Pride of the Canadian Prairie
The University of Alberta Press Builds on a History of Excellence
The University of Alberta Press’s mission is to produce culturally significant works of high-quality scholarship and creative excellence. Given the numerous Foreword IndieFabs, among other awards, the press seems to be fulfilling that mission. Executive Editor Howard Lovy interviewed Director Linda D. Cameron on the publisher’s mission and how it’s preparing for a digital future.
Is your mission to promote your university’s research, Canadian authors, or to sell books to the masses?
We love to sell books, however, university presses share the same goals as faculty, libraries, and universities: to foster learning and advance knowledge. With those goals in mind, the University of Alberta Press (UAP) was established in 1969. Because of its geographic location in western Canada, far from the publishing hubs of Toronto and Montréal, the UAP’s mandate was twofold: to provide an opportunity for western-Canadian scholars, especially those at universities in Alberta, to publish their research and to contribute to the intellectual and cultural life of the province.
A decade later, in response to the 1978 report of the Symons Royal Commission on Canadian Studies, the province of Alberta allocated financial support for the Press. This seed funding allowed UAP to hire its first permanent staff and to sponsor one of the most important Canadian publishing projects of the late-twentieth century, the Riel Project.
What kind of review process do you have in place for scholarly or academic books to ensure the science is sound?
The acquisition process begins with an in-house assessment of manuscripts to determine fit with the university’s research concentrations and the press’s areas of editorial and design expertise, as well as the financial viability of the project. Those manuscripts deemed fitting to our publishing mandate are then sent for external peer review by Canadian and international scholars. Subsequently, expert readers’ reports and author responses to those reports are presented to the UAP Press Committee for consideration. The committee is composed of nine University of Alberta researchers from a range of disciplines appointed by the vice-provost (Learning Services). Its mandate is to determine whether to approve the manuscript for publication with the UAP imprint, recommend the author revise and resubmit, or decline to publish.
Without exception, the interaction of senior staff with the members of the Press Committee is one of the highlights of our process. The committee members take their responsibility seriously, and they ask tough questions and offer insightful comments, all of which go towards making the books we publish the best they can be.
You recently acquired CCI Press, which focuses on polar research publications. What types of titles will result from this acquisition?
Late in 2013 I received a phone call advising me the Canadian Circumpolar Institute was closing and, as a result, the future of the publishing program, called CCI Press, was in doubt. I was deeply concerned because the wealth of scholarship which had been published by CCI Press might be lost and, just as importantly, there were books in the process which might never get published. I called a staff meeting (there were eight of us at the time). Without exception, everyone on the substantially overworked staff agreed we had to do something to ensure against the loss of CCI Press. Therefore, we responded to the situation by saying we would assume responsibility for managing and overseeing the Canadian Circumpolar Institute’s scholarly publishing activity. By doing so, the UAP’s publication expertise and international distribution networks strengthen and enhance the University of Alberta’s legacy and commitment to northern research.
Our aim is to build on the established reputation of the CCI Press imprint by expanding the publication and dissemination of critical, high-quality new research on Canada’s Arctic and the international circumpolar region by Canadian and international scholars. A specially appointed CCI Press Committee has recently approved two new publications for the CCI Press imprint, and so we are embarking on a new era of publishing critical circumpolar scholarship.
Many of your titles focus on environmental and geopolitical issues. What other areas do you cover?
It makes sense for us to work from a position of strength, and thus the University of Alberta Press takes advantage of the wealth of scholarship at the University of Alberta and is proud to publish in categories which are priorities of U of A research:
- Humanities and fine arts: prairie, mountain, and circumpolar histories and cultures; literary and cultural studies; languages; literature and poetry; memoir
- Social structures and systems: First Nations, Métis, Inuit studies; the Canadian Arctic and international circumpolar north; Ukrainian
- Science and technology: chemical engineering; natural sciences
- Energy: engineering; petro-cultures; circumpolar studies
- Environment: environmental studies; circumpolar social and natural sciences
- Food and bio-resources: cookbooks; circumpolar
- Health and wellness: psychology; ethics; circumpolar social sciences
Your website says you are exploring new opportunities in digital publishing. What are the advantages and challenges you’re finding in the transition?
The publishing landscape has changed dramatically and irrevocably over the past few years. Availability and access to eFormats for books became both technologically viable and expected by libraries, researchers, and other readers. Although we have now converted most of our backlist to eFormats (where it was possible and practical to do so) and publish new titles in a range of eFormats, we have not yet seen the return on investment which was hoped for. In fact, we continue to see a demand for print texts even when eFormats are available. Thus far, the major advantage of digital formats is sales to library consortia.
We’ve written about the problem of overpriced academic textbooks. Is digital the solution?
As a university graduate and the mother of a university graduate and as a publisher, I perhaps have a different perspective on the price of academic textbooks, especially those published by university presses. I believe textbooks are an investment in the student’s future and, as such, the price of such textbooks, within reason, should be about the intellectual property which they contain, not whether they are in print or in eFormats.
What does it take for an author to get your attention?
Authors and prospective authors need to present their work in a professional manner. I appreciate receiving a well-prepared prospectus for a book which fits within our publishing mandate.
Is Amazon’s success a portent of the apocalypse or just a website that sells stuff, including a lot of books?
I have been an Amazon patron since its earliest days when I lived in the Caribbean and had almost no access to books except when I traveled to America. Therefore, as much as its bullying tactics are abhorrent to me, I believe Amazon, or something like it, is an important partner in the book business.
Name some recent titles you’re particularly proud of.
I am proud of the work we do at the UAP and especially grateful to be working with a dedicated and talented team of individuals. Of course everything we do is dependent upon works of exceptional quality being presented to us for publication. Therefore, we are deeply indebted to the scholars and other creative individuals who place their trust in us to publish their books. Some recent titles of which I am particularly proud are:
Sanctioned Ignorance: The Politics of Knowledge Production and the Teaching of Literatures of Canada, by Paul Martin, which was awarded L’Association des littératures canadiennes et Québécoise / the Association for Canadian and Quebec Literatures Gabrielle Roy Prize.
Peace-Athabasca Delta: Portrait of a Dynamic Ecosystem, by Kevin Timoney, which was awarded the Lane Anderson Prize for the very best science writing in Canada today.
Disinherited Generations: Our Struggle to Reclaim Treaty Rights for First Nations Women and their Descendants, by Nellie Carlson and Kathleen Steinhauer, as told to Linda Goyette, which was awarded the Alberta Book Award for trade nonfiction.
What’s coming out in the next year that we should look out for?
The following forthcoming titles demonstrate the range and diversity of the University of Alberta Press publishing program:
The Little Third Reich on Lake Superior: A History of Canadian Internment Camp R, by Ernest Robert Zimmermann (deceased), edited by Michel S. Beaulieu and David K Ratz.
Cultural Mapping and the Digital Sphere: Place and Space, by Ruth Panofsky and Kathleen Kellet, editors.
From the Elephant’s Back: Collected Essays and Travel Writings, by Lawrence Durrell (deceased), edited by James Gifford.
Overcoming Conflicting Loyalties: Intimate Partner Violence, Community Resources and Faith, by Irene Sevcik, Michael Rothery, Nancy Nason-Clark, and Robert Pynn.
Howard Lovy
