With six books and two musical CDs to choose from, the West Virginia University Press latest catalog is its most ambitious to date. The fall 2004 catalog features a variety of items written by West Virginia authors, including WVU students, and also about the Mountain State.
Included in the collection isWelfare Reform in West Virginia,set for release in August, in which eight seasoned scholars study the impact of the 1996 welfare reform laws.
Co-author Melissa Latimer summed up the book this way:West Virginians have experienced multiple socioeconomic hardships for many years, and these hardships make West Virginia an especially interesting place for testing welfare reforms efficacy in helping recipients leave and stay off welfare.
Other authors include Robert Dilger, Eleanor Blakely, Barry Locke, Carson Mencken, Chris Plein, Lucinda Potter and David Williams.
Also new to the catalog is a short story collection, published under the Vandalia Press imprint, from WVU graduate Valerie Nieman. The book, the fifth published by this talented writer and journalist, will be released in September, said WVU Press Marketing Director Geoff George.
Another Vandalia Press release is a new (her fifth) collection of poetry from West Virginias poet laureate Irene McKinney, whose works have been described asa tribute to the spirit of West Virginia.
One book critic wrote,McKinneys real gift is her ability to use her poetry to reflect the beauty of the state and its residents.
In addition, the latest catalog features the much anticipatedCancer Stories: Lessons in Love, Loss, and Hope,which started as a regional Emmy Award-winning documentary produced by the WVU Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism.
Edited by SOJ Assistant Professors Joel Beeson and John Temple, the resulting book is a series of stories and photo essays from the project that paired journalism students with cancer
patients.Cancer Storieschronicles the lives of five people facing and fighting cancer and is due out in September.
In October, the WVU Press will release a never-before published collection of essays calledPresidential Musings from the Meridian: Reflections on the Nature of Geography.These essays by past presidents of the American Association of Geographers illustrate the changes and consistencies of geography over the past four decades.
The final book to be published this fall,Pursuing Opportunities Through Partnerships: Higher Education and Communities,looks at the many ways that a partnership approach between universities and the cities in which they reside can be mutually beneficial. The book was based on a study conducted at four major universities including WVU .
Besides the six books, two musical CDs will be released this fall. The first of these,Wondrous Love: Appalachian Chamber Music,features the original compositions of John Beall combining classical chamber music with traditional folk elements. The twoâ�?��€~CD set will be released in October.
Coming out in November is a CD from a legendary labor organizer titledJohn Handcox: Songs, Poems, and Stories of the Southern Tenant Farmer Union.Produced by WVU English Professor Mark Jackson, selections include 10 songs, two poems and an interview of Handcox conducted by folk singer Joe Glazer and labor historian Michael Honey.
Copies of the catalog are being sent to the WVU Press customer mailing list. This information is also available online at www.wvupress.com . Paper copies are available free to anyone who requests one while supplies last. For more information, contact the WVU Press ,
1-866-WVU-PRESS (988-7737) or press02@wvu.edu .