August 9th is Book Lovers Day!

Posted on by June 21, 2017

Good morning, readers! Do you know what today is? August ninth is Book Lovers Day! The great Oscar Wilde once said, “If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.”

Reading is not limited to traditional paperback books filled with words. Now, readers can choose from a wide range of platforms and genres – from e-books to paperback to even recent best-seller coloring books. Coloring books have become popular among children and adults because of their mental-health benefits.

“Coloring also allows us to switch off our brains from other thoughts and focus only on the moment, helping to alleviate free-floating anxiety,” said Kelly Fitzpatrick of CNN.

Regardless of what kind of book you are choosing to enjoy, at the University of North Georgia Press, this holiday is one of our all-time favorites. To commemorate this magical day, we wanted to share with you some fun, fast facts about books!

The first book ever written was The Epic of Gilgamesh. The tale describes the evolution of the barbaric leader of Uruk, Gilgamesh, who is changed through acts of kindness.

Abibliophobia is the fear of running out of reading material. Luckily, at the UNG Press we will always have an enticing novel for you to read!

It took Charles Dickens about six weeks to write A Christmas Carol, a novel that has remained popular since 1843.

According to Google, there are around 130 million books in existence all over the world. With that amount of books, you should always have something interesting to read!

The UNG Press has several titles for any reader to choose from.

Celebrate today by curling up with your favorite book, whether it be an e-book, paperback or coloring book, and take time to be grateful to all of the authors who help take us to new places and learn new things. Let us know what book you are currently reading and your thoughts about it. We always love learning about new books!

 

National Book Lovers Day Spotlight: The Southern Philosopher: Collected Essays of John William Corrington

Posted on by August 9, 2017

Today is National Book Lovers Day, the most exciting day at the University Press of North Georgia! To celebrate, we would like to spotlight our newest release: The Southern Philosopher: Collected Essays of John William Corrington, edited by Allen Mendenhall.

John William Corrington was a diverse writer, producing novels, poems, critical essays, philosophical musings, and, most famously, screenplays. (You can thank him for I Am Legend, Planet of the Apes, and General Hospital.) While he garnered most of his acclaim for his screenplays, he was also a prolific essayist. Through his essays, Corrington explored topics that he couldn’t write about elsewhere. He knew that philosophy and science could co-exist, that the South was a place of pride and intelligence, and that Gnosticism had failed. These essays showcase his developing thoughts about it all.

The Southern Philosopher: Collected Essays of John William Corrington ushers those beliefs into the spotlight. Corrington is more than clever. He is unbelievable. Corrington’s voice reads like a world-class lecturer, and each essay comes with an introduction, written by Mendenhall, to set the context. His essays discuss law, space travel, Gnosticism, religious history, and, of course, literature. Many of these essays were previously unpublished. Some were handwritten and had to be typed for the first time. This edition includes in-depth appendices with handwritten notes from Corrington himself, with full approval from Joyce Corrington, Corrington’s widow.

Corrington’s subject diversity, fueled by his love for inquiry and analysis, brings forth the voice of a philosopher that is all together unique. He touches on forces that act on and affect all human beings, making this collection a riveting experience that anyone can enjoy, no philosophy degree required.

Allen Mendenhall is associate dean of Thomas Goode Jones School of Law and executive director of the Blackstone & Burke Center for Law & Liberty.  He holds a B.A. in English from Furman University. His interest in Corrington began in 2009 at West Virginia University, where he received his M.A. in English and a J.D. He then received his LL.M. in transnational law from Temple University Beasley School of Law and his Ph.D. in English from Auburn University.  He edits the Southern Literary Review and has authored hundreds of publications in law reviews, peer-reviewed journals, magazines, newspapers, literary periodicals, and encyclopedias. His other books include Literature and Liberty (2014) and Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Pragmatism, and the Jurisprudence of Agon (2017). He lives in Auburn, Alabama, with his wife and two children.

My Experience at the Press

Posted on by August 7, 2017

Hi, all! This summer, I had the pleasure of interning at the University of North Georgia Press (UNGP). Throughout my time here, I was tasked to create marketing campaigns, conduct research and manage social media accounts. It was a whirlwind and an adventure (the good kind). I spent the majority of my summer in the quiet, sleepy and wonderful town of Dahlonega, I began my academic trek as a foreigner and left as a native. Along the way, I made several forever friends and learned a great deal of literary as well as life lessons.

As my time at the press is coming to an end, I feel confident and wiser. However, months ago, when the elevator doors opened to the gleaming world of the press, I was a different person.

The distance from my house to the office was approximately seven minutes. As I started the drive, feelings of insecurity overwhelmed me. I feared that I would not have the adequate skills required to complete their requests. Comparisons of my abilities versus my classmates served as brash red stoplights at intersections. Was I prepared for this internship? I could feel the palms of my hands begin to dampen. I started to worry about that, who wanted to shake sweaty hands? It was truly a nervous cycle.

I breathed a deep sigh as the cool metal doors of the elevator shut in front of me, I clicked the worn plastic button to transport me to my future. As the elevator door opened, I came face-to-face with one of my supervisors. Her warm smile and cheery attitude set the tone for the rest of the semester. As the days went by (and got hotter) I was reminded over and over again that I did have the abilities to succeed.

If you’re ever faced with a new situation or embark on an adventure into the unknown (which we all do), it is important to never doubt yourself. Along the way, you’ll be forced to take on situations that may be scary, but if you remain confident and trust in others around you – it will be a lot easier. Richie Norton, author of Make Dreams Happen, said “To escape fear you have to go through it, not around.”

Robert Frost: American Poet

Posted on by May 9, 2017

http://www.poesievive.org/robert_frost.html

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”

To many Americans, this oft-repeated verse inspires memories of English classes, which is only fitting since its author, Robert Frost, is the most well-known American poet. Though his poetry can be quite familiar, we often don’t think about the man who created it and how he became the poet that we all know and love.

Robert Frost was born in San Francisco, California on March 26, 1874. After his father died when he was eleven years old, Frost moved to Massachusetts with his mother and sister to live with his grandparents. He started dabbling in poetry during high school, though he didn’t publish his first poem, “My Butterfly,” until 1894 at the age of twenty.

In 1892, Frost graduated as co-valedictorian with his future wife, Elinor White. He left for Dartmouth College after high school but dropped out after a few months and worked a string of unfulfilling jobs. He proposed to Elinor shortly after his authorship victory with “My Butterfly,” but she turned him down because she wanted to complete her education. He proposed again later, after she finished school, and they were married in 1895.

In 1897, Frost attended Harvard University for two years before he left due to his health. He and Elinor tried farming, and failed. They had a total of six children in the first twelve years of their marriage, though only two survived into middle adulthood. Their son Carol committed suicide at thirty-eight years old, and their daughter Irma developed mental illness.

In 1912, Frost and Elinor moved to England with their three surviving children in an attempt to find a publisher for Frost’s work. In just a little over a year, they were successful. The first two of Frost’s books of poetry, A Boy’s Will and North of Boston, were both printed.

Frost and his family were forced to return to America at the start of World War I in 1914, but all was not as before. News of the rising American poet in England traveled across the Atlantic Ocean had rapidly spread, and he was welcomed back with open arms by the literary world. Henry Holt, his new publisher, stayed with Frost for the rest of his days, and journals that rejected his work before his stay in England were now clamoring for a story. In an act of rebellion, Frost sent the Atlantic Monthly the same poems they had previously rejected.

Frost went on to receive forty honorary degrees and four Pulitzer Prizes for New Hampshire, Collected Poems, A Further Range, and A Witness Tree. He also taught at several colleges, including Dartmouth, the University of Michigan, and Amherst College, resigning after his wife died of cancer and heart-related issues in 1938.

This great poet and his legacy will live on in American hearts for many more years to come.

“These woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.”

Sneak Peak: Floods and Fires

Posted on by May 8, 2017

If you’ve been following our blog, Twitter, and Facebook, you may have seen our growing excitement over the upcoming release of Flood and Fires.

In Dan Leach’s first short story collection, he delves into emotions that span all people in a uniquely southern landscape. In the title story, a man struggles with the decision to uphold his strong family ties, even as his son becomes a fugitive. In “Everything Must Go,” a day that starts off at a harmless in a garage sale, turns emotionally haunting as our main character suspects his ex-wife’s belongings are the ones up for sale. In “Transportation,” a young boy’s imagination is his greatest hope as he becomes extraordinary in his mind’s eye in an attempt to escape his trailer park upbringing. In “Midnight Showing” a man takes his ex-girlfriend on a short late night trip—to redemption, or maybe to a happier past? Pick up your copy this fall to find out about these and more!

We are getting so close to it’s September 12 release; in our excitement, we can’t help but share this sneak peek with you. Click here to read or download a sample chapter of Floods & Fires, and make sure to check back in for more updates!