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Early press for UP Week: Publishers Weekly / LitHub / Book Work
New York and Washington, DC — In her famous novel, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen wrote: “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book!”
This year, which marks the 250th anniversary of Austen’s birth, the Association of University Presses encourages all those who enjoy reading to check out some of the newest works — both fiction and non-fiction — published by university presses.
Every year, the Association of University Presses celebrates the important work that university presses do during University Press Week. University Press Week will be held this year from Nov. 10-14 and will include a robust calendar of events across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and beyond.
Events will feature authors speaking about their own works, including everything from novels, memoirs and collections of poetry to books about politics, history, social science, and more. Some events will be held at much-anticipated book festivals in Minneapolis, Austin, and Montreal. Many will be hosted by prominent bookstores, including in Book Culture in New York, Harvard Book Store in Boston, Women & Children First in Chicago, Third Place Books in Seattle, and more.
Among the exciting events happening during this year’s University Press Week is a panel on Nov. 13 at the British Library in London that will celebrate Jane Austen. The event will include panelists Devoney Looser, author of Wild for Austen (Manchester University Press); Bee Rowlatt, one of the lead presenters on the BBC’s “Austen: Rise of a Genius” docuseries; and a star of the screen who will bring Austen’s words to life.
In addition, two Boston events will examine the challenges and opportunities posed by AI. On Nov. 12, renowned computer scientist Alex “Sandy” Pentland will discuss his new book Shared Wisdom: Cultural Evolution in the Age of AI (MIT Press), in which he argues that we can use AI to aid, rather than replace, our human capacity for deliberation to help society improve. Then on Nov. 13, Hamid Ismailov will discuss his novel We Computers (Yale University Press) with translator Shelley Fairweather-Vega at Brookline Booksmith, as part of the Transnational Literature series. We Computers has been longlisted for the National Book Award for translated fiction; it joins another university press book honored by the National Book Foundation this year: Death Does Not End at the Sea (University of Nebraska Press), by Gbenga Adesina, longlisted in the NBA’s poetry category.
“Whether you are interested in creative works such as poetry, fiction, or memoir, or want to read about history, current events, or other scholarly explorations of the most important topics of our time, there’s at least one fascinating and well-written book for you from a university press,” said AUPresses president Dennis Lloyd, director of University of Wisconsin Press. “And attending an in-person event with a university press author, either live or via Zoom, is a wonderful way to dive even deeper into the topics that fascinate you, and gain knowledge from our accomplished authors.”
Some of the events that will be happening during University Press Week include the following: (Please check with the venues for additional details.)
SATURDAY, NOV. 8
- Minneapolis, MN
Kathleen Rooney and Beth Rooney, author of Leaf Town Forever (University of Minnesota Press)
The Rain Taxi Twin Cities Book Festival - Austin, TX
Rick Bass, author of Wrecking Ball: Race, Friendship, God, and Football (University of New Mexico Press)
Texas Book Festival
TUESDAY, NOV. 11
- Brooklyn, NY
Barbara Wansbrough, author of Wild Things: A Geography of Grief (Eris/Columbia University Press), in conversation with Paul Holdengraber
Greenlight Bookstore, 686 Fulton St., Brooklyn, NY - Virtual (City Light Bookstore)
Available online here (and above)
Dan Sinykin and Johanna Winant, editors of Close Reading for the Twenty-First Century
(Princeton University Press) and Yael Segalovitz, author of How Close Reading Made Us (SUNY Press), in conversation with Samantha Rose Hill - Edwards, CO
Kathyn Wilder, author of Women on Wildlife (University of Nebraska Press), in conversation with Christina Rivera Cogswell
Bookworm of Edwards, 295 Main Street C101, Edwards, CO
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 12
- Virtual (Hosted by Third Place Books, Point Reyes Books, and Brookline Booksmith)
Enrique Vila-Matas, author of Montevideo (Yale University Press), in conversation with Xita Rubert - Cambridge, MA
Alex “Sandy” Pentland, author of Shared Wisdom: Cultural Evolution in the Age of AI (MIT Press)
MIT Museum, 314 Main St., Cambridge, MA - Chicago, IL
Janet Burroway, author of Simone in Pieces (University of Wisconsin Press), in conversation with Rosellen Brown
Women & Children First, 5233 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL - Cambridge, MA
Poetry reading with Marcella Durand, author of A Winter Triangle (Fordham University Press) and Anselm Berrigan, with an introduction by David Blair
Grolier Book Shop, 6 Plympton St., Cambridge, MA
THURSDAY, NOV. 13
- Barcelona, ES
Josh Denslow, author of Magic Can’t Save Us (University of New Orleans Press) in conversation with Ethan Rutherford, author of North Sun or The Voyage of the Whaleship Esther (Deep Vellum), finalist for the National Book Award for fiction.
Backstory Bookshop, Carrer Mallorca 330, Barcelona, Spain - London, UK
Wild About Jane Austen: The Woman Behind The Novels
In celebration of Austen’s 250th anniversary, this evening brings together bold new interpretations and studies of her work with a panel of experts, including Devoney Looser, author of Wild for Austen (Manchester University Press).
British Library, 96 Euston Road, London, UK - New York, NY
Aaron J. Leonard, author of The Menace Of Our Time: The Long War Against American Communism (Rutgers University Press)
Bobst Library, New York University, 70 Washington Square S, New York, NY - Brookline, MA
Hamid Ismailov, author of We Computers (Yale University Press), which is a finalist for the National Book Award in translated fiction, in conversation with translator Shelley Fairweather-Vega
Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard St., Brookline, MA - Philadelphia, PA
Charlene Mires and Howard Gillette, editors of Greater Philadelphia: A New History for the Twenty-First Century (University of Pennsylvania Press)
Independence Visitors Center, 599 Market St., Philadelphia, PA
FRIDAY, NOV. 14
- Cambridge, MA
John Samuel Harpham, author of The Intellectual Origins of Slavery (Harvard University Press)
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachussetts Ave., Cambridge, MA - Seattle, WA
Lance Garland, author of Out There: Dispatches From My Personal Wilderness (Trinity University Press)
Third Place Books, 6504 20 th Ave. NE, Seattle, WA
SATURDAY, NOV. 15
- Montreal, Canada
Montreal Expozine 2025 – North America’s largest bilingual festival and fair dedicated to self- publishing, print media, and the zine. The fair features more than 300 authors, artists and publishers, including Concordia University Press.
1025 Rue Bélanger, Montreal - Los Angeles, CA
Volker M. Welter, author of Exiled in L.A.: The Untold Story of Leopold Fischer’s Domestic Architecture (Getty Research Institute)
Neutra Office Building, 2379 Glendale Blvd., Los Angeles, CA
To see the most up-to-date list of events, click here.
Now in its 14th year, the Association of University Presses also celebrates University Press Week by releasing an annual list of university press publications and projects that embody the theme of the year.
This year’s reading list features 69 books and other publications as well as 13 projects that embody this year’s theme of #TeamUp, presenting thought-provoking concepts, inspiring ideas, and cutting-edge scholarship — all of which would not have been published without the dedicated teams of authors, publishers, and the universities or other host institutions of which they are part. See the complete list here.
“University presses everywhere are united in the goal of publishing authors who offer unique insights and fresh voices,” says AUPresses executive director Peter Berkery. “University Press Week 2025 affords us the opportunity to celebrate all of the ways that university presses, scholars, booksellers, librarians, and so many others work together towards this goal, and continue to produce and promote books that spark thought, inform debate, and ultimately advance knowledge.”
About the Association of University Presses
AUPresses is an organization of 168 international nonprofit scholarly publishers. Since 1937, the Association of University Presses advances the essential role of a global community of publishers whose mission is to ensure academic excellence and cultivate knowledge. The Association holds intellectual freedom, integrity, stewardship, and equity and inclusion as core values. AUPresses members are active across many scholarly disciplines, including the humanities, arts, and sciences, publish significant regional and literary work, and are innovators in the world of digital publishing.