by Clare Doyle

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”

— Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 1969

 

In honor of NaNoWriMo—National Novel Writing Month—an annual creative writing event in which participants around the world aim to write a 50,000-word draft of a novel—this issue of OTH Bookshelf focuses on authorship and the equally important role of the reader, with some works on the history of printing and bookselling. 

The OTH list of open access academic titles includes the book’s author or editor names, title and title remainder, year of publication, publisher, and open access format (PDF, EPUB, MOBI, etc.) Subject headings in the list are taken from WorldCat records or Library of Congress records, if available: if not, original cataloging of subject headings is provided in WorldCat format, for consistency. The DOI (Digital Object Identifier) of the book is given if it is available on the publisher’s website; if not, the URL is provided. The ISBNs listed are for the online version of the book if available, and if more than one online ISBN is available the ISBN for the PDF version has been preferred; if there is not an online or e-book ISBN, the ISBN featured on the publisher’s website is included. The book’s license type (Creative Commons, etc.), terms of use or copyright restrictions are included if these have been provided by the publisher.

If our readers are aware of any title or publishers that are not included, please feel free to submit them for consideration. (To be included in OTH Bookshelf, a book must be available to read online and/or download for free and must have been assigned an ISBN.) And we welcome your suggestions for topics that might be covered in a future issue of OTH Bookshelf.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dowlnload OTH Bookshelf (excel)

TitleDOI or URLAuthor 1 LastAuthor 1 FirstEditor 1Author 2 LastAuthor 2 FirstEditor 2Author 3 LastAuthor 3 FirstEditor 3YearPublisherFormatISBNSubject 1Subject 2Subject 3Licence or Terms of Use
Living Books: Experiments in the Posthumanities https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/11297.001.0001 AdemaJanneke2021The MIT PressPDF9780262366465Publishers and publishing -- Technological innovationsScholarly publishing -- Technological innovationsOpen access publishingCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Licence
Toward an Inclusive Creative Writing: Threshold Concepts to Guide the Literary Curriculum10.5040/9781350023895AdsitJanelle2017Bloomsbury AcademicPDF978-1-3500-2388-8Creative writing (Higher education)English language -- Rhetoric -- Study and teachingCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
How We Write: Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blank Page10.21983/P3.0259.1.00AkbariSuzanne Conklineditor2015punctum booksPDF978-0-692-51933-2AuthorshipAcademic writingCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence
Early Public Libraries and Colonial Citizenship in the British Southern Hemisphere https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20426-6AtkinLaraeditor2019Palgrave MacmillanPDF978-3-030-20426-6 Books and reading -- Social aspects -- Southern Hemisphere -- History -- 19th centuryPublic libraries Commonwealth countries History 19th centuryCreative Commons Attribution -- 4.0 International Licence
Censorship of Literature in Austria, 1751-1848https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004519282BachleitnerNorbert2022BrillPDF 978-90-04-51928-2Publishers and publishing -- Austria -- History Booksellers and bookselling -- Austria -- HistoryCopyrightCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Authors, Publishers and Politicians: The Quest for an Anglo-American Copyright Agreement, 1815-1854https://ohiostatepress.org/books/Complete%20PDFs/barnes_authors/barnes_authors.htmBarnesJames J.1974Ohio State University PressPDF0-8142-0210-1Copright -- HistoryCopyright, InternationalPublishers and publishing -- HistoryTerms of Use
The Lady’s Magazine (1770-1832) and the Making of Literary Historyhttps://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-the-lady-s-magazine-1770-1832-and-the-making-of-literary-history.htmlBatchelorJennie2022Edinburgh University PressEPUB, PDF9781474487665Women's periodicals, English -- HistoryWomen and literature Lady's Magazine (London, England : 1770)
Reading History in the Roman Empirehttps://doi.org/10.1515/9783110764062BaumannMarioeditorLiotsakisVasileioseditor2022De GruyterPDF90-420-0915-2Historiography -- Rome -- HistoryRome (Empire) -- Intellectual lifeReading -- HistoryCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Novels, Readers, and Reviewers: Responses to Fiction in Antebellum Americahttps://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501726194/novels-readers-and-reviewers/#bookTabs=4BaymNina2018Cornell University PressEPUB, PDF9781501726194Book reviewing -- History -- 19th centuryFiction in English American writersBooks and reading -- United States – History -- 19th centuryCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Writing the Reader: Configurations of a Cultural Practice in the English Novel https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110399844BirkeDorothee2016De GruyterEPUB, PDF9783110399844Books and reading in literatureEnglish fiction--History and criticismCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Licence
Participatory reading in late-medieval Englandhttps://doi.org/10.7765/9781526118004BlattHeather2018Manchester University PressPDF9781526118004English literature -- Middle English, 1100-1500 -- History and criticismReading --England -- HistoryAuthorshipCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Reading by Numbers: Recalibrating the Literary Fieldhttp://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/25994BodeKatherine2012Anthem PressPDF9780857284549Booksellers and bookselling -- Australia -- HistoryPublishers and publishing -- Australia -- HistoryCreative Commons Attribution -- 4.0 International Licence
Writing for Immortality: Women and the Emergence of High Literary Culture in America10.1353/book.60155BoydAnne E.2004Johns Hopkins University PressEPUB, PDF9781421428031American literature -- Women authors -- History and criticismAuthorshipUnited States -- Intellectual life -- 1865-1918Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Contemporary Canadian Picture Books: A Critical Review for Educators, Librarians, Families, Researchers & Writershttps://doi.org/10.1163/9789004465107BrennaBeverleyDionneRichardTavaresTheresa2021BrillPDF978-90-04-46510-7Picture books for children -- Canada -- BibliographyAuthors -- CanadaIllustrators -- CanadaCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Sensitive Reading: The Pleasures of South Asian Literature in Translationhttps://doi.org/10.1525/luminos.114BronnerYigaleditorHalliseyCharleseditor2022University of California PressEPUB, PDF, MOBI9780520384484Books and readingSouth Asian literature -- Translations into EnglishSouth Asian literature -- History and criticismCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License
Lost Books: Reconstructing the Print World of Pre-Industrial Europehttps://doi.org/10.1163/9789004311824BruniFlaviaeditorPettegreeAndreweditor2016BrillPDF978-90-04-31182-4Early printed books -- EuropeLost books -- Europe -- HistoryLibraries -- Destruction and pillage -- Europe -- HistoryCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Writers, Literature and Censorship in Poland. 1948–195810.3726/b16374Budrowska Kamila2020Peter Lang International Academic PublishersPDF978-3-631-80759-0 (ECensorship -- Poland -- History -- 20th centuryAuthorshipCommunism and literature -- PolandCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Adelaide: A Literary City https://doi.org/10.20851/adelaide-literaryButterrssPhilip editor 2013University of Adelaide PressPDF978-1-922064-64-6 Australian literature -- Australia -- South Australia -- History and criticismAdelaide (S.A.) -- In literatureBooks and reading -- Adelaide (S.A.)Creative Commons License
Bring on the Books for Everybody: How Literary Culture Became Popular Culturehttps://doi.org/10.1215/9780822391975CollinsJim2010Duke University PressPDF9780822391975Book clubs (Discussion groups) -- United StatesPopular culture and literature -- United StatesBooks and readingCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Writing Histories: Imagination and Narrationhttps://bridges.monash.edu/articles/monograph/Writing_Histories_Imagination_and_Narration/12821471CurthoysAnn editorMcGrathAnneditor2020Monash University PressEPUB 9780980464832Historiography -- MethodologyHistory -- MethodologyAuthorshipCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
The Autobiographical Triangle: Witness, Confession, Challenge10.3726/b15550Czermińska Małgorzata2018Peter Lang International Academic PublishersPDF978-3-653-06835-1 Autobiographical fiction, Polish -- History and criticismAuthorshipCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Writing and the West German Protest Movements: The Textual Revolution10.14296/0420.9780854572762DaviesMererid Puw2016University of London PressPDF 978-0-85457-276-2Protest movements -- Germany (West)Germany (West) -- Politics and government -- 1945-1990AuthorshipCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Tibetan Printing: Comparison, Continuities, and Changehttps://doi.org/10.1163/9789004316256DiembergerHildegardeditorEhrhardKarleditorKornickiPeter F.editor2016BrillPDF978-90-04-31625-6Book design -- Tibet RegionPrinting -- Tibet Region -- History Bookbinding -- HistoryCreative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported Licence
Printing and Publishing Chinese Religion and Philosophy in the Dutch Republic, 1595–1700https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004473294DijkstraTrude2021BrillPDF978-90-04-47329-4Chinese imprints -- Publishing -- Netherlands -- HistoryForeign language publications -- Publishing -- Netherlands -- HistoryCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Language Processing and the Reading of Literature: Toward a Model of Comprehensionhttps://doi.org/10.2979/LanguageProcessinganDillonGeorge L.1978Indiana University PressEPUB978-0-253-05098-4Books and readingDiscourse analysisPsycholinguisticsCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Web Writing: Why and How for Liberal Arts Teaching and Learninghttps://doi.org/10.3998/dh.13396229.0001.001DoughertyJackeditorO'DonnellTennysoneditor2015University of Michigan PressEPUB978-0-472-90012-1 Online authorship -- Study and teachingInternet publishingScholarly electronic publishingCreative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License
Originality, Imitation, and Plagiarism: Teaching Writing in the Digital Agehttps://doi.org/10.3998/dcbooks.5653382.0001.001EisnerCarolineeditorVicinusMarthaeditor2080University of Michigan PressEPUB978-0-472-90048-0Authorship -- Study and teachingPlagiarismCopyrightCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Necessary Luxuries: Books, Literature, and the Culture of Consumption in Germany, 1770–1815https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9780801470431/necessary-luxuries/#bookTabs=4ErlinMatt 2014Cornell University PressEPUB, PDF9780801470431Books and reading -- Germany -- HistoryGermany -- Intellectual lifeCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Jean Galbraith: Writer in a Valleyhttps://bridges.monash.edu/articles/monograph/Jean_Galbraith_Writer_in_a_Valley/19775854FletcherMeredith2014Monash University PressEPUB 9781925377910Botanists -- BiographyAuthorshipGalbraith, Jean -- 1906-1999Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
States of Inquiry: Social Investigations and Print Culture in Nineteenth-Century Britain and the United States10.1353/book.3227FrankelOz2006Johns Hopkins University PressEPUB, PDF9781421427881Government publications -- History -- 19th centuryPrinting, Public -- History -- 19th centurySocial surveys -- History -- 19th centuryCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Authority and Authorship in Medieval and Seventeenth Century Women's Visionary Writingshttps://doi.org/10.14361/9783839456897FrickDeborah2021transcript verlagPDF978-3-8376-5689-3English literature -- Women authorsAuthorshipProphecy in literatureCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
The Origin of the Modern Jewish Woman Writer: Romance and Reform in Victorian Englandhttps://wayneopen.org/books/product/the-origin-of-the-modern-jewish-woman-writer-/?GalchinskyMichael2018Wayne State UniversityPressEPUB9780814344453English literature -- Women authors -- History and criticismEnglish literature -- Jewish authorsJewish women -- Great Britain -- Intellectual lifeCreative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 3.0 United States License
Developing Writers in Higher Education: A Longitudinal Studyhttps://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.10079890GereAnne Ruggleseditor2019University of Michigan PressEPUB978-0-472-90103-6Academic writing -- Study and teaching (Higher)AuthorshipEnglish language -- Rhetoric -- Study and teaching (Higher)Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Bestsellers in Nineteenth-Century America: An Anthology10.2307/j.ctt1hj9z88GutjahrPaul C.editor2016Anthem PressPDF9781783085798American literature -- 19th centuryCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Licence
Nurse Writers of the Great Warhttps://doi.org/10.7765/9781526129352HallettChristine E.2017Manchester University PressPDF9781500000000Nurses' writingsWorld War, 1914-1918 -- Medical careWorld War, 1914-1918 -- Women authorsCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported
How We Read: Tales, Fury, Nothing, Sound10.21983/P3.0259.1.00HellerKaitlineditorAkbariSuzanne Conklineditor2019punctum booksPDF950192-31-1Books and readingCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence
Middlebrow Matters: Women's Reading and the Literary Canon in France Since the Belle Époquehttp://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/26001HolmesDiana2018Liverpool University PressPDF978-1-786-94952-3Women and literature -- FranceFrench fiction -- Women authorsBooks and reading -- France -- HistoryCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Whose Book Is it Anyway? A View from Elsewherehttps://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0159JefferiesJaniseditorKemberSaraheditor2019Open Book PublishersEPUB, PDF, MOBI, HTML978-1-78374-650-7AuthorshipPublishers and publishing CopyrightCreative Commons Attribution -- 4.0 International Licence
Queer Between the Covers: Histories of Queer Publishing and Publishing Queer Voices10.14296/2105.9781913002053KassirLeilaeditorEspleyRichardeditor2021University of London PressPDF978-1-913002-05-3Book industries and trade -- Social aspects-- HistoryPublishers and publishing -- Social aspects -- HistoryHomosexuality in literatureCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Material Aspects of Reading in Ancient and Medieval Cultures: Materiality, Presence and Performancehttps://doi.org/10.1515/9783110639247KrausAnnaeditor2020De GruyterPDF9783110639247Manuscripts -- HistoryReading --HistorySacred books -- HistoryCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Print and Power in Early Modern Europe (1500–1800)https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004448896LamalNinaeditorCumbyJamieeditorHelmersHelmer J.editor2021BrillPDF978-90-04-44889-6Printing -- Europe -- HistoryPrinting -- Political aspectsCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Fictions of Authority: Women Writers and Narrative Voicehttps://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501728013/fictions-of-authority/#bookTabs=4LanserSusan Sniader2018Cornell University PressEPUB, PDF9781501728013Fiction -- Women authorsAuthorship -- Sex differencesNarration (Rhetoric)Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Reading in Changing Society10.26530/OAPEN_496790LauristinMarjueditorVihalemmPeetereditor2014University of Tartu PressPDF9789949325788Books and reading -- ScandinaviaReading -- Technological innovationsCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
Writing Workflows: Beyond Word Processinghttps://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.11657120LockridgeTimVan IttersumDerek2020University of Michigan PressEPUB978-0-472-12726-9 AuthorshipElectronic booksWriting materials and instrumentsCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Reading for Storyness: Preclosure Theory, Empirical Poetics, and Culture in the Short Story10.1353/book.60325LohaferSusan2003Johns Hopkins University PressEPUB, PDF9781421428215Books and reading -- History Short storiesStorytellingCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Women Writers and Old Age in Great Britain, 1750–185010.1353/book.3466LooserDevoney2008Johns Hopkins University PressEPUB, PDF9781421427799AuthorshipEnglish literature -- Women authors -- History and criticismOlder women -- Great BritainCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Reading Fiction in Antebellum America: Informed Response and Reception Histories, 1820–186510.1353/book.42MachorJames L.2011Johns Hopkins University PressEPUB, PDF9781421428178Books and reading -- United States -- History -- 19th centuryAuthors and readers -- United States -- History -- 19th centuryAmerican fiction -- 19th century -- History and criticismCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Space, Place, and Children’s Reading Development: Mapping the Connections10.5040/9781350275980MackeyMargaret2022Bloomsbury AcademicPDF978-1-3502-7596-6 Children -- Books and readingMaps -- Psychological aspectsReading, Psychology ofCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License
Interpretive Conventions: The Reader in the Study of American Fictionhttps://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501720956/interpretive-conventions/#bookTabs=4MaillouxSteven2018Cornell University PressEPUB, PDF9781501720956Books and readingAmerican fiction -- History and criticismReader-response criticismCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The Return of Print? Contemporary Australian Publishinghttps://bridges.monash.edu/articles/monograph/The_Return_of_Print_Contemporary_Australian_Publishing/12821435MannionAaroneditorStinsonEmmetteditor2020Monash University PressEPUB 9781925495317Book industries and trade -- AustraliaPublishers and publishing -- AustraliaBooks and readingCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Feminism, Writing and the Media in Spain10.3726/b11488MatuteAna MariaMonteroRosaEtxebarriaLucia2019Peter Lang International Academic PublishersPDF9781787077904Spanish literature -- Women authorsAuthorshipSpanish literature -- 20th century -- History and criticismCreative Commons Attribution -- 4.0 International Licence
Pulp Fictions of Medieval England: Essays in Popular Romancehttps://doi.org/10.7765/9781526137593McDonaldNicolaeditor2018Manchester University PressPDF9781526137593Books and reading -- England -- History -- To 1500English literature -- Middle English, 1100-1500 -- History and criticismRomances, EnglishCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
To Make Negro Literature: Writing, Literary Practice, and African American Authorship10.1215/9781478021810McHenryElizabeth2021Duke University PressPDF9781478021810African Americans -- Books and readingAmerican literature -- African American authors -- History and criticismAuthorshipCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Writing Alberta: Building on a Literary Identityhttps://press.ucalgary.ca/books/9781552388907/MelnykGeorge editorCoatesDonnaeditor2017University of Calgary PressPDF978-1-55238-892-1 Canadian literature--Alberta--History and criticismAuthors -- CanadaAlberta -- In literatureCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Early Modern Herbals and the Book Trade: English Stationers and the Commodification of Botany https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009031615NevilleSarah2021Cambridge University PressPDF, HTML9781009031615Publishers and publishing -- England -- History Herbals -- England -- History Botany -- HistoryCreative Commons Open Access license CC-BY-NC 4.0
Reading Autobiographical Comics: A Framework for Educational Settings10.3726/b17018OppolzerMarkus2020Peter Lang International Academic PublishersPDF978-3-631-82338-5Autobiographical comic books, strips, etcReader-response criticismCreative Commons Attribution -- 4.0 International Licence
Economic Imperatives for Women's Writing in Early Modern Europehttps://doi.org/10.1163/9789004383029PazCarme FonteditorGeerdinkNinaeditor2018BrillPDF978-90-04-38302-9Women authors, European -- Economic conditionsEuropean literature -- Women authors -- History and criticismAuthors and patrons -- History -- Early modern, 1500-1700Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Broadsheets: Single-sheet Publishing in the First Age of Print https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004340312PettegreeAndrew editor2017BrillPDF978-90-04-34031-2Broadsides -- Europe -- History Printing industry -- Europe -- HistoryEurope -- Intellectual lifeCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Writing as Material Practice: Substance, Surface and Mediumhttps://doi.org/10.5334/baiPiquetteKathryn E.editorWhitehouseRuth D.editor2013Ubiquity PressEPUB, PDF978-1-909188-26-6Writing -- HistoryCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
Powerful Prose: How Textual Features Impact Readershttps://doi.org/10.14361/9783839458808PohlsR. L. VictoriaeditorUtudjiMarianeeditor2021transcript verlagPDF978-3-8376-5880-4Books and reading Reader-response criticismCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
Writing, Medium, Machine: Modern Technographieshttp://openhumanitiespress.org/books/download/Pryor-Trotter_2016_Writing-Medium-Machine.pdfPryorSeaneditorTrotterDavideditor2016Open Humanities PressPDF978-1-78542-006-1AuthorshipWriting materials and instrumentsLiterature and technologyCreative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence
Heaven's Interpreters: Women Writers and Religious Agency in Nineteenth-Century Americahttps://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501751387/heavens-interpreters/#bookTabs=4ReedAshley2020Cornell University PressEPUB, PDF9781501751387American fiction -- Women authorsWomen and literature -- United States -- History -- 19th centuryReligion and literature -- United States -- History -- 19th centuryCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Book Value Categories and the Acceptance of Technological Changes in English Book Production10.3726/b17293RosenbergSimon2020Peter Lang International Academic PublishersPDF978-3-631-82738-3Books -- Technological innovations -- HistoryPrinting industry -- HistoryCreative Commons Attribution -- 4.0 International Licence
The Cryptographic Imagination: Secret Writing from Edgar Poe to the Internet10.1353/book.72709RosenheimShawn James2020Johns Hopkins University PressEPUB, PDF9781421437170Cryptography in literatureCommunicationCiphersCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Four Shades of Gray: The Amazon Kindle Platform https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/11985.001.0001 RowberrySimon Peter2022The MIT PressPDF9780262369114Kindle (Electronic book reader)Publishers and publishing Amazon.com IncCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Piety in Pieces: How Medieval Readers Customized their Manuscriptshttps://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0094RudyKathryn M.2016Open Book PublishersEPUB, PDF, MOBI, HTML978-1-78374-235-6Books and reading -- Europe -- HistoryManuscripts, MedievalCreative Commons Attribution -- 4.0 International Licence
Women’s Writing in Contemporary France: New Writers, New Literatures in the 1990shttps://doi.org/10.7765/9781526137999RyeGilleditorWortonMichael2018Manchester University PressPDF9781500000000French literature -- Women authors -- History and criticismWomen and literature -- France -- History -- 20th centuryAuthorshipCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
Literary Coteries and the Making of Modern Print Culture: 1740–1790 https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316423202SchellenbergBetty A.2016Cambridge University PressPDF, HTML9781316423202AuthorshipPublishers and publishing -- England -- History -- 18th centuryGreat Britain -- Intellectual lifeCreative Commons Open Access license CC-BY-NC 4.0
The Sage in Harlem: H. L. Mencken and the Black Writers of the 1920s10.1353/book.67865ScruggsCharles2019Johns Hopkins University PressEPUB, PDF9781421430294 American literature — African-American authors — History and CriticismHarlem RenaissanceMencken, H. L. (Henry Louis), 1880-1956 — Criticism and interpretationCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Chivalry, Reading, and Women's Culture in Early Modern Spain: From Amadís de Gaula to Don Quixote https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvcszzjm TripletteStacy2018Amsterdam University PressPDF9789048536641Books and reading -- Spain -- History Spanish literature -- History and criticismWomen in literatureCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Publishing Sacrobosco’s De sphaera in Early Modern Europe: Modes of Material and Scientific Exchangehttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-86600-6VallerianiMatteoeditorOttoneAndreaeditor2022Palgrave MacmillanPDF978-3-030-86600-6Science publishing -- HistoryCosmology -- Early works to 1800Sphaera mundi (Sacro Bosco, Joannes de)Creative Commons Attribution -- 4.0 International Licence
Branding Books Across the Ages: Strategies and Key Concepts in Literary Brandinghttps://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1m8d6qvvan den BraberHellekeeditor2021Amsterdam University PressPDF9789048544400Publishers and publishing -- HistoryBooks -- Marketing -- HistoryAuthorshipCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
The Work of Authorship10.26530/OAPEN_503030van EechoudMireilleeditor2014Amsterdam University PressPDF9789048523009AuthorshipCopyrightCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
Women Writing War: From German Colonialism through World War Ihttps://doi.org/10.1515/9783110572001von HammersteinKatharinaeditorKostaBarbaraeditorShoultsJulieeditor2016De GruyterEPUB, PDF9783100000000German literature -- Women authors -- History and criticismAuthorshipCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Republic of Intellect: The Friendly Club of New York City and the Making of American Literature10.1353/book.3512Waterman Bryan2007Johns Hopkins University PressEPUB, PDF9781421428406American literature -- Societies, etc. -- History --18th centuryFriendly Club (New York, N.Y.)Intellectuals -- New York (State) New York -- HistoryCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Women's Literary Networks and Romanticism: ‘A Tribe of Authoresses’https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/44101WinklesAndrew O.editorRehbeinAngelaeditor2017Liverpool University PressPDF978-1-786-94832-8English literature -- Women authorsRomanticism -- Great BritainWomen and literature -- Great Britain -- History --18th centuryCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Ebooks in Education: Realising the Visionhttps://doi.org/10.5334/bal WoodwardHazeleditor2014Ubiquity PressEPUB, PDF978-1-909188-39-6Education -- Electronic information resourcesElectronic booksCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 License

Whether at the collegiate, graduate, or professional levels, the writing found in literary magazines are great tools to find up-and-coming voices in various literary spaces and can spark ideas for your own writing. Since these publications often have some sort of thematic, technical, or other structure binding the works in a single issue together, it is easy to dig up prompts or guidelines to apply to your own writing exercises. This Holiday season, consider gifting a subscription or donation in the name of someone to a literary journal instead of the usual purchases off the best-seller list. 

Below are just a few of our favorite journals, let us know some of yours! 

Sonora Review

Published through the University of Arizona MFA program, Sonora captures a dynamic regional voice and portrait of the Southwestern United States that is often misunderstood or mischaracterized.  

The theme of this special issue was inspired, in part, by a late night Google search a few years ago. Amidst growing conversation in the United States and the world over about sexual violence and domestic abuse, I lay awake thinking about growing up a girl. The leering, catcalling, groping. Being taken advantage of at a party, being valued for beauty or ridiculed for ugliness. Worshiped for our parts, reduced to our things, to things ourselves. Dreading the meeting where our opinions are undermined, the birthdays that mark us as past an expiration date, the alleyways or relationships that leave us bleeding. In a moment of sleepless desperation, I googled “places where gender-based violence and misogyny don’t exist.” Unsurprisingly, the search didn’t yield many results, but I did find one published research paper that listed a handful of contexts where “violence against women” was rare and, when present, swiftly condemned. The one thing all these sites of nonviolence, so to speak, had in common was a reverence for the natural world and the nonhuman beings that occupy it. These were places where that which is considered easily exploitable is instead cared for and respected. How, then, I wondered, does  this permanent, human-inflicted damage to the planet and its species relate to other forms of extinction, to the irrevocable harm we inflict against each other and ourselves? 

Excerpt from a 2021 Special Issue, Extinction


Bamboo Ridge Press

Founded in 1978 and still operating today as a non-profit press. Bamboo Ridge Press brings readers fiction, poetry, screenplays, novels and more from an oft-underrepresented group in American literature: Hawaii and Polynesian writers.  You can explore their diverse archives (which are still currently being digitized fully) via the Kapi’olani Community College repository.

 

 

 


Poem Atlas

On the experimental side of the scale, Poem Atlas “is an exhibition platform and occasional publisher of books and object poems” and introduces readers and users to interacting with language and poetry in atypical mediums. Their Online Exhibitions (see below) are an engaging display and demonstration of the skills and techniques visual poets are incorporating to push their writing and work with materials further.  

by Joyce Kinkead

This story originally appeared on The Conversation. This story has been republished under a Attribution-No Derivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) license. 


Ann Patchett, who has written eight novels and five books of nonfiction, says that when faced with writer’s block, sometimes it seems that the muse has “gone out back for a smoke.”

It doesn’t matter whether you’re an award-winning novelist or a high schooler tasked with writing an essay for English class: The fear and frustration of writing doesn’t discriminate.

My most recent book, “A Writing Studies Primer,” includes a chapter on gods, goddesses and patron saints of writing. When conducting research, I was struck by how writers have consistently sought divine inspiration and intercession.

It turns out that frustrated writers who pine for a muse or help from above are adhering to a 5,000-year-old tradition.

The first writers look to the skies

The first writing system, cuneiform, arose in Sumer around 3200 BC to keep track of wheat, transactions, real estate and recipes. Scribes used clay tablets to record the information – think of them as early spreadsheets.

Originally the Sumerian goddess of grain, Nisaba became associated with writing. She was depicted holding a gold stylus and clay tablet.

As it was common for people to adopt a god or goddess for their professions, a new class of scribes latched onto Nisaba. Practice tablets from schools that trained young scribes invoke her name – “Praise be to Nisaba!” Poets trumpeted her influence and credited her for giving beautiful handwriting to diligent students.

Her Egyptian counterpart was Seshat, whose name translates to “female scribe.”

 

In Luxor, Egypt, there’s an engraving of Seshat on a statue of Pharaoh Ramses II. Jon Bodsworth/Wikimedia Commons

Identifiable by a stylized papyrus as her headdress and a stylus in her right hand, Seshat guided the reed pens of scribes as priests communicated with the divine.

Writing was all about communicating with the gods, and the Greeks and Romans continued this tradition. They turned to the nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, known collectively as the Muses. Calliope stands out most notably, not only because a musical instrument was named after her, but also because she was considered the foremost of the sisters for her eloquence.

The Muses have since evolved into one overarching “muse” that serves as a source of inspiration.

Global gods and goddesses of writing

Gods and other legendary figures of writing are not limited to Western civilization.

In China, the historian Cangjie, who lived in the 27th century B.C., is said to have created the characters of the Chinese language. Legend has it that he was inspired by the pattern of veins on a turtle. (Back then, the Chinese often wrote on turtle shells.)

competing story says that cultural folk hero Fuxi and his sister Nüwa created the system of Chinese characters circa 2000 B.C. Yet it is Cangjie’s name that lives on in the Cangjie Input Method, which refers to the system that allows Chinese characters to be typed using a standard QWERTY keyboard.

In India, writers still invoke the elephant-headed Hindu god Ganesha before putting ink to paper. Known as a remover of obstacles, Ganesha can be especially meaningful for those struggling with writer’s block. There’s also Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of learning and the arts, who’s renowned for her eloquence.

In Mesoamerica, Mayan culture looked to Itzamná as the deity who provided the pillars of civilization: writing, calendars, medicine and worship rituals. His depiction as a toothless and wise old man signaled that he was not to be feared, an important characteristic for someone promoting an anxiety-inducing process like writing.

Enter the patron saints

In Christianity, patron saints are exemplars or martyrs who serve as role models and heavenly advocates. Various groups – professions, people with a certain illness and even entire nations – will adopt a patron saint.

Within the Catholic Church, a range of patron saints can serve as inspiration for writers.

St. Brigid of Ireland, who lived from 451 to 525, is the patron saint of printing presses and poets. A contemporary of the better-known St. Patrick, St. Brigid established a monastery for women, which included a school of art that became famous for its handwritten, decorative manuscripts, particularly the Book of Kildare.

Following St. Brigit in Ireland is St. Columba, who lived from 521 to 597 and founded the influential abbey at Iona, an island off the coast of Scotland. A renowned scholar, St. Columba transcribed over 300 books over the course of his life.

The influence of patron saints dedicated to literacy – reading and writing – continued long after the Middle Ages. In 1912, the College of Saint Scholastica was founded in Minnesota in tribute to Scholastica (480-543), who with her twin brother, Benedict (died in 547), enjoyed discussing sacred texts. Both Italian patron saints came to be associated with books, reading and schooling.

Objects charged with power

Some writers may think supernatural figures seem a bit too far removed from the physical world. Fear not – there are magical objects that they can touch for inspiration and help, such as talismans. Derived from the ancient Greek word telein, which means to “fulfill,” it was an object that – like an amulet – protected the bearer and facilitated good fortune.

Today, you can buy talismans drawn on ancient Celtic symbols that purport to help with the writing process. One vendor promises “natural inspiration and assist in all of your writing endeavors.” Another supplier, Magickal Needs, advertises a similar product that supposedly helps “one find the right word at the most opportune moment.”

Others turn to crystals. A writer’s block crystals gift set available through Etsy offers agate, carnelian, tiger eye, citrine, amethyst and clear quartz crystals to help those struggling to formulate sentences.

What makes a writer?

What drove the creation of divine beings and objects that can inspire and intercede on the behalf of writers?

To me, it’s no mystery why writers have sought divine intervention for 5,000 years.

Sure, tallying counts of sheep or bushels of grain might seem like rote work. Yet early in the development of writing systems, the physical act of writing was exceedingly difficult – and one of the reasons schoolchildren prayed for help with their handwriting. Later, the act of creation – coming up with ideas, communicating them clearly and engaging readers – could make writing feel like a herculean task. Ironically, this complex skill does not necessarily get easier, even with lots of practice.

The romantic image of the writer in the garret doesn’t do justice to the tedious reality of churning out words, one after another.

In his memoir “On Writing,” Stephen King reflected, “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” At the suggestion of a friend, the writer Patchett attached a sign-in sheet to the door of her writing room to ensure she wrote every day.

No matter how accomplished a writer, he or she will inevitably struggle with writer’s block. Pulitzer Prize−winning author John McPhee, who began contributing to The New Yorker in 1963, details his writer’s block in a 2013 article: “Block. It puts some writers down for months. It puts some writers down for life.” Another famous writer for The New Yorker, Joseph Mitchell, was struck by writer’s block in 1964 and simply sat and stared at his typewriter for 30 years.

I’ve even wrestled with this article, writing and rewriting it in my head a dozen times before actually typing the first word.

Poet and satirist Dorothy Parker once said, “I hate writing; I love having written.”

You and me both, Dorothy.