WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.910 align:middle line:84% Ander, you mentioned that one of the features 00:00:02.910 --> 00:00:08.760 align:middle line:84% of this inundation of presses is that there's a sort of-- 00:00:08.760 --> 00:00:12.060 align:middle line:84% have to find your niche, or your specialization, 00:00:12.060 --> 00:00:16.830 align:middle line:84% or how you're going to present yourself in a unique way. 00:00:16.830 --> 00:00:18.870 align:middle line:84% Well, can you talk about, the three of you, 00:00:18.870 --> 00:00:22.620 align:middle line:84% talk about what your press has chosen to emphasize? 00:00:22.620 --> 00:00:24.810 align:middle line:84% What makes your press unique and why did you 00:00:24.810 --> 00:00:28.470 align:middle line:90% choose that direction? 00:00:28.470 --> 00:00:31.380 align:middle line:84% The University of Arizona press publishes 00:00:31.380 --> 00:00:32.700 align:middle line:90% in very specific areas. 00:00:32.700 --> 00:00:36.090 align:middle line:84% We have our lists, and the poetry lists 00:00:36.090 --> 00:00:40.030 align:middle line:84% are Native American studies and Latino and Latina studies, 00:00:40.030 --> 00:00:41.970 align:middle line:90% and so we published two series. 00:00:41.970 --> 00:00:44.790 align:middle line:84% One is called "Soundtracks" for Native American Writers, 00:00:44.790 --> 00:00:48.600 align:middle line:84% and the other one is "Camino Del Sol" for Latino and Latina 00:00:48.600 --> 00:00:49.590 align:middle line:90% writers. 00:00:49.590 --> 00:00:52.950 align:middle line:84% And those series have been around for a while. 00:00:52.950 --> 00:00:56.495 align:middle line:84% "Soundtracks" started in 1971, largely 00:00:56.495 --> 00:00:57.870 align:middle line:84% because the University of Arizona 00:00:57.870 --> 00:01:02.370 align:middle line:84% press began as a publisher of Anthropology 00:01:02.370 --> 00:01:03.840 align:middle line:84% and Native American studies books, 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:06.060 align:middle line:84% so that was sort of a natural outgrowth 00:01:06.060 --> 00:01:10.140 align:middle line:84% of that focus for the University of Arizona press. 00:01:10.140 --> 00:01:13.770 align:middle line:84% We can't, right now, we can't expand 00:01:13.770 --> 00:01:17.820 align:middle line:84% those series largely because of practical reasons of funding. 00:01:17.820 --> 00:01:22.020 align:middle line:84% We have NIH grant that funds those two series, 00:01:22.020 --> 00:01:26.310 align:middle line:84% and we just have to stick with those two series 00:01:26.310 --> 00:01:28.530 align:middle line:90% and can't publish beyond those. 00:01:28.530 --> 00:01:31.170 align:middle line:84% But we're very well known in those series and people look 00:01:31.170 --> 00:01:34.470 align:middle line:84% to us when they're interested in reading Native American writing 00:01:34.470 --> 00:01:35.880 align:middle line:90% and Latino Latina writing. 00:01:35.880 --> 00:01:38.737 align:middle line:90% 00:01:38.737 --> 00:01:40.570 align:middle line:84% I like to think that my press doesn't really 00:01:40.570 --> 00:01:42.410 align:middle line:90% have an aesthetic. 00:01:42.410 --> 00:01:44.140 align:middle line:84% You know, we have many aesthetics 00:01:44.140 --> 00:01:46.090 align:middle line:84% but of course, that's probably crap. 00:01:46.090 --> 00:01:48.130 align:middle line:90% I mean, anyone who's not in my-- 00:01:48.130 --> 00:01:50.140 align:middle line:84% I mean, reads the work that we publish, 00:01:50.140 --> 00:01:53.210 align:middle line:84% I'm sure has a sense of the sort of variety of work that we do. 00:01:53.210 --> 00:01:55.750 align:middle line:84% And we-- I mean, we focus on the chap book. 00:01:55.750 --> 00:01:58.570 align:middle line:84% We don't do full-length manuscripts. 00:01:58.570 --> 00:02:00.545 align:middle line:84% We do only the chap, but we do some kind 00:02:00.545 --> 00:02:02.920 align:middle line:84% of like little 1/4 chap books like Emma Ramey's chap book 00:02:02.920 --> 00:02:03.970 align:middle line:90% who read here before. 00:02:03.970 --> 00:02:06.310 align:middle line:84% We did her's as sort of like a little chap book. 00:02:06.310 --> 00:02:08.139 align:middle line:84% And some of our chap books are in fact, so 00:02:08.139 --> 00:02:09.729 align:middle line:84% big in terms of page account that they probably 00:02:09.729 --> 00:02:10.870 align:middle line:90% count as full length books. 00:02:10.870 --> 00:02:13.420 align:middle line:84% But we prefer to call them chap books because 00:02:13.420 --> 00:02:16.210 align:middle line:84% of this sort of scope of-- the scope of the work. 00:02:16.210 --> 00:02:18.880 align:middle line:84% And to me like that, I mean, both the prose, but especially 00:02:18.880 --> 00:02:21.430 align:middle line:84% for poetry, I really love that form. 00:02:21.430 --> 00:02:22.510 align:middle line:90% I like the size. 00:02:22.510 --> 00:02:24.520 align:middle line:84% I mean, it's not like it's bite-size, 00:02:24.520 --> 00:02:28.250 align:middle line:84% but it's a form that is easier to deal with as a writer, 00:02:28.250 --> 00:02:32.050 align:middle line:84% as a way of having a self-contained project 00:02:32.050 --> 00:02:35.890 align:middle line:84% without having to feel obliged to go along for the full length 00:02:35.890 --> 00:02:37.240 align:middle line:90% manuscript. 00:02:37.240 --> 00:02:41.890 align:middle line:84% And to me, I think that's where a lot of the work that we've 00:02:41.890 --> 00:02:46.450 align:middle line:90% most loved has happened. 00:02:46.450 --> 00:02:49.305 align:middle line:84% And I would say we probably do more-- 00:02:49.305 --> 00:02:51.430 align:middle line:84% our interests are probably a little bit more hybrid 00:02:51.430 --> 00:02:54.010 align:middle line:84% in terms of kind of spaces between the genres. 00:02:54.010 --> 00:02:59.650 align:middle line:84% We don't do a ton of narrative poetry or work 00:02:59.650 --> 00:03:02.470 align:middle line:84% that we think that someone else would publish as well as we 00:03:02.470 --> 00:03:04.360 align:middle line:90% would, or sort of how visible. 00:03:04.360 --> 00:03:07.630 align:middle line:84% We want to publish books that are idiosyncratic 00:03:07.630 --> 00:03:10.870 align:middle line:84% and evidence of particular mind at work. 00:03:10.870 --> 00:03:15.250 align:middle line:84% And that-- I mean, that due to some extent, fit our list. 00:03:15.250 --> 00:03:17.260 align:middle line:84% And that question of hybridity is, 00:03:17.260 --> 00:03:18.715 align:middle line:90% I think, a very important one. 00:03:18.715 --> 00:03:23.008 align:middle line:84% One of the books we just did is this chap book called-- 00:03:23.008 --> 00:03:25.300 align:middle line:84% I can't think of the title of it, by Jennifer S. Cheng. 00:03:25.300 --> 00:03:28.120 align:middle line:84% It's called the "Invocation," and it's an essay. 00:03:28.120 --> 00:03:31.090 align:middle line:84% It's a good chap book length essay with images. 00:03:31.090 --> 00:03:32.110 align:middle line:90% A lot of sort of-- 00:03:32.110 --> 00:03:35.140 align:middle line:84% it's a lyric essay, to use that term. 00:03:35.140 --> 00:03:37.510 align:middle line:84% And that I think is very much with what we like. 00:03:37.510 --> 00:03:41.530 align:middle line:84% And so that's what we aim for right now. 00:03:41.530 --> 00:03:44.140 align:middle line:84% Although, we're also open to people blowing our socks off 00:03:44.140 --> 00:03:47.320 align:middle line:84% with with something that isn't obviously up our alley, 00:03:47.320 --> 00:03:48.568 align:middle line:90% aesthetically. 00:03:48.568 --> 00:03:51.380 align:middle line:90% 00:03:51.380 --> 00:03:56.420 align:middle line:84% Well, I don't like niches either, 00:03:56.420 --> 00:04:01.040 align:middle line:84% so I really haven't tried to cultivate some particular niche 00:04:01.040 --> 00:04:05.150 align:middle line:90% or to make-- 00:04:05.150 --> 00:04:08.630 align:middle line:84% to inhabit the sort of distinctive space. 00:04:08.630 --> 00:04:13.640 align:middle line:84% I have always been interested in the work of a variety 00:04:13.640 --> 00:04:15.440 align:middle line:90% of different writers. 00:04:15.440 --> 00:04:19.339 align:middle line:84% And my efforts have been aided by a large number 00:04:19.339 --> 00:04:22.280 align:middle line:84% of contributing and editors that I've had through the year. 00:04:22.280 --> 00:04:25.370 align:middle line:84% Sometimes as many as six or seven 00:04:25.370 --> 00:04:28.430 align:middle line:84% in various countries throughout the world, which 00:04:28.430 --> 00:04:31.610 align:middle line:84% for me has been one of the great things about publishing 00:04:31.610 --> 00:04:35.360 align:middle line:84% is becoming aware of these works about the writers 00:04:35.360 --> 00:04:39.470 align:middle line:84% that otherwise I might not have known through the appearance 00:04:39.470 --> 00:04:42.150 align:middle line:90% of the contributing editors. 00:04:42.150 --> 00:04:46.190 align:middle line:84% I've always had I think an interest in our translation. 00:04:46.190 --> 00:04:50.840 align:middle line:84% Our most recent issue which just went online in March 00:04:50.840 --> 00:04:57.020 align:middle line:84% has six chap books that are just translations, that are ones 00:04:57.020 --> 00:04:59.900 align:middle line:90% from the great Keke Dumoulin. 00:04:59.900 --> 00:05:04.820 align:middle line:84% We have translation of a chap book length selection by Taylor 00:05:04.820 --> 00:05:06.020 align:middle line:90% [INAUDIBLE] 00:05:06.020 --> 00:05:09.320 align:middle line:84% And other proets whose work has seldom if ever 00:05:09.320 --> 00:05:11.630 align:middle line:90% been translated into English. 00:05:11.630 --> 00:05:17.120 align:middle line:84% So this is like one of my long-lasting concerns, 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:22.520 align:middle line:84% but I think with the chap book, it is a sort of ideal length. 00:05:22.520 --> 00:05:25.790 align:middle line:84% It gives you more of the author's work, 00:05:25.790 --> 00:05:30.140 align:middle line:84% so you can see the trajectory or the development of that work, 00:05:30.140 --> 00:05:34.340 align:middle line:84% and perhaps their range and style and voice. 00:05:34.340 --> 00:05:39.050 align:middle line:84% I sometimes worry about younger poets today, 00:05:39.050 --> 00:05:43.250 align:middle line:84% or emerging poets in the sense that there's so much emphasis 00:05:43.250 --> 00:05:44.570 align:middle line:90% on the chap book. 00:05:44.570 --> 00:05:47.960 align:middle line:84% And I'm not sure that there isn't 00:05:47.960 --> 00:05:52.850 align:middle line:84% a kind of shadow side to that, that their work is somehow 00:05:52.850 --> 00:05:57.260 align:middle line:84% more disposable, or that it's not really 00:05:57.260 --> 00:06:01.070 align:middle line:84% getting the backing that a young poet might once 00:06:01.070 --> 00:06:04.070 align:middle line:84% have gotten with the first book publication. 00:06:04.070 --> 00:06:08.900 align:middle line:84% So but on the other hand, online the chap book 00:06:08.900 --> 00:06:11.840 align:middle line:84% is a great length because a book length 00:06:11.840 --> 00:06:14.570 align:middle line:84% I think with the whole scroll down the page 00:06:14.570 --> 00:06:17.630 align:middle line:84% is a bit too much of a challenge. 00:06:17.630 --> 00:06:20.240 align:middle line:84% One thing about internet publication. 00:06:20.240 --> 00:06:23.660 align:middle line:84% It's however, many visits you may have to your site. 00:06:23.660 --> 00:06:25.970 align:middle line:84% One of the more interesting things 00:06:25.970 --> 00:06:30.800 align:middle line:84% is when I started to see where people went, 00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:32.720 align:middle line:84% when they went through the site, where 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:36.050 align:middle line:84% I would track their routes of visits 00:06:36.050 --> 00:06:40.130 align:middle line:84% because there are always people will click in and then click 00:06:40.130 --> 00:06:40.640 align:middle line:90% out. 00:06:40.640 --> 00:06:44.570 align:middle line:84% I mean, maybe they're looking for the hiccup page, 00:06:44.570 --> 00:06:48.020 align:middle line:84% but so there is something which the length can 00:06:48.020 --> 00:06:51.270 align:middle line:90% play a factor online as well. 00:06:51.270 --> 00:06:52.520 align:middle line:90% Can I sort of quickly respond? 00:06:52.520 --> 00:06:54.020 align:middle line:84% I sort of want to reiterate the one of the things 00:06:54.020 --> 00:06:56.300 align:middle line:84% I've always loved about the drunken boat is-- 00:06:56.300 --> 00:06:57.650 align:middle line:90% I mean, the international focus. 00:06:57.650 --> 00:07:01.040 align:middle line:84% I mean, that to me is the most striking opportunity 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:06.262 align:middle line:84% for online publishing because it's so easy. 00:07:06.262 --> 00:07:07.970 align:middle line:84% I mean, it's not necessarily easy to read 00:07:07.970 --> 00:07:10.610 align:middle line:84% in multiple countries, but at Black Warrior 00:07:10.610 --> 00:07:13.190 align:middle line:84% we would have never had submissions from Japan. 00:07:13.190 --> 00:07:15.620 align:middle line:84% I mean, it would have been expensive to send, 00:07:15.620 --> 00:07:17.600 align:middle line:84% they probably wouldn't know who we are, 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:19.220 align:middle line:84% and we get submissions for Japan. 00:07:19.220 --> 00:07:21.980 align:middle line:84% We have a guy in Australia who just loves diagrams 00:07:21.980 --> 00:07:23.990 align:middle line:90% and he keeps giving us diagrams. 00:07:23.990 --> 00:07:26.960 align:middle line:84% And so you find these-- you find these like-minded people 00:07:26.960 --> 00:07:28.490 align:middle line:90% in various places. 00:07:28.490 --> 00:07:31.100 align:middle line:84% And to me, that's like one of the biggest benefits 00:07:31.100 --> 00:07:34.160 align:middle line:84% of the future of publishing and being online 00:07:34.160 --> 00:07:36.310 align:middle line:90% at least, to some extent.