Twitter with #SecurityLessons. 

Writing Culture at 25 Conference This Weekend

We're excited for this weekend's conference Writing Culture at 25: Theory/Ethnography/Fieldwork. It's hosted by Duke's Department of Cultural Anthropology and the journal Cultural Anthropology. The conference commemorates the 1986 publication of Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography edited by George Marcus and James Clifford. Although Duke University Press didn't publish that seminal volume, its influence on anthropology, and thus on our own books, cannot be underestimated. A number of Duke Press authors and friends of the Press will be presenting and attending, including Orin Starn, author of the forthcoming book The Passion of Tiger Woods and co-editor of our Latin America Readers series; and Lee Baker, author of Anthropology and the Racial Politics of Culture. The conference is free and open to the public, so check it out!

Upcoming Author Events in the Triangle

On Friday, July 8th from noon-1:30pm (free, no ticket required, BYO lunch) stop by Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, NC for "Lunch with the Author: Jimmy Creech, former United Methodist minister discusses his memoir Adam’s Gift."  

Note: Attendees are encouraged to bring their own lunch or call Foster's Market next door and they'll make up a boxed lunch for you. Call in advance or the day of event: 919-967-4383.

 

On Saturday, July 16th at 2pm (open to the public) stop by Quail Ridge Books & Music in Raleigh, NC. Author Jimmy Creech will lead a discussion (book club format) of his book, Adam's Gift: A Memoir of a Pastor's Calling to Defy the Church's Persecution of Lesbians and Gays. How often do you have the author (and subject) of a book lead your club meeting?

 

On Sunday, July 17th from 3-4:30pm stop by the Durham County Library in Durham, NC for "Meet the Author: Karla Holloway." Dr. Karla FC Holloway, James B. Duke professor of English at Duke University, will read from her book, Private Bodies, Public Text: Race, Gender and a Cultural Bioethics. A book signing will follow the reading.

 

"Our Expanding Oceans" Exhibit Premiere and Book Signing

On June 23rd, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences hosted the "Our Expanding Oceans" exhibit premiere with a reception and book signing. Scientist Orrin H. Pilkey and his son Keith C. Pilkey signed copies of their new book, Global Climate Change: A Primer (2011), with artist Mary Edna Fraser.

The exhibit will run from June 25th-November 6th and features more than 50 hand-dyed silk batiks by Mary Edna Fraser. The exhibit and accompanying book were developed by Mary Edna Fraser and Orrin H. Pilkey.

Here are a few photos from the book signing, lecture, and reception. To see more, please visit our Facebook Fan Page.

 

View of the outside of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.

 

 

 

Artist Mary Edna Fraser and co-authors Orrin H. Pilkey and Keith C. Pilkey sign copies of their new book, Global Climate Change: A Primer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mary Edna Fraser and Orrin H. Pilkey's lecture. Mary Edna Fraser described the process by which she creates her colorful batiks, and Orrin H. Pilkey explained about global climate change.

 

 

The exhibit premiere and reception.

 

 

Duke Press at Book Expo

This week we've been hobnobbing with other publishers, booksellers, librarians, authors, and media at the annual Book Expo America in New York City. Our marketing team has been pitching our Fall 2011 books and meeting with various vendors who manage our metadata and help us get our books out into the world electronically. We also meet with some of our sales representatives and enjoy catching up with our favorite booksellers. The New York Times reports on the convention here, saying "there is a Wild West quality to the book business these days." Academic publishing moves more slowly than commercial publishing, but we do feel like we have a lot to figure out about our future, and it's good to connect with the rest of the industry once a year and see where we stand. Below, you can see some of the general interest highlights from our Fall catalog that we were featuring in our booth.

 

Benjamin Lowy's pictures from Iraq won the 5th Center for Documentary Studies / Honickman First Book Prize in Photography. 

 

Foreign affairs expert Swanee Hunt draws lessons for global security from her time spent as an activist for peace and women's rights in Bosnia.

 

 

Orrin H. Pilkey and Keith C. Pilkey make the science of global climate change accessible to a general audience in this beautiful book with batik illustrations by Mary Edna Fraser.

 

Rock critic Chuck Eddy collects some of his best pieces a quarter-century of writing about music.

 

 

 

Jake Austen, author of the offbeat music zine Roctober, collects some its best profiles and interviews.

 

 

Dana Polan writes a cultural history of Julia Child's beloved television show The French Chef.

 

 

Queer theorist Judith Halberstam writes playfully about such films as Dude, Where's My Car and Finding Nemo as she develops the concept of "low theory."

 

Check out these and all our Fall 2011 titles on our website!