University Presses Can Be Effective Vehicles for Making Archives More Accessible and Interesting

Abstract

An editor-in-chief of a university press examines the case to be made for the unique positionality of university presses to reinvigorate the archival works in the holdings of both their own university special collections and another regional archives. 

This article describes the process of amplifying the works of two authors whose works had been archived and under-represented in print. The process by which two distinct publications were created and disseminated is documented. In the first case, a compendium is made from the work, selected by an editor who was mentored by the person whose work is held by the archive. In the second case, a much more well-known archive and author’s work is amplified by the poets of the current moment, including Louisiana State Poet Laureate, Mona Lisa Saloy. The results of these efforts brought renewed exposure to these works. These case studies show both the utility of this kind of work in connecting the public to the archive, and also discuss the intense use of bandwidth (human capital and funds for publishing) that are required to do this work in ways that are a credit to both archive and university press.