University of Pittsburgh Press
Encyclopedia
University press
A university press is an academic, nonprofit publishing house that is typically affiliated with a large research university, and publishes work that has been reviewed by scholars in the field. It produces mainly scholarly works...
, part of the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
. The university and the press are located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
The Press publishes several series in the humanities and social sciences, including Illuminations—Cultural Formations of the Americas; Pitt Latin American Series; Pitt Series in Russian and East European Studies, Pittsburgh Series in Composition, Literary, and Culture; Pittsburgh/Konstanz Series in Philosophy and History of Science; Culture, Politics, and the Built Environment; and Central Eurasia in Context.
The Press is especially known for literary publishing, particularly its Pitt Poetry Series
Pitt Poetry Series
The Pitt Poetry Series, published by the University of Pittsburgh Press in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, is one of the largest and best known lists of contemporary American poetry.-History:...
, the Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize
Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize
The Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize is a major American literary award for a first full-length book of poetry in the English language.This prize of the University of Pittsburgh Press in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA was initiated by Ed Ochester and developed by Frederick A. Hetzel. The prize is...
, and the Drue Heinz Literature Prize
Drue Heinz Literature Prize
The Drue Heinz Literature Prize is a major American literary award for short fiction in the English language.This prize of the University of Pittsburgh Press in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA was initiated in 1981 by Mrs. Drue Heinz and developed by Frederick A. Hetzel...
. The press also publishes the winner of the annual Donald Hall Prize, awarded by the Association of Writers & Writing Programs
Association of Writers & Writing Programs
The Association of Writers & Writing Programs is a literary organization whose mission is "to foster literary talent and achievement, to advance the art of writing as essential to a good education, and to serve the makers, teachers, students, and readers of contemporary writing."-Members:AWP...
and the winner of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize. One of its perennial bestselling titles is Thomas Bell
Thomas Bell (novelist)
Thomas Bell was an American novelist.Bell was born Adalbert Thomas Belejcak on March 7, 1903 in Braddock, Pennsylvania, USA of immigrant Lemko Rusyn parents from the village of Nižný Tvarožec, Slovak republic. He worked in the steel mills there, beginning at the age of fifteen as an apprentice...
's historical novel Out of This Furnace
Out of This Furnace
Out of This Furnace is a historical novel and the best-known work of the American writer Thomas Bell .The novel is set in Braddock, Pennsylvania, a steel town just east of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania along the Monongahela River. It was first published in 1941 by Little, Brown and Company...
, reissued by the press in 1976.
The Press was established in September 1936 by University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
Chancellor
Chancellor (education)
A chancellor or vice-chancellor is the chief executive of a university. Other titles are sometimes used, such as president or rector....
John Gabbert Bowman
John Gabbert Bowman
John Gabbert Bowman was the tenth Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh and the ninth President of the University of Iowa....
. Paul Mellon
Paul Mellon
Paul Mellon KBE was an American philanthropist, thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder. He is one of only five people ever designated an "Exemplar of Racing" by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame...
committed the majority of the necessary startup funding from the A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust. Other contributors were the Buhl Foundation, the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania
Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania
The Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania is a cultural organization in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After several attempts during the early and mid-century to establish a historical society, an organization called Old Residents of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania was formed on January 10, 1859...
, and the university itself. The first full-time director of the Press was Agnes Lynch Starrett, followed by Frederick A. Hetzel
Frederick A. Hetzel
Frederick Armstrong Hetzel was an American publisher and academic.-Biography:Hetzel was born and raised in Connellsville, Pennsylvania. He received degrees from Washington and Jefferson College and the University of Virginia...
(1968–1994), and Cynthia Miller (1995- ). The Press is currently housed on the fifth floor of the Eureka Building on Pitt's main campus in the Oakland
Oakland (Pittsburgh)
Oakland is the academic, cultural, and healthcare center of Pittsburgh and is Pennsylvania's third largest "Downtown". Only Center City Philadelphia and Downtown Pittsburgh can claim more economic and social activity than Oakland...
section of Pittsburgh. The University of Pittsburgh Press is a Charter Member of the Association of American University Presses
Association of American University Presses
The Association of American University Presses is an association of mostly, but not exclusively, North American university presses...
.
In 2008, the Press began making out-of-print scholarly books freely available on-line at the University of Pittsburgh Press Digital Editions collection through the University Library System’s
Hillman Library
Hillman Library is the largest library and the center of administration for the University Library System of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States...
D-Scribe Digital Publishing
D-Scribe Digital Publishing
D-Scribe Digital Publishing is an open access electronic publishing program of the University Library System of the University of Pittsburgh. It comprises over 100 thematic collections that together contain over 100,000 digital objects...
program. By 2010, the University of Pittsburgh Press Digital Editions included more than 750 titles, and more than 350 previously out-of-print titles have been reissued in paperback format as Prologue Editions.
The Press is also collaborating with the University Library System on a new online scholarly journals program. Most of the journals—now numbering twenty-two—are open access and published in electronic format only, while a few titles are also available in print editions through the Espresso Book Machine in the University Book Center. In 2012, the Press plans to launch a Pittsburgh history journal featuring the best work about our city by local scholars in the program, which uses state-of-the-art software to manage and prepare content for digital and print formats.
In 2010, the Press received major funding from the A. W. Mellon Foundation to expand its philosophy of science list and develop a history of science list, working in collaboration with the University's History and Philosophy of Science Department and World History Center. This new program will lead to a 50% increase in the number of new titles published by the Press each year.