by Professor Iwan Rhys Morus, author of William Robert Grove: Victorian Gentleman of Science On 22 October 1842 the Swansea-born natural philosopher William Robert Grove sent a letter to Michael Faraday describing a new philosophical toy he’d been playing with in his laboratory at the London Institution. Grove called this experimental curiosity the gas battery.
On this grey January afternoon, Academic Book Week is sure to lift us out of the dark days of winter. To pause to take stock, consider, and celebrate “what we do” all too often gets overlooked in the day to day graft by authors and publishers alike to write, publish and disseminate academic work. From
As I am preparing to close down my computer at the Press for the very last time, and aside from the mixed emotions that often surround key decisions in one’s life, the overwhelming sense that accompanies my departure is that of pride. It has been both an honour and a privilege to work for Wales’
by Dr Matthew Jarvis An innovative partnership between the University of Wales Press (UWP) and digital scholarly provider Open Library of Humanities (OLH) means that the International Journal of Welsh Writing in English is going “gold” open access. So from now on, all new material that the Journal publishes will be free to view online.
HEFCE, on behalf of the four UK funding bodies (including HEFCW), has recently updated its policy for open access in the next REF (2021). It updates and supersedes the previous policy for open access in the post-2014 REF (March 2014), which was later updated after feedback from the sector. The only substantive change is an
It is with a heavy heart that we bid Professor Ceri Davies a very fond farewell on his retirement from his role as Chair of the UWP’s Editorial Panel. Under his skilful steerage the Panel has provided an important additional layer of expertise and evaluation in the key peer review process for UWP’s publishing programme
by Dr Jerome Winter, author of Science Fiction, New Space Opera, and Neoliberal Globalism: Nostalgia for Infinity I am proud to announce the publication of Science Fiction, New Space Opera, and Neoliberal Globalism: Nostalgia for Infinity, published by the University of Wales Press for their New Dimensions in Science Fiction series. With this book, I attempted
by Dr Isabel Hollis-Touré and Dr Kate Averis, editors of Exiles, Travellers and Vagabonds: Rethinking Mobility in Francophone Women’s Writing Exiles, Travellers and Vagabonds emerged as a project from our shared academic and personal fascination for mobility. Throughout our careers, Kate Averis and I have both studied human mobility and partaken in it, often engaging in international
24th – 30th October is Open Access Week. Here at UWP we’ll celebrate by making the final touches to converting our International Journal of Welsh Writing in English into a gold, fully open-access journal with the wonderful Open Library of Humanities. We’re very proud to be the first university press which has “flipped” to OA
by Dr Sean Davies, author of The First Prince of Wales? It never fails to astound me that – in a nation so obsessed with its past as Wales – there are so few people aware of the fact that there was once a single king of all the lands that make up the modern country.
The 19th – 25th September is the Scholarly Kitchen’s Peer Review Week. As the Chefs note in their blog of 19th July, “Peer Review Week 2015 was a small, experimental, toe-in-the-water kind of event. But it struck a chord with many individuals and organizations.” So, after the initial tentative outing, we at UWP are thrilled to
We’re thrilled at UWP today to announce that the Open Library of Humanities has entered into a partnership with us to convert the International Journal of Welsh Writing in English into a fully gold open-access journal. Independent peer-review of the journal called it “an absolutely essential resource for any scholar, student or general reader with
We are extremely pleased to announce that the Open Library of Humanities has entered into a partnership with the University of Wales Press to convert the International Journal of Welsh Writing in English into a full, gold open-access journal. Independent peer-review of this journal called it “an absolutely essential resource for any scholar, student or
Exciting news for Hispanists! We are delighted to unveil a new prize in association with The British Spanish Society, sponsored by The University of Wales Press and our established Iberian and Latin American Studies Series. Eligible applicants should be actively engaged in research in Hispanic Studies, and have completed a doctoral thesis during the previous
We know how hard our authors in HASS work to publish their research, particularly when REF plays such a vital role in academia these days. So the recent Times Higher Education article announcing that the World University Rankings for 2016-17 will include books and book chapters for the first time was greeted with great enthusiasm
The University of Wales Press attended the 2016 Eisteddfod in Abergavenny last week. I went along to work in the Press tent, and to experience my first Eisteddfod. As a Welsh learner I was eager to immerse myself in the festival, but also concerned that my limited knowledge of the language would be a problem.
As the Twittersphere duly noted, the Stern Review of REF has been published– so although much reviled, REF is here to stay. The Review has been designed to build on the success of previous iterations and to identify areas of improvement. It has generally been positively received by the academy and includes a timetable of steps
On Art and Painting: Vicente Carducho and Baroque Spain has taken six years to grow from an idea to a reality. We began the project in April 2011 with a colloquium at Oxford University. The contributors to this volume came together to discuss Carducho and his 1633 treatise, Dialogues on Painting. One of the most
This week I was pleased to put the vexatious matter of UK’s Brexit behind me for a few days to immerse myself in the offerings of two excellent conferences in the North of England. The first, Summer of 1816: Creativity and Turmoil at the University of Sheffield, focussed on that stormy and inclement season two
A major initiative in education in Wales was launched at Cardiff City Hall on 15th June. Leading international education experts have pledged their support to the establishment of the Wales Education Commission to work alongside Yr Athrofa: Institute for Education, set up by The University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) to support the transformation
by Huw Osborne, editor of Queer Wales: The History, Culture and Politics of Queer Life in Wales The idea for this book came from a panel on Queer Wales at the 2008 conference of the North American Association for the Study of Welsh Culture and History at the University of Toronto. It all began when John
Historian of Science, Professor Iwan Morus, discusses the relationship between science and Wales. Can Wales be a land of science as well as song? I think our future depends on it. The words ‘scientist’ and ‘Wales’ don’t come together in the same sentence very often, I’m afraid. When we think about contemporary Welsh culture, science
On 15 March 2016, three of us from the UWP staff attended a one-day course on XML, or Extensible Markup Language, arranged by John Normansell of Manchester University Press. We were joined by our counterparts from Edinburgh University Press and Liverpool University Press, and met in a room in the Renold Building just downstairs from
This year Open Access (OA) will become mandatory for journal articles for REF, so we’d like to give all our journal contributors and editors a quick reminder about it. The key date is 1 April 2016, afterwhich OA will be an essential requirement for journal articles accepted for publication. A helpful document for familiarising yourselves
The University of Wales Press, based in Cardiff, is looking to appoint a Marketing Development Officer to lead and further develop its marketing activities across all channels including social media. For further details, click here For an online application form, click here Closes: 25 January 2016
Buy it here. See the original review here.
On Friday 27th November, I was fortunate to attend the Fourth Annual Lecture in International Law sponsored by The College of Law and Criminology with the Welsh Centre for International Affairs in association with the Law Schools of the Universities of Aberystwyth, Bangor, Bristol, Cardiff, West of England, and Swansea. The stimulating and fascinating lecture
Revolutionaries, Rebels and Robbers was launched at Blackwell’s, Sheffield on 20 November. The launch was very well attended and Bob Britton (the other author) and I had the pleasure of Professor Phil Swanson introducing us and our books. Pascale Baker
The University of Wales Press, based in Cardiff, is looking to appoint a Marketing Development Officer to lead and further develop its marketing activities across all channels including social media. For further details, click here For an online application form, click here Closes: 23 November 2015
The death of Trefor M. Owen in February 2015 was a great loss to ethnological studies, both in Wales and internationally. A memorial conference is being organised by the Ethnology and Folk Studies Section of the University of Wales Alumni Association at St Fagans National History Museum on Saturday, 21 November 2015. Tecwyn Vaughan Jones and Eurwyn Wiliam will speak
n his revealing memoir, published in the year of his eightieth birthday, Kenneth O. Morgan reflects on marriage and bereavement, on re-marriage, parenthood, friendship, religion and morality, his reactions to the historical changes he has witnessed, from attending a village school in rural Wales and wartime air-raids, through school in Hampstead and study in Oxford
The University of Wales Press is looking to appoint a Publishing Assistant to join its busy team in Cardiff. This is an excellent opportunity for an individual interested in a career in publishing. For further details, click here For an online application form, click here Closes: 9 November 2015
The M. Wynn Thomas Prize is offered to celebrate outstanding scholarly work in the field of Welsh writing in English. There are two prize categories: the ‘Open’ category and the ‘New Scholars’ category. Essays submitted may be unpublished or published, in English or in Welsh. Published essays should be from 2015/16. Essays must be submitted by
Mid-October could only mean one thing: the Frankfurt Book Fair! Almost as old as the invention of moveable type, Frankfurter Buchmesse continues to be a highlight of all publishers’ calendars, and this year was no exception. From 14-18 October the University of Wales Press formed part of the Independent Publishers Guild (IPG) collective stand, alongside
On Friday 16 October I attended a joint conference by the Folklore Society and the Royal Anthropological Institute in London. The conference was designed to enhance collaborate between the two disciplines. Historically, membership of both the Society and the Institute have overlapped, testifying to a closeness between the disciplines that was fruitfully borne out by
What was the bestselling gothic novel of 1897? Many would guess Bram Stoker’s Dracula, but Richard Marsh’s The Beetle: A Mystery in fact beat Stoker’s novel in popularity for many years. In 1913, when the fifteenth impression of The Beetle appeared, Dracula had only reached its tenth, and Marsh’s novel was even filmed first, Alexander
University of Wales Press books were on display at the Beijing International Book Fair recently, with UWP represented by STM Publishers Services. The fair was visited by trade, local publishers and professionals on Aug 26 and 27. Book Fair catalogues including all titles displayed were circulated in advance to relevant librarians all over China.
You can’t say that the REF doesn’t provoke strong reactions. It’s been called academia’s very own “spawn of satan”, a “Frankenstein monster” and “a Minotaur that must be appeased by bloody sacrifices” – and like a recurring nightmare, there is another on the not-so-distant horizon, in the form of the 2020 iteration. While many academics
5 The 10th MA Conference for Teachers of Secondary Mathematics, Stirling University 7 Modernist Network Cymru Conference, Swansea University 7-9 International Arthurian Society, British Branch Annual Conference, University of York 8-10 ASMCF Annual Conference 2015: Myth Making, University of Hull 10 MECCSA workshop, Shared Solidarities: the interaction of parties, unions
UWP’s critically acclaimed Gothic Literary Studies series, edited by Dr Andy Smith and Professor Ben Fisher, scored a resounding victory at the International Gothic Association’s recent conference in Vancover. The Allan Lloyd Smith Memorial Prize for the best book in Gothic criticism was won by Joseph Crawford for his 2014 monograph Twilight of the Gothic:
As the series editors of Gothic Literary Studies, Ben Fisher and I are delighted that Joseph Crawford’s The Twilight of the Gothic?: Vampire Fiction and the Rise of the Paranormal Romance has won the Allan Lloyd Smith prize for the best single-authored monograph published on the Gothic between 2013-2014. The book makes an important contribution to
Summer is here and conference season is upon us! Balmy temperatures and sunshine made a timely appearance for the Society of French Studies conference held at Cardiff University between 29th June and 1st July. The prestigious event provided an opportunity for UWP to showcase its publications in the field across a number of our series,
Informed by history, inspired by the Scottish revolutions, rolling debate about the future of Welsh nationalism. When was Wales, and when will it be? Opportunities for all to discuss. All welcome. Ymlaen mae Canaan! Ymlaen! #PrydBydd Mawrth, 7 Gorffennaf 7yh ABERYSTWYTH – Caffi MGs Cadeirydd: Jasmine Donahaye Noddwyr: Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol Mynediad: prynwch baned! Digwyddiad
1-8 National Eisteddfod, Meifod 3-7 XVII World Economic History Congress, Kyoto International Conference Centre, Japan 27-28 ECREA Political Communication Conference 2015 “Changing political communication, changing Europe?”. University of Southern Denmark 27-29 The British Association for Victorian Studies Conference: Victorian Age(s), Leeds Trinity University
I attended the Richard Burton Centre’s annual postgraduate conference at Swansea University on the 8th of June and was very impressed by the high standard of papers delivered throughout the day. The first panel was on Writing Welsh in English, a subject area in which Swansea is of course richly endowed in terms of staff
The University of Wales Press announces a new interdisciplinary journal, The Journal of Religious History, Literature and Culture, launching in 2015. The journal, which is in succession to the The Welsh Journal of Religious History and Trivium, will publish articles on all aspects of the history, literature and culture of religions in all parts of
On 2 June, colleagues from UWP attended the Language Trends Launch and Routes into Languages Cymru Showcase at Cardiff University, organised by Routes into Languages Cymru, the British Council in Wales, the CfBT Education Trust, UCML Wales and CILT Cymru. Chaired by UWP’s French & Francophone Studies series co-editor Professor Claire Gorrara, the first part
2 29th Irish Conference of Medievalists, The Vintage Kitchen, Dublin 2-5 British Society for the History of Science Annual Conference, Swansea University 3-4 Association of Business Historians Conference, Exeter University 6-9 International Medieval Congress, Leeds University 9-10 Medieval and Golden Age Hispanic Studies Colloquium, Northumbria University 10-11 Research Society of Victorian Periodicals 47th Annual Conference, University of Ghent, Belgium 10-11 Biennial London
The University of Wales Press is saddened to announce the death of Diane Long Hoeveler on May 14th. Diane worked at Marquette University, Milwaukee where she was Professor of English. In 2014 her The Gothic Ideology: Religious Hysteria and Anti-Catholicism in Popular British Fiction, 1780-1880 was published by the University of Wales Press as part
Open Access has been attracting lively debate in academic circles for some time now, and there are a number of pilot studies and projects being undertaken to consider the complex questions raised by this model of scholarly dissemination. Open Access means that academic works are made freely available in digital format to anyone who has access
To celebrate Dylan Thomas Day 2015, you can buy the following books in paperback and electronic formats with a 10% discount and free postage for the next week. Just click on one of the links below, choose the paperback or electronic format, click ‘Buying Options’, then ‘Buy Now’, and when prompted, use the code: DYLAN2015
Last week our Sales and Marketing Manager, Eleri Lloyd-Cresci, attended the University of Chicago Press Fall 2015 Sales Conference. UCP distributes books on our behalf in North and South America, Australia and New Zealand. It is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. There are two sales conferences a
4-5 The Medieval and Early Modern Garden: Enclosure and Transformation, Swansea University 5 Durnell Sales Conference, Cardiff 10 WBC Sales Conference, Aberystwyth 10-12 Congreso Internacional ‘Ramon Muntaner: fets, dits i ‘veres veritats’ (1265-1336)’, University of Girona 15 The launch of Pam na fu Cymru by Simon Brooks, Uwchgwyrfai History Centre, Clynnog
I attended Daniel G. Williams‘ professorial lecture at Swansea University last night. Speaking to a packed lecture theatre and delivering his lecture in Welsh, Professor Williams’ presentation was masterful, fascinating, insightful, entertaining, witty and topical. Entitled ‘Un Genedl! Pa Genedl?: Cymathu Cymru o Shakespeare i Miliband’ (One Nation! Which Nation? Assimilating Wales from Shakespeare to
Adapting Nineteenth-century France: Literature in Film, Theatre, Television, Radio and Print The Gothic and the Carnivalesque in American Culture
‘Reading México’ was the focus of this year’s London Book Fair under the dome of the magnificent Olympia, and the stand representing Mexico and its publications was suitably impressive. Built from clean lines of bleached blond wood intersected with metal cables, the Mexico stage also managed to bring with it some of that country’s sunny
The annual conference of the Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and Commonwealth (ASA) was held this year under azure blue skies among the botanical beauty of the University of Exeter campus. Focusing on the theme of Symbiotic Anthropologies, it asked what it means to do anthropology today, while considering the shifting boundaries – or
Speeches and Articles 1968- 2012, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. For the first time, the speeches of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales are being made available in a two volume set in a collaborative project by the University of Wales, the University of Maryland and the University of Wales Trinity Saint
This year’s AWWE conference, expertly organised by Dr Aidan Byrne (University of Wolverhampton) and Professor Diana Wallace (University of South Wales) and held as usual in the gorgeous setting of Gregynog Hall, took as its theme ‘The Country and the City: Rural and Urban Wales’. Such a thought-provoking topic was always likely to inspire diverse
Women’s Writing in Twenty-first-century France: Life as Literature (NiP) Liberty’s Apostle: Richard Price, His Life and Times Wales Unchained: Literature, Politics and Identity in the American Century
8-10 Women in French Conference, University of Leeds 9 Re-imagining the Gothic Symposium, Sheffield 14-17 International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo 20-22 Women and Ageing: New Cultural and Critical Perspectives, University of Limerick 21-31 Hay Festival, Hay on Wye 27-30 Latin American Studies Association,
The term ‘symposium’ may mean ‘idle talk’, as the Symposiarch laughingly noted; but this was certainly not the case in the recent series of inspiring lectures and discussions organised as part of the SPBS programme of events designed to promote scholarship in the field. Under the guiding title ‘Whose Mediterranean is it anyway? Cross-cultural interaction
An article, written for the Western Mail, about the rapid changes in digital technologies, and the decisions and processes involved in digitising the Press’ vast back catalogue of books. The rapid changes in digital technologies have brought as many opportunities as challenges for publishers, and the University of Wales Press is no exception. For some
Open Access Our Commissioning Editor Sarah Lewis attended an OAPEN-UK workshop in London on 20th March, the final workshop in a series of three involving publishers alongside the participation of the other two main stakeholders in the open access (OA) equation: universities and researchers. The session was designed to help all parties get to grips with
This month’s Independent Publishers Guild Spring Conference was my first, and an opportunity to see and hear from people familiar from the pages of the Bookseller and in passing at Book Fairs. The small groups in the ‘meet and greet’ session (with cocktails provided by the PLS) also revealed connections I wasn’t aware of, with
On 17 March, her Excellency, Sylvie Bermann, came to Cardiff University and very kindly gave a lecture to over 100 staff and students on freedom of expressions in the public space. It was a compelling paper and question and answer session as the Ambassador broached the constitutional and cultural differences between France and Great Britain,
William Jones and Pi Day Click here to read Gareth Roberts’ fascinating blog on the Guardian website about William Jones, a self-taught mathematician from Angelsey, who was the first person to use the Greek letter ‘pi’ for the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. Gareth Roberts is the author of Robert Recorde: The
We are pleased to announce that The University of Wales Press has retained its Investors in People status following the 2015 assessment. Accreditation is earned by employers who ‘embed best practice, recognise your achievements and show you value your people’. For more information, see: http://www.investorsinpeople.co.uk/
On Monday 9th March 2015, our Commissioning Editor Sarah Lewis attended a workshop on Understanding Administrative Justice in Wales, convened by Sarah Nason as part of Bangor Law School’s research into administrative law and devolution issues. Bangor Law School has recently been awarded a grant from the Welsh Government to bring together policy, practice and
