Bucknell University Press

Edimus quod nobis libet.

May 2, 2016 by Olivia Kalb

Ending the Year

For the past year at the Bucknell Press, three days a week I would enter the hobbit hole in the basement of Taylor Hall and be welcomed by rooms of books. Truly, the perfect place to work for any book lover. Not only to work among these shelves filled with texts, but to see a section of the history of the Press through its published works, ranging back to the early 1970s.

imageWhen I first arrived at the Press, a yearlong project I was given was to scan all the books missing from the MLA bibliography from the past decade so they could be added to it. Exciting, I know. But as I looked through the shelves, it quickly became fascinating. I loved discovering the works reviewed, edited, discussed, and published here. From Monkey Farm by Donald Dewsbury to Editing Lives by Jesse G. Swan, each day at work brought new finds.

Another project started through the Press was the creation of The Humanities Review, an academic journal for students. Part of the Bucknell Press internship is to create a project, and, as it was still early in the first semester I hadn’t considered what I would do. But one day, the director of the Press came to me with the idea to start a journal. To offer students a place to send in critical essays which would be reviewed by a board of their peers and hopefully published in an issue. As one aspect I’ve quite enjoyed at the Press is the board meetings where members decide which works to publish, to be able to help lead that process and to evaluate essays and publish them, is exciting.  The process of evaluation, understanding what works and doesn’t, how this or that should be changed or added or taken out in the context of writing and words themselves, has always been a fascination of mine. It’s why I choose to work in publishing and wish to be an editor.

Part of my Press duties, as well, has been to write for the blog. Each month I got to choose a topic and look through the Press’s published books to find what fits within the theme. One of my favorites was definitely Monkey Day, both because who isn’t a fan of monkeys and it stood out as an oddity in the Press collection, but each month allowed another exploration into a topic where I, more often than not, didn’t know much of the history. And, again, I got to explore the past of the Bucknell Press while learning something new.

With a mother as a writer, I’ve grown up with an interest in publishing, although more the editorial rather than actual writing-a-book side. The past two summers I’ve interned for large companies in New York, working in genre fiction, and while I love those opportunities and will continue to go after them, neither had the intimacy of the smaller press that I’ve come to prefer. Walking into the office and personally knowing each of your colleagues is a treat hard to come by at a massive publisher.

Plus, throughout this year, my interest in academic publishing has grown tenfold. My first love will always be fiction because I love a good story, but I never looked at works of scholarship beyond using sources for my class essays. But now, understanding the process behind them, from both the authors and the publisher, I have a high appreciation for the texts as a whole, rather than a quote, and it definitely puts me in mind to read through a few on my own.

After my own lovely experience here at the Bucknell University Press, I wish next year’s student the same luck and happy internship.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Archives

  • February 2023
  • October 2022
  • June 2022
  • November 2021
  • September 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • July 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • November 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • February 2019
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • February 2018
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • June 2017
  • April 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • December 2015
  • October 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • August 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • January 2014
  • November 2013
  • August 2013
  • April 2013
  • January 2013
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • September 2011
  • June 2011
  • March 2011
  • September 2010
  • October 2009

Recent Posts

  • Global Black History at Bucknell University Press
  • Inventing the Velocipede with Corry Cropper and Seth Whidden
  • A New Colophon for Bucknell University Press
  • Continued praise for Magical Realism and the History of Emotions in Latin America by Jerónimo Arellano
  • University Press Week Day 4

Archives

  • February 2023
  • October 2022
  • June 2022
  • November 2021
  • September 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • July 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • November 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • February 2019
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • February 2018
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • June 2017
  • April 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • December 2015
  • October 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • August 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • January 2014
  • November 2013
  • August 2013
  • April 2013
  • January 2013
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • September 2011
  • June 2011
  • March 2011
  • September 2010
  • October 2009

Bucknell University Press events calendar

May 2016
M T W T F S S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031  
« Apr   Jun »

Topics

Handcrafted with on the Genesis Framework