University Press of Kentucky
Encyclopedia
The University Press of Kentucky (UPK) is the scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth of Kentucky
, and was organized in 1969 as successor to the University of Kentucky Press. The university
had sponsored scholarly publication since 1943. In 1949 the press was established as a separate academic agency under the university president, and the following year Bruce F. Denbo, then of Louisiana State University Press was appointed as the first full-time professional director. Denbo served as director of UPK until his retirement in 1978, building a small but distinguished list of scholarly books with emphasis on American history and literary criticism.
Since its reorganization, the Press has represented a consortium
that now includes all of Kentucky's state universities, five of its private colleges, and two historical societies.
UPK serves:
Each constituent institution is represented on a statewide editorial board, which determines editorial policy.
Offices for the Administrative, Editorial, Production, and Marketing departments are found at the University of Kentucky, which is responsible for the overhead cost of the publishing operation. Denbo was succeeded as director by Kenneth H. Cherry, who came to UPK from the University of Tennessee Press. During his tenure, the size of the press more than quadrupled. Ken Cherry retired in the Fall of 2001, and his successor, Stephen Wrinn, formerly of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, began as new director in April 2002.
UPK's editorial program focuses on the humanities and the social sciences. Its commitment to film and military studies has earned it a national reputation in recent years. Since the formation of the consortium, the press has broadened its appeal to readers in Kentucky and Appalachia
with publications of special regional interest. In the 1970s it produced the Kentucky Nature Series and the forty-seven-volume Kentucky Bicentennial Bookshelf.
The press publishes classic novels by Kentucky authors including Harriet Arnow, Janice Holt Giles
, John Fox, Jr.
, James Still
, and Jesse Stuart
.
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, and was organized in 1969 as successor to the University of Kentucky Press. The university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
had sponsored scholarly publication since 1943. In 1949 the press was established as a separate academic agency under the university president, and the following year Bruce F. Denbo, then of Louisiana State University Press was appointed as the first full-time professional director. Denbo served as director of UPK until his retirement in 1978, building a small but distinguished list of scholarly books with emphasis on American history and literary criticism.
Since its reorganization, the Press has represented a consortium
Consortium
A consortium is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a common goal....
that now includes all of Kentucky's state universities, five of its private colleges, and two historical societies.
UPK serves:
- Bellarmine UniversityBellarmine UniversityBellarmine University is an independent, private, Catholic university in Louisville, Kentucky. The liberal arts institution opened on October 3, 1950, as Bellarmine College, established by Archbishop John A. Floersh of the Archdiocese of Louisville and named after the Cardinal Saint Robert...
- Berea CollegeBerea CollegeBerea College is a liberal arts work college in Berea, Kentucky , founded in 1855. Current full-time enrollment is 1,514 students...
- Centre CollegeCentre CollegeCentre College is a private liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky, USA, a community of approximately 16,000 in Boyle County south of Lexington, KY. Centre is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution. Centre was founded by Presbyterian leaders, with whom it maintains a loose...
of Kentucky - Eastern Kentucky UniversityEastern Kentucky UniversityEastern Kentucky University, commonly referred to as Eastern or by the acronym EKU by local residents, is an undergraduate and graduate teaching and research institution located in Richmond, Kentucky, U.S.A.. EKU is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools...
- The Filson Historical SocietyThe Filson Historical SocietyThe Filson Historical Society is a historical society located in the Old Louisville neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky. The organization was founded in 1884 and named after early Kentucky explorer John Filson, who wrote The Discovery, Settlement, and Present State of Kentucke, which included one...
- Georgetown College
- Kentucky Historical Society
- Kentucky State UniversityKentucky State UniversityKentucky State University is a four-year institution of higher learning, located in Frankfort, Kentucky, United States, the Commonwealth's capital. The school is an historically black university, which desegregated in 1954...
- Morehead State UniversityMorehead State UniversityMorehead State University is a public, co-educational university located in Morehead, Kentucky, United States in the foothills of the Daniel Boone National Forest in Rowan County, midway between Lexington, Kentucky, and Huntington, West Virginia. The 2012 edition of "America's Best Colleges" by U.S...
- Murray State UniversityMurray State UniversityMurray State University, located in the city of Murray, Kentucky, is a four-year public university with approximately 10,400 students. The school is Kentucky’s only public university to be listed in the U.S.News & World Report regional university top tier for the past 20 consecutive years...
- Northern Kentucky UniversityNorthern Kentucky University|type = Public|president= Dr. James C. Votruba|city = Highland Heights|state = KY|country = U.S.|endowment = $68 million|students = 15,405|undergrad = 13,206|postgrad = 2,199|faculty = 1,159...
- Transylvania UniversityTransylvania UniversityTransylvania University is a private, undergraduate liberal arts college in Lexington, Kentucky, United States, affiliated with the Christian Church . The school was founded in 1780. It offers 38 majors, and pre-professional degrees in engineering and accounting...
- University of KentuckyUniversity of KentuckyThe University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...
- University of LouisvilleUniversity of LouisvilleThe University of Louisville is a public university in Louisville, Kentucky. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of the first universities chartered west of the Allegheny Mountains. The university is mandated by the Kentucky General...
- Western Kentucky UniversityWestern Kentucky UniversityWestern Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA. It was formally founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier....
Each constituent institution is represented on a statewide editorial board, which determines editorial policy.
Offices for the Administrative, Editorial, Production, and Marketing departments are found at the University of Kentucky, which is responsible for the overhead cost of the publishing operation. Denbo was succeeded as director by Kenneth H. Cherry, who came to UPK from the University of Tennessee Press. During his tenure, the size of the press more than quadrupled. Ken Cherry retired in the Fall of 2001, and his successor, Stephen Wrinn, formerly of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, began as new director in April 2002.
UPK's editorial program focuses on the humanities and the social sciences. Its commitment to film and military studies has earned it a national reputation in recent years. Since the formation of the consortium, the press has broadened its appeal to readers in Kentucky and Appalachia
Appalachia
Appalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...
with publications of special regional interest. In the 1970s it produced the Kentucky Nature Series and the forty-seven-volume Kentucky Bicentennial Bookshelf.
The press publishes classic novels by Kentucky authors including Harriet Arnow, Janice Holt Giles
Janice Holt Giles
Janice Holt Giles was a Kentucky author who lived near Knifley in Adair County, Kentucky. She was born Janice Meredith Holt on March 28, 1905, in Altus, Arkansas. Her first marriage, to Otto Moore in 1927, ended in divorce in 1939. She met Henry Giles on a 40-hour bus trip in 1943 and married...
, John Fox, Jr.
John Fox, Jr.
John Fox, Jr. was an American journalist, novelist, and short story writer.-Biography:Born in Stony Point, Bourbon County, Kentucky, to John William Fox, Sr., and Minerva Worth Carr, Fox studied English at Harvard University. He graduated in 1883 before becoming a reporter in New York City...
, James Still
James Still
James Still was an American poet, novelist and folklorist. He lived most of his life in a log house along the Dead Mare Branch of Little Carr Creek, Knott County, Kentucky...
, and Jesse Stuart
Jesse Stuart
Jesse Hilton Stuart was an American writer who is known for writing short stories, poetry, and novels about Southern Appalachia. Born and raised in Greenup County, Kentucky, Stuart relied heavily on the rural locale of Northeastern Kentucky for his writings. Stuart was named the Poet Laureate of...
.