Florida Press

23/01/2025

Exciting news for readers interested in stories of dancers and dance history! DANCING IN BLACKNESS, the memoir of dancer and Black studies scholar Halifu Osumare, is now available as an audiobook.

This book traces Osumare’s personal journey over four decades, across three continents and twenty-three countries, and through defining moments in the story of Black dance in America. The story begins in 1960s San Francisco amid the Black Arts Movement and describes how Osumare collaborated with major artistic movers and shakers throughout her dance career, including Katherine Dunham, Pearl Primus, Jean-Léon Destiné, and Donald McKayle. Today, Halifu Osumare is professor emerita of African American and African Studies at the University of California, Davis.

Published in 2018, DANCING IN BLACKNESS was awarded the Selma Jeanne Cohen Prize in Dance Aesthetics from the American Society for Aesthetics and an American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation. In praise of the book, poet and playwright Ntozake Shange said, “Finally someone who knows a dancer’s process and a choreographer’s vision that has tackled the mystery that is the magic of contemporary African American dance.”

For more information and to listen to this new audiobook: bit.ly/DancingInBlacknessAudiobook

21/01/2025

Anjelica Fabro, who recently finished her time as an Acquisitions Intern, talks about how our editors work with authors to publish excellent scholarship at the Press.

Written by Anjelica Fabro, Acquisitions Intern I love lemons. With the right ingredients, tools, and chef, lemons can make beautiful dishes. When life gives me lemons, I make lemon cupcakes. I migh…

20/01/2025

On this Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we are highlighting four of our recent and forthcoming books that explore aspects of the Civil Rights Movement that King worked to advance. These books reveal little-known figures who played a part in the emergence of the movement, lawyers and advocates who sought to right injustices through the legal system, and activists who built on the movement to hold the nation to its democratic ideals and promises in the later decades of the twentieth century.

📕 BLACK CITIZENS AND AMERICAN DEMOCRACY: Fighting for the Soul of a Nation, edited by Reginald K. Ellis, Jeffrey L. Littlejohn, and Peter B. Levy
➡️ This collection examines the important work of Black men and women to shape, expand, and preserve a multiracial American democracy from the mid-twentieth century to the present.
(Available April 2025)
More info: https://upf.com/book.asp?id=9780813079301

📕 JAMES HUDSON: Forgotten Forerunner in the Crusade for Civil Rights, by Larry Omar Rivers
➡️ This book tells the story of James Hudson, a Black philosopher, Florida A&M University professor, activist, and religious leader whose philosophical contributions laid a key piece of the groundwork for the emergence of the Civil Rights Movement.
More info: https://upf.com/book.asp?id=9780813079103

📕 AMY MALLARD AND RACIAL JUSTICE: Lynching, Law, and Resistance in Post–World War II America, by Matthew Lippman
➡️ This book is the first to document the story of Amy Mallard, who sought justice for the 1948 lynching of her husband in Georgia and later became an advocate for civil rights at the national level.
(Available July 2025)
More info: https://upf.com/book.asp?id=9780813079349

📕 MORE VOICES OF CIVIL RIGHTS LAWYERS: Continuing the Struggle, edited by Kent Spriggs
➡️ In this book, twenty-three lawyers discuss their experiences in the struggle to advance and maintain civil rights in the United States South, from the 1960s to the 1980s and from Texas to Virginia to Florida.
More info: https://upf.com/book.asp?id=9780813079165

These books can be found on our website (http://upress.ufl.edu) or through your local bookseller.

17/01/2025

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF EARLY COLONIAL MANILA by Ellen Hsieh uses archaeological, historical, and ethnographic resources to document the ways Manila, capital of the Philippines, was transformed by the arrival of Spanish colonists in 1571 and how the city in turn shaped the modern world.

“A useful new contribution to Chinese historical sources, archaeological assemblages in Manila, and the correspondence between Manila and Spanish America. Hsieh’s knowledge of Hispano-American and …

16/01/2025

MONUMENTS AND MEMORY, edited by John H. Jameson, Sherene Baugher, and Richard Veit, examines many different public monuments, exploring the cultural factors behind their creation, their messages and evolving meanings, and the role of such markers in conveying the memory of history to future generations.

“Through a wide-ranging consideration of memorials, this book makes important contributions to the study of materiality and remembrance. Particularly valuable are its authors’ international perspec…

15/01/2025

In BLACK FREEDOM AND EDUCATION IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY CUBA from , author Raquel Otheguy argues that Afro-descended teachers and activists were central to the development of a national education system in Cuba and influenced the trajectory of public school systems in the broader Americas.

“Otheguy’s insightful analysis is engaging and persuasive; it represents an original and significant contribution to the scholarship on the history of education. This book offers important context …

14/01/2025

We are very pleased to announce our Spring & Summer 2025 season!

Visit http://upress.ufl.edu/Spring2025 to browse our new books scheduled to be published between March and August 2025.

The season begins with three great new books for Florida readers. Journalist and bestselling author Craig Pittman introduces the people, creatures, places, and issues that make up the nation’s fastest growing state. Readers will also enjoy a high-speed glide through Florida surf culture and stories of nature near at hand amid development and change in South Florida.

This spring we will publish the memoir of dancer and creative aging pioneer Naomi Goldberg Haas, founder of Dances For A Variable Population; the history of Chambers v. Florida, a landmark court case that contributed to what is now known as the “criminal procedure revolution”; and the first book to explore modern art in Cuba during the nation’s only democratic period.

In the subject of literature, a new book shows how James Joyce’s novel ULYSSES imitates the workings of the human mind and connects to psychological theories of Joyce’s time. A new archaeology book discusses how to preserve the maritime cultural heritage of shipwrecks, and another features collaborative research at the site of a Spanish mission outpost in the San Francisco Bay Area.

And we have exciting new paperback releases this season! Don’t miss a deep dive into the filmmaking industry in Jacksonville before the rise of Hollywood, the true story of the volunteer group Brothers to the Rescue and the Cuban refugees they flew to safety, and an exploration of the dance traditions of the Caribbean islands.

Browse all titles in the season here: upress.ufl.edu/Spring2025

The catalog cover artwork is by Kim Heise, from OF SLASH PINES AND MANATEES: A Highly Selective Field Guide to My Suburban Wilderness (March 2025) by Andrew Furman, a co-publication with Florida Humanities.

13/01/2025

Today is the publication date for BLACK PRISON INTELLECTUALS by Andrea Stone. Recovering critical, understudied writings from early archives, this book calls into question the idea that the Black prison intellectual movement began in the twentieth century, tracing the arc of Black prison writing from 1795 to 1901. This book sheds light on the roots of issues like structural racism and mass incarceration.

“Stone transforms our understanding of the prisoner as intellectuals and thought leaders.”—Jodi Schorb, author of Reading Prisoners: Literature, Literacy, and the Transformation of American Punishm…

10/01/2025

Krysta Ryzewski, coeditor of our historical archaeology book series, The American Experience in Archaeological Perspective, plans to be at our table at The Society for Historical Archaeology Conference from 1:30-3:30pm today to chat with interested authors. Come by with your questions and book ideas!

09/01/2025

Congratulations to Adam D. Fracchia and Patricia M. Samford (pictured here), whose book BELOW BALTIMORE won the SHA James Deetz Book Award! Come by our booth at The Society for Historical Archaeology conference to check out the winning title, and browse our other books on sale.

06/01/2025

Happy New Year! We are grateful for your support for our nonprofit publishing program throughout the past year.

As we begin 2025, here are some reminders of ways you can connect with us this year:

Follow us on other social media platforms:
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Bluesky: http://floridapress.bsky.social

Keep up with author events: http://upress.ufl.edu/calendar.asp

Receive email updates: http://upress.ufl.edu/subscribe

Finally, our New Year Sale is running now! For the month of January 2025, receive 30% off all of our books. Use code NEW25 when you order on our website: http://upress.ufl.edu

04/01/2025

Our senior acquisitions editor Sian Hunter is in New York City for the American Historical Association Conference. If you are attending, please stop by and visit the booth we are sharing with the University of Virginia Press!

You can also browse our history books for sale and order with our conference discount at upress.ufl.edu.

20/12/2024

Happy holidays to all of our readers! We wish you a joyous holiday season and a Happy New Year. Our offices will be closed for the holidays from December 25 to January 1.

Our publishing team is looking forward to a new year of books and the conversations they foster. Please stay connected with us for news about the Press and our authors in the coming year. See you in 2025.

20/12/2024

Job Alert! 📣 We are hiring a book designer! If you are a graphic designer with experience designing book covers and interiors, please check out this opportunity to work on books published by University Press of Florida and UF Press. More info here: https://jobs.up.hcommons.org/job/university-press-of-florida-2-book-designer/

Association of University Presses

16/12/2024

Get your holiday book sale order in TODAY! 📚🎁

Browse the University Press of Florida and UF Press holiday catalog for new books and featured titles: bit.ly/HolidayBookSale24

Order on our website: http://upress.ufl.edu. Use code HOL24 for discounts. Orders over $75 receive free US shipping.

Visit upress.ufl.edu for these and other great gift books from University Press of Florida and UF Press. Use discount code HOL24 at checkout. Order by December 16, 2024.

13/12/2024

Isabela Creighton, who recently finished her time as the Marketing Intern, talks about the importance of details and the thought and care that goes into marketing promotions at the Press.

Written by Isabela Creighton, Marketing Intern Hello, my name is Isabela, and I want to share some of my internship experiences with the Press. In middle school, my love of reading flourished, and …

12/12/2024

Our December E-Newsletter is out now! It features our holiday gift guide, a democracy reading list, highlights from our trip to the 2024 Miami Book Fair, and more.

Read it here: https://conta.cc/3ZrMf0R

Want our monthly e-newsletters delivered to your inbox? Subscribe here: upress.ufl.edu/subscribe