Photo credit: SP Rankin Wildness needs our protection, and we need wildness to be fully alive. Only a human presence completes wildness. Love and restraint temper our personal wildness and keep it constructive. Richard Rankin Welcome to the fifteenth entry in our blog series, WRITING MATTERS, in which Kelley interviews some of our wonderful authors who share about their books and writing processes. This post features Richard Rankin, author of MUP books WHILE THERE WERE STILL WILD BIRDS (2018) and LOCAL SIGNS AND WONDERS (2024). Richard writes books and articles on cultural history, nature ..read more

Photo credit: Elwood Flowers Photography Let’s be incredibly cautious about not silencing voices. Whether it’s the voices of student protestors or authors who are people of color or who write about them, we cannot tout diversity while still silencing those who are minoritized. Donavan Ramon Welcome to entry fourteen in our blog series, WRITING MATTERS, in which Kelley interviews some of our wonderful authors who share about their books and writing processes. This post features Donavan L. Ramon, author of MUP book STRIKING FEATURES. Donavan is assistant professor of English at Southern Illi ..read more

Photo by Mark Olencki …wherever I am, the first thing I do each day is look out, and though what I see is different, what I really see is the view that now lives inside my mind and body. Writing, I think, is about paying deep attention, and my own writing began there. Elizabeth Barks Cox Welcome to the thirteenth entry in our blog series, WRITING MATTERS, in which Kelley interviews some of our wonderful authors who share about their books and writing processes. This post features Elizabeth (Betsy) Cox, author of MUP books I HAVE TOLD YOU AND TOLD YOU (2013) and READING VAN GOGH (2024). Bet ..read more

Kelley with Jackie. Photo from MUP Authors Luncheon, December 2023, courtesy of Paula Heller [In] the wisdom of Winter, …we have a time of reflection where we piece together what we have learned over the years. And in some small way, we try to share what we have learned with the generations behind us. The size of what we have learned varies from person to person, but all have something to share. Jackie K. Cooper Welcome to the twelfth entry in our blog series, WRITING MATTERS, in which Kelley interviews some of our wonderful authors who share about their books and writing processes. This pos ..read more

Photo credit: Selena Nix I want to write uplifting stories, ones that bring joy. There’s so much darkness in the world. I believe that’s why readers have reacted with such enthusiasm to Stella Bankwell. The book is filled with funny, loving, dear characters. And they are characters in the truest sense of Southern life. Ronda Rich Welcome to the tenth entry in our blog series, WRITING MATTERS, in which Kelley interviews some of our wonderful authors who share about their books and writing processes. This post features Ronda Rich, author of MUP book SAINT SIMONS ISLAND as well as the three b ..read more

Photo provided by author I began the project by transcribing the letters from Sweden for my siblings but quickly realized that my father’s war experience and my parents’ love story, as told through these letters, would make an interesting and joyous book for a much broader audience. —David Schaeffer Welcome to the ninth entry in our ongoing blog series, WRITING MATTERS, in which Kelley interviews some of our wonderful authors who share about their books and writing processes. This post features David Schaeffer, author of MUP books FIVE BIG MOUNTAINS, ANOTHER FIVE BIG MOUNTAINS AND TREKS, a ..read more

Photo by Nick Kelsh A need for peace motivates my creative output. When something gets stuck in my craw, or too good to keep quiet, I scribble it down. The burden immediately lifts after the first draft. Lasting relief is in the editing. Clifford Brooks Welcome to the eighth entry in our blog series, WRITING MATTERS, in which Kelley interviews some of our wonderful authors who share about their books and writing processes. This post features Clifford Brooks, author of MUP book OLD GODS, a well as THE DRAW OF BROKEN EYES & WHIRLING METAPHYSICS (Booklogix), ATHENA DEPARTS (SCE Press), an ..read more

Photo provided by author When you practice medicine, you become intimately familiar with the broad spectrum of human emotion, of love, of hate, of depravity, of intrigue, of sin, and so on, displayed by shining examples of godliness or incarnations of the devil him/herself. Great fodder from which to draw bits and pieces of fictional characters. William Rawlings Welcome to the seventh entry in our blog series, WRITING MATTERS, in which Kelley interviews some of our wonderful authors who share about their books and writing processes. This post features William Rawlings, author of eight MUP ..read more

The Association of University Presses revived University Press Week in 2012 to celebrate the work of publishers at colleges and universities throughout the United States. In honor of the 2023 event, November 13-17, this special blog post shares our publishing process at MUP. If you’ve ever wondered how a project goes from an author submission to a physical book at a small press like ours, read on! Established in 1979, Mercer University Press is located in Macon, Georgia—right in the middle of the state. MUP has published more than 1,700 books at a rate of 30 to 35 titles per year. We deliver ..read more

Photo provided by author I think Bill, in BLOODROOT, whether you were a friend or a stranger to him, left us what he most wanted us to know: how to be in the world in such a way that when you come to die you won’t discover that you haven’t lived. Gordon Johnston Today for WRITING MATTERS, we have a special memorial post to honor the life and creativity of Bill King. Just a few days after copies of his first poetry collection, BLOODROOT, arrived at the Mercer University Press warehouse, Bill died from complications of a tough cancer battle. Bill was one of Gordon Johnston’s oldest and dea ..read more