Andrew Berzanskis
@aberzanskis.bsky.social
Book worker, University of Oklahoma Press. Personal account. andrewb@ou.edu
Pinned
Even rockier times ahead for academia.
I hope that any scholar serving as a peer reviewer will recognize the headwinds facing writers of serious books right now & feel the urgency to use peer review as an opportunity for solidarity in building things up, not tearing them down.
I hope that any scholar serving as a peer reviewer will recognize the headwinds facing writers of serious books right now & feel the urgency to use peer review as an opportunity for solidarity in building things up, not tearing them down.
An Exoduster arrives in Nicodemus, Kansas: "She saw very few trees, outlining even fewer houses built of wood, stone, or brick. She didn't even see tents, because the plains had such strong winds that they would have quickly blown over."
—Caleb Gayle, "Black Moses"
—Caleb Gayle, "Black Moses"
November 16, 2025 at 6:33 PM
An Exoduster arrives in Nicodemus, Kansas: "She saw very few trees, outlining even fewer houses built of wood, stone, or brick. She didn't even see tents, because the plains had such strong winds that they would have quickly blown over."
—Caleb Gayle, "Black Moses"
—Caleb Gayle, "Black Moses"
"'We went to bed one night old fashioned, conservative, Compromise Union Whigs,' wrote Amos Lawrence of how much changed in the fateful year of 1854, 'and waked up stark mad abolitionists.'"
—Caleb Gayle, "Black Moses: A Saga of Ambition and the Fight for a Black State"
—Caleb Gayle, "Black Moses: A Saga of Ambition and the Fight for a Black State"
November 16, 2025 at 1:31 PM
"'We went to bed one night old fashioned, conservative, Compromise Union Whigs,' wrote Amos Lawrence of how much changed in the fateful year of 1854, 'and waked up stark mad abolitionists.'"
—Caleb Gayle, "Black Moses: A Saga of Ambition and the Fight for a Black State"
—Caleb Gayle, "Black Moses: A Saga of Ambition and the Fight for a Black State"
Reposted by Andrew Berzanskis
On episode one of The Lowdown and I spy @oupress.bsky.social books!
November 16, 2025 at 2:43 AM
On episode one of The Lowdown and I spy @oupress.bsky.social books!
A milestone of childhood in 2025: that first time you get that letter saying your personal data was exposed in a data breach.
November 15, 2025 at 8:44 PM
A milestone of childhood in 2025: that first time you get that letter saying your personal data was exposed in a data breach.
In the antebellum US, the Oneida Institute's core tenet: "immediatism—the immediate cessation of slavery without compensating the enslavers."
—from Caleb Gayle's "Black Moses: A Saga of Ambition and the Fight for a Black State"
—from Caleb Gayle's "Black Moses: A Saga of Ambition and the Fight for a Black State"
November 15, 2025 at 1:13 PM
In the antebellum US, the Oneida Institute's core tenet: "immediatism—the immediate cessation of slavery without compensating the enslavers."
—from Caleb Gayle's "Black Moses: A Saga of Ambition and the Fight for a Black State"
—from Caleb Gayle's "Black Moses: A Saga of Ambition and the Fight for a Black State"
Reposted by Andrew Berzanskis
How about some weekend reading? The latest issue of The Western Historical Quarterly features reviews of five OUP titles! academic.oup.com/whq/issue/56/3
Volume 56 Issue 3 | Western Historical Quarterly | Oxford Academic
The official journal of the Western History Association. Publishes original articles dealing with the North American West. Each issue contains reviews and notices of significant books, as well as rece...
academic.oup.com
November 14, 2025 at 9:15 PM
How about some weekend reading? The latest issue of The Western Historical Quarterly features reviews of five OUP titles! academic.oup.com/whq/issue/56/3
Reposted by Andrew Berzanskis
Last night, Senior Acquisition Editor Alessandra Jacobi Tamulevich, met up with OUP author Lisa Barnett for a book event at Texas Christian University! Barnett's book "Peyote Politics: The Making of the Native American Church, 1880–1937" was published earlier this year.
November 14, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Last night, Senior Acquisition Editor Alessandra Jacobi Tamulevich, met up with OUP author Lisa Barnett for a book event at Texas Christian University! Barnett's book "Peyote Politics: The Making of the Native American Church, 1880–1937" was published earlier this year.
Reposted by Andrew Berzanskis
Submissions are open for the WLT Student Translation Prize. If you’re a student enrolled in a translation studies program, send your prose and poems in by 1/10/26. We want to read your translations! All the details are here in the link:
worldliteraturetoday.org/translation-...
worldliteraturetoday.org/translation-...
November 14, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Submissions are open for the WLT Student Translation Prize. If you’re a student enrolled in a translation studies program, send your prose and poems in by 1/10/26. We want to read your translations! All the details are here in the link:
worldliteraturetoday.org/translation-...
worldliteraturetoday.org/translation-...
Reposted by Andrew Berzanskis
Ever wondered how a book gets from a warehouse to your hands? @leekinginc.bsky.social explains it all on #feedingthelephant another way we #TeamUP for #upweek: networks.h-net.org/group/discus...
Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Book Distribution, but Were Afraid to Ask | H-Net
A guest post from
networks.h-net.org
November 13, 2025 at 12:05 AM
Ever wondered how a book gets from a warehouse to your hands? @leekinginc.bsky.social explains it all on #feedingthelephant another way we #TeamUP for #upweek: networks.h-net.org/group/discus...
Reposted by Andrew Berzanskis
"For-profit publishers publish books to make money, whereas university presses try to make money so that they can publish books"
Louder for the people in the back please
#UPWeek #TeamUP
Louder for the people in the back please
#UPWeek #TeamUP
Happy to #TeamUP with @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social once again to celebrate #UPWeek: listen in on a podcast interview with AUPresses President @dlbookman.bsky.social, director @uwiscpress.bsky.social.
https://bit.ly/4hSbLF6
https://bit.ly/4hSbLF6
November 11, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Reposted by Andrew Berzanskis
I recently wrote a post for Feeding the Elephant explaining distribution's place within publishing. It is geared toward scholarly publishing, but a lot of it holds true for the whole industry. #feedingtheelephant
networks.h-net.org/group/discus...
networks.h-net.org/group/discus...
Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Book Distribution, but Were Afraid to Ask | H-Net
A guest post from
networks.h-net.org
November 14, 2025 at 3:24 PM
I recently wrote a post for Feeding the Elephant explaining distribution's place within publishing. It is geared toward scholarly publishing, but a lot of it holds true for the whole industry. #feedingtheelephant
networks.h-net.org/group/discus...
networks.h-net.org/group/discus...
When an author tells me they can't remember the name of the acquisitions editor they worked with on a previous book, I feel a shadow pass over me.
November 14, 2025 at 2:31 PM
When an author tells me they can't remember the name of the acquisitions editor they worked with on a previous book, I feel a shadow pass over me.
Reposted by Andrew Berzanskis
Find & follow your favorite university presses on this platform with this handy starter pack of our members: go.bsky.app/7p95p7B
And if you're looking for university presses that publish in a certain field, consult our Subject Area Grid: bit.ly/3C7ASUc.
#ReadUP
And if you're looking for university presses that publish in a certain field, consult our Subject Area Grid: bit.ly/3C7ASUc.
#ReadUP
November 14, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Find & follow your favorite university presses on this platform with this handy starter pack of our members: go.bsky.app/7p95p7B
And if you're looking for university presses that publish in a certain field, consult our Subject Area Grid: bit.ly/3C7ASUc.
#ReadUP
And if you're looking for university presses that publish in a certain field, consult our Subject Area Grid: bit.ly/3C7ASUc.
#ReadUP
One of the most compelling books I have read recently: Craig Garnett's "Uvalde's Darkest Hour." Garnett deftly balances individual stories and community history, and events that inspire rage with those that offer hope. He writes with wisdom and grace.
(Good work, @tamupress.bsky.social.)
(Good work, @tamupress.bsky.social.)
November 14, 2025 at 2:43 AM
One of the most compelling books I have read recently: Craig Garnett's "Uvalde's Darkest Hour." Garnett deftly balances individual stories and community history, and events that inspire rage with those that offer hope. He writes with wisdom and grace.
(Good work, @tamupress.bsky.social.)
(Good work, @tamupress.bsky.social.)
Reposted by Andrew Berzanskis
THIS! I actually will create a table with two columns to better visualize the discrepancies. And sometimes, if you're struggling to figure out what the chapter/section promises to do, that's telling in and of itself!
When I edit an academic book manuscript, one of the key things I do is ask: "What does this [book, chapter, section] promise to do? And what does it ACTUALLY do?"
These questions may seem simple, but they take a lot of time to answer, and they generate incredibly helpful insights!
#AmEditing
These questions may seem simple, but they take a lot of time to answer, and they generate incredibly helpful insights!
#AmEditing
November 13, 2025 at 6:10 PM
THIS! I actually will create a table with two columns to better visualize the discrepancies. And sometimes, if you're struggling to figure out what the chapter/section promises to do, that's telling in and of itself!
Reposted by Andrew Berzanskis
In THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF AMERICAN PROTESTS, authors April M. Beisaw and Dania Jordan-Talley use historical and contemporary archaeology to explore the past 400 years of American protest history, connecting today’s protest movements to those that came long before.
The Archaeology of American Protests
Exploring the history of American protest movements through an archaeological perspective, connecting protests of the past with resistance todayIn this book,...
floridapress.org
November 13, 2025 at 4:11 PM
In THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF AMERICAN PROTESTS, authors April M. Beisaw and Dania Jordan-Talley use historical and contemporary archaeology to explore the past 400 years of American protest history, connecting today’s protest movements to those that came long before.
Reposted by Andrew Berzanskis
A frequent WLT contributor faces a quandary likely faced by WLT readers everywhere: which books do you take with you when moving house?
worldliteraturetoday.org/2025/novembe...
worldliteraturetoday.org/2025/novembe...
November 13, 2025 at 3:10 PM
A frequent WLT contributor faces a quandary likely faced by WLT readers everywhere: which books do you take with you when moving house?
worldliteraturetoday.org/2025/novembe...
worldliteraturetoday.org/2025/novembe...
Reposted by Andrew Berzanskis
Every year on this day, I wonder when someone is going to pitch me a really good book on the exploding whale and its place in Oregon culture.
On this day 55 years ago, blubber went boom at the Oregon Coast.
That's when officials made the legendary decision to blow up a dead whale.
Here's a look back at the explosive piece of Oregon lore with a 2020 story by OPB's Tiffany Camhi written ahead of the whale of a tale's 50th anniversary.
That's when officials made the legendary decision to blow up a dead whale.
Here's a look back at the explosive piece of Oregon lore with a 2020 story by OPB's Tiffany Camhi written ahead of the whale of a tale's 50th anniversary.
‘It was like a blubber snowstorm’: Why Oregon blew up a whale in 1970
The exploding whale is a piece of Oregon lore that just won’t go away. It’s one of those real-life stories that just sounds too strange to be real.
www.opb.org
November 13, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Every year on this day, I wonder when someone is going to pitch me a really good book on the exploding whale and its place in Oregon culture.
Reposted by Andrew Berzanskis
OKC indie acts are set to drop new albums, and that means local venue schedules are bursting with album release shows all winter long. | Music with Brett Fieldcamp by True Sky Credit Union: freepressokc.com/okc-artists-...
OKC artists enter era of album release shows in Nov, Dec
A host of OKC indie acts are set to drop new albums, and that means local venue schedules are bursting with album release shows all winter long.
freepressokc.com
November 12, 2025 at 5:24 PM
OKC indie acts are set to drop new albums, and that means local venue schedules are bursting with album release shows all winter long. | Music with Brett Fieldcamp by True Sky Credit Union: freepressokc.com/okc-artists-...
"An equally painful lesson exploded the myth that one good man with a gun can stop one armed bad man. At Robb Elementary School, 376 good men could not pull off that feat."
—Craig Garnett, "Uvalde's Darkest Hour"
—Craig Garnett, "Uvalde's Darkest Hour"
November 13, 2025 at 12:53 AM
"An equally painful lesson exploded the myth that one good man with a gun can stop one armed bad man. At Robb Elementary School, 376 good men could not pull off that feat."
—Craig Garnett, "Uvalde's Darkest Hour"
—Craig Garnett, "Uvalde's Darkest Hour"
Here is a fascinating interview from the CBC in Canada with @monikam13.bsky.social, author of "The Monarch Butterfly Migration: Its Rise and Fall" from @oupress.bsky.social.
It is also a good example of how university press books are often the news that stays news.
www.cbc.ca/player/play/...
It is also a good example of how university press books are often the news that stays news.
www.cbc.ca/player/play/...
Monarch butterflies are late arriving in Texas during fall migration
Monika Maekle is an author and monarch butterfly enthusiast from San Antonio.
www.cbc.ca
November 12, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Here is a fascinating interview from the CBC in Canada with @monikam13.bsky.social, author of "The Monarch Butterfly Migration: Its Rise and Fall" from @oupress.bsky.social.
It is also a good example of how university press books are often the news that stays news.
www.cbc.ca/player/play/...
It is also a good example of how university press books are often the news that stays news.
www.cbc.ca/player/play/...
Reposted by Andrew Berzanskis
YES new book! So thrilled about this one. uwpress.wisc.edu/Books/S/Sacr...
November 12, 2025 at 3:17 PM
YES new book! So thrilled about this one. uwpress.wisc.edu/Books/S/Sacr...
A local journalist on the NYT, etc. parachuting in: "Let the world media run themselves ragged with their 24/7 news cycle, scooping up all the headlines and soundbites they can, but in the end, when they pack up, we will be here to finish the story."
—Craig Garnet, "Uvalde's Darkest Hour"
—Craig Garnet, "Uvalde's Darkest Hour"
November 12, 2025 at 3:40 AM
A local journalist on the NYT, etc. parachuting in: "Let the world media run themselves ragged with their 24/7 news cycle, scooping up all the headlines and soundbites they can, but in the end, when they pack up, we will be here to finish the story."
—Craig Garnet, "Uvalde's Darkest Hour"
—Craig Garnet, "Uvalde's Darkest Hour"
Reposted by Andrew Berzanskis
Three Kiowa Code Talkers received state recognition for their service 80 years ago in World War II at the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame's 26th annual banquet.
Read and listen below.
www.kosu.org/history/2025...
Read and listen below.
www.kosu.org/history/2025...
Kiowa Code Talkers inducted into Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame
The Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame inducted the Kiowa Code Talkers for their service in World War II, for their use of coded language, never cracked by enemy soldiers. There are four Indigenous code-t...
www.kosu.org
November 11, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Three Kiowa Code Talkers received state recognition for their service 80 years ago in World War II at the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame's 26th annual banquet.
Read and listen below.
www.kosu.org/history/2025...
Read and listen below.
www.kosu.org/history/2025...
"As we soon learned, mass shootings attract a fair number of opportunists, not unlike the scads of roofing companies that routinely fell on the city following brutal hailstorms."
—Craig Garnett, "Uvalde's Darkest Hour"
—Craig Garnett, "Uvalde's Darkest Hour"
November 11, 2025 at 2:10 AM
"As we soon learned, mass shootings attract a fair number of opportunists, not unlike the scads of roofing companies that routinely fell on the city following brutal hailstorms."
—Craig Garnett, "Uvalde's Darkest Hour"
—Craig Garnett, "Uvalde's Darkest Hour"