MITPressLog

TURNING FOUR

In the lives of many a child, there comes a time when he or she realizes that the spotlight is not for them alone: another small being has come into the world, and now the once-only child must compete for its parents’ favor and dotings. Most kids act out for a while, then settle into the newly configured family life.

As it is in life, so it is with our beloved PressLog. After being the star of the show for the past three-plus years, suddenly there were newcomers on the scene – namely, something called a Facebook page and the even more strangely titled Twitter feed. Hey, PressLog asked itself, who are these upstarts? What's up with 'friending,' and what’s with this business of 140 characters, anyway?

Did it take PressLog a moment to get used to the new, reconfigured mediascape? Did it act out a bit? Maybe so – it went a little edgy with William S. Burroughs and gays in the Muslim world. And who’s edgier than Glenn Beck, who got a kick out of shouting about one of our books? We were even presented with a pile of dead fish, Godfather style. Hey! PressLog seemed to shout, Have I got your attention now?

Having gotten all that out of its system, the little whippersnapper went back to what it does best: keeping the digital world informed about the comings and goings of the MIT Press and its stupendous books and authors. It has been a challenging, even difficult, year, and we were right there reporting on H1N1 flu, cyberbullying, and the complex ethical issues surrounding the conservation movement. We asked hard questions about the fiscal bailout and told you about what people read during the Great Depression.

As we seem to do every year, we marked the passing of important figures. This year it wasn’t a Press author, but librarian Judith Krug, founder of Banned Books Week and a great First Amendment advocate. And as it conscientiously does every year, PressLog reminded you to pay your taxes.

But it wasn’t all doom and gloom. As always, we found time to talk about games old and new. A new Administration arrived, and two of our authors got posts in the new regime. We journeyed far and wide with Perspecta. We won awards. And speaking of those, Paul Krugman won the Nobel Prize. Yeah, yeah – big trade publishers, New York Times, whatever. Krugman was recognized for work on trade he did while he was our author. So our guy won the Nobel – got it?

One post deserves of special mention. The trade journal Book Business recognized our director, Ellen Faran, as one of the 50 top women in book publishing. We were both deeply proud and unsurprised at the acknowledgment – Ellen’s fearless and intrepid leadership has been our blessing since she came here. We’re just glad the recognition is spreading.

And so, as it ends its fourth year, the PressLog is steaming ahead, ready to work with its new siblings without losing its special place in the MIT Press family. As always, thank you all so much for reading, following, friending, and tweeting. However, in perhaps its last act of selfish, only-child behavior, PressLog has informed us that it will NOT be sharing any birthday cake with us – or you. I know we keep promising, but definitely next year.

Dowie on Forum

Mark Dowie made another radio appearance to talk about Conservation Refugees, his investigation of the hundred-year conflict between Native Americans and the global conservation movement. Yesterday he spoke to journalist Michael Krasny on KQED's program Forum.

Hear the in-depth, hour-long conversation here.

Julie Sze on Environmental Justice, Community Context, and Rudy Giuliani

The final entry in The World's Fair's "author meets blogger" series is a conversation between Benjamin Cohen and our own Julie Sze about the culture, politics, and history of environmental activism in New York City (the subject of her recent book, Noxious New York).  They talk about a wide range of issues, including:  air pollution, pesticide use, gendered landscapes, and racial issues of environmental protection and rights to consumption politics, water use, and global environmental justice dynamics.  The complete three part interview is now live, but here's a taste:

WF: Environmental issues are obviously political issues. But even more than the generic sense of "politics," particular politicians play particular roles in discouraging, promoting, or perhaps ignoring EJ efforts. So then, you discuss the Giuliani Administration. And Giuliani = bad. How did that equation play out in the story you tell?

JS: Mayor Giuliani was an extremely polarizing figure. His agenda was pro-corporate, pro-privatization, pro-deregulation. His hostility to communities of color was best exemplified in terms of his crime policies, but essentially his derision to environmental and siting issues as well. It was no surprise then during the last national election during Republican convention-that he repeatedly sneered at the term "community organizer" in reference to President Obama. He really hated activists of all stripes, but particularly those from politically disenfranchised communities.

WF: Let's do this: I know we already brought up environmental justice before, but could you define it in your terms for the readers? In your use and experience, does it differ from environmental racism, does it differ from, say, an anti-toxics activism that some link to Love Canal and Lois Gibbs?

JS: That is a huge question in the book. I define environmental justice as the social movement that emerged in response to the problem identification of environmental racism. Thus, it is connected, but slightly different from anti-toxics activism. Now, in the context of other work I'm doing in California, I defined the term a little bit differently. I define environmental injustice as somehow related to some category of inequality - that can be race, class, gender, citizenship and indigeneity. I've spent a lot of time thinking about this question, teach in this area, have written on it in a long review of the field and am contemplating writing a textbook - so I could go on and on!

You can read the sixteen other interviews in this series here.  We hope they decide to continue with these really interesting interviews. 

Naked Lunch at 50

The William S. Burroughs novel Naked Lunch was published fifty years ago this summer. Naked Lunch was a defining novel of the Beat Generation, 1960s drug culture, and gave rise to one of the last major courtroom battles over literary censorship in the United States. Now with the benefit of half a century's perspective, it remains not only a landmark example of experimental fiction, but for celebrants and detractors alike, one of the most important American novels of the twentieth century. The "novel" (a word that Naked Lunch effectively challenged and redefined) spawned the David Cronenberg film starring Peter Weller, and Weller is hosting a fiftieth anniversary fundraiser celebration this Friday in Chicago. All proceeds benefit the film William S. Burroughs: A Man Within, and special guests include Semiotext(e)'s very own Penny Arcade! Buy your tickets now.
Stop Smiling magazine is currently featuring an extract of an interview with Burroughs from Semiotext(e)'s collection of interviews, Burroughs Live. You can read the interview here.

What Fills the Hole Where the Abandoned Wal-Mart Was?

Communities across the country are transforming their vacant big box stores into libraries, indoor racetracks, museums, and more. Could the collapse of big box retail in your town have a silver lining?   San Francisco Public Radio's Your Call talked with Big Box Reuse author Julia Christensen, who crisscrossed America photographing these projects and interviewed the people involved.  Listen to the conversation here. 

 

What's the Value of Twitter?

As more and more of the value that companies are creating is not showing up on their balance sheets and revenues, it's clear that we need to start paying attention to non-market transactions and exchanges of digital goods and information.  Wired for Innovation's Erik Brynjolfsson talks with BusinessWeek's Reena Jana about how important this is to the economy. 

Listen to the podcast here.  Watch for the book your favorite bookstore in September

Asylum: Three Weeks On Press in China

Have you ever wondered how books are printed and bound?  Chris Payne was was kind enough to share his first-hand experience at Everbest, where he supervised the production of his new book, Asylum: Inside the Closed World of State Mental Hospitals. 

Not long after we had finished my second book, Asylum, I received a call from my agent-editor-book designer, Scott-Martin Kosofsky, whose first words were: “ I hope your passport’s in order because you’re going to China next week”.  The printing company, Everbest, needed me “on press” to OK final proofs.  Given the number of photographs in my book, I was not surprised.  I was not disappointed either: seeing my work finally printed would be a dream come true.

This was my first time being on press and also my first trip in China. The headquarters of Everbest are in Hong Kong, but the printing plant is located in Nansha, on the mainland just across the border. The plant looks like every other factory in the area: boxy, built of concrete, and clad entirely in the same small ceramic tiles used in bathrooms.  Despite its drab appearance, the interior is a beehive of activity.  Unlike many printing companies, Everbest binds their books on site, so every aspect of book making is contained under one roof. They even have their own power plant.  

Everbest employs close to 1,000 workers, most of whom have migrated from rural villages to work here for higher wages.  They are predominantly young, in their 20s, and work 12 hour shifts, six days a week.  To save money, almost everyone lives in the dormitory next to the factory, where they share meals in a communal canteen.  Their schedule seems grueling, but I was told that given the opportunity, these people would gladly work overtime. 

 

Eileen Myles hits the road

BUST magazine calls her the "rock star of modern poetry". And now your favorite poet, Eileen Myles, just might be visiting a city near you, reading from her latest book of essays The Importance of Being Iceland. Be sure not to miss it! Below are some 2009 venues and dates (with more to be added soon):

Seattle WA: Henry Art Gallery Three Days of Poetry, August 14-17
San Francisco CA: Books & Bookshelves, August 18, 7:30 PM
Portland OR: Powell's Books on Hawthorne, August 20, 7:30 PM
Coney Island, Brooklyn NY: Coney Island Performance Festival (at the NY Aquarium!), September 13
New York NY: Bluestockings Books, August 26, 7:00 PM
Brooklyn NY: Spoonbill & Sugartown, September 15
Los Angeles CA: Skylight Books, September 20, 5:00 PM
Washington DC: Bridge Street Books, October 4, 7:00 PM
UPDATES:
San Francisco, CA:Moe's Books, August 17, 7:30 PM
Brooklyn NY: Light Industry, September 1
New York NY (Chelsea): Artbook @ X-initiative, September 10, 5:00 PM
Toronto Canada: Harbourfront Centre, September 16, 7:30 PM
Brooklyn NY: Unnameable Books, September 18
La Jolla CA: D.G.Wills Books, September 19, 7:00 PM
New York NY: Dixon Place, September 29
Los Angeles CA: China Art Objects Gallery, October 9, 8:00PM
Seattle WA: Elliott Bay Book Company, October 10, 7:00PM
Milwaukee WI: Woodland Pattern Book Center, November 14, 7:00PM
Chicago IL: Myopic Books, November 15, 7:00PM
St Louis MO: Left Bank Books, November 19, 7:00 PM

Paloma Pavel on KPFA Morning Show

This Thursday, August 6th, at 10:30 EST Paloma Pavel will be discussing her book on the Bay Area radio station, KPFA 94.1 Morning Show. It will be recorded live and she will be taking listeners questions. Listen here.

July/August Podcast

In our July/August podcast, Chris Gondek talks with M. Paloma Pavel and Carl Anthony about innovative strategies that promote healthy neighborhoods, fair housing, and accessible transportation throughout America's cities and suburbs and their new book, Breakthrough Communities.