Summer 2023 Newsletter: Awards, Reviews, and Intern Updates

Read the latest from ACP

Writing in Time wins 2023 Richard J. Finneran Award for the best book about editorial theory or practice

cover thumbnail of a red square with handwriting and slashes faintly in background. The words Writing in Time are in purple and Emily Dickinson's Master Hours are in yellow. The author's name Marta Werner is in white in the lower right corner.

The Richard J. Finneran Award is presented every two years by the Society for Textual Scholarship for the outstanding edition or book on editorial theory published over the past two years. The judges recognized "the combination of rigorous editorial attentiveness to materials and broad thinking about the work of editing as a whole that are displayed in Writing in Time. A challenging argument, in poetical prose, wrapped in a beautiful book, yet also generously offered freely in PDF format."

For more than half a century, the story of Emily Dickinson’s “Master” documents has been the largely biographical tale of three letters to an unidentified individual. In her new book, Marta Werner seeks to tell the story of the documents themselves. A major event in Dickinson scholarship, Writing in Time proposes new constellations of Dickinson’s work as well as exciting new methodologies for textual scholarship as an act of “intimate editorial investigation.”

Studies into Darkness selected for 2023 Book, Jacket, and Journal Show

A black thumbnail cover with the silhouette of a bird in a gray square in the bottom half. The title is in white at the top. The subtitle is in white on the right side of the book running perpendicular to the title. The editors names are in white in the bottom left corner.

The Association of University Presses Book, Jacket, and Journal Show honors excellence in design produced by its member presses. The show recognizes meritorious achievement in the design, production, and manufacture of books, jackets, covers, journals, and digital publications by members of the university press community. 2023 marks the 58th anniversary of this book show.

Studies into Darkness: The Perils and Promise of Freedom of Speech was selected for recognition in the Scholarly Typographic category. Published in partnership with the Vera List Center for Art and Politics at the New School, the book is a collection of newly commissioned texts, artist projects, and resources that delve into the intricacies of free speech. 

Reimagining Nabokov reviewed in Nabokov Online Journal

Thumbnail of cover with left half of Vladimir Nabokov's face visible. A white middle-aged man wearing spectacles. The title Reimagining Nabokov is in white on the right side of the cover. The subtitle, Pedagogies for the 21st Century, is in yellow. Edited by Sara Karpukhin and Jose Vergara is in white.

Reimagining Nabokov: Pedagogies for the 21st Century edited by Sara Karpukhin and José Vergara was reviewed by Anoushka Alexander-Rose, of the University of Southamptonn in Volume XVII of the Nabokov Online Journal. Alexander-Rose calls the volume, "[a] valuable study for any reader, teacher, scholar, or student of Nabokov. Amongst specific and urgent insights on the potential for digital methods, the relevance of Nabokov for students today, and how to reconcile issues of identity with an author who disavowed history and politics, are much wider and timeless questions of authorial control and the ability to access reality." Read the full review here.

Intern Updates

ACP interns Katie McMaye (‘23) and Evelyn Chi (‘25) spent spring semester immersed in the world of acquisitions, marketing, and even having some fun with the Chicago Manual of Style. Katie and Evelyn completed a range of projects and gained hands-on experience with many key moments in the publishing cycle--from generating keywords and metadata for our titles to compiling author usage reports to honing their developmental and copy editing skills in a collaboration with the Student Museum Educator Interns at the Mead Art Museum. You can read Katie and Evelyn on Zine culture’s connection to OA and the systems of prestige undergirding scholarly publishing on ACP's Blog. Also check out our Instagram @AmherstCollegePress to see more highlights from spring 2023!