Located in downtown Hanover, next to the Dartmouth Co-op and at the top of the stairs, is the prolific University Press of New England.
Founded 31 years ago as a publisher of academic books, the UPNE is a university publishing consortium based at Dartmouth that also serves Brandeis, Middlebury, Tufts, Wesleyan and the University of New Hampshire. There are different imprints under UPNE, many of which are associated with specific members of the consortium.
According to John Landrigan, UPNE editor, the consortium nature of UPNE is one of its distinct traits. "Most university presses are just associated with one school or one state system. UPNE, on the other hand, consists of both public and private schools from different states."
UPNE chiefly publishes within the humanities and social sciences, though Landrigan noted that recently, UPNE has been more open to publishing books in the hard sciences.
Barbara Briggs, a publicist for UPNE, said that at first, UPNE mainly published academic books but has since broadened the range of books it publishes. "Now, we do have books that will cater to the general audience. Many of our books are regionally minded -- they focus on New England."
Currently, UPNE publishes books from genres as diverse as fiction, nature, cooking and biographies.
Briggs said that the complete production of the books -- save the printing itself -- is done at UPNE. "Everything is based here -- editorial, production and marketing. We do all the pre-design work."
The publishing press is overseen by various committees, including an editorial board, an advisory board and a board of governors. Duties of these boards include acting as specialists and deciding which books get published, among others.
The process by which a book is chosen for publication at UPNE is similar to other publishing companies. "The editors consider whether the book is a good fit and whether there's a market. Then we send it to the experts in the field," Landrigan said.
Landrigan stressed that peer review of literature is one of the most important processes.
About the genres normally published, Landrigan said, "Schools sponsor publishing programs for a variety of reasons, including disseminating knowledge. The faculty are expected to write scholarly work, and the books are the dissemination of the scholarly work.
"Dartmouth can be pleased with the quality and range of the work that it sponsors within the context of the UPNE consortium," he said.
A good number of books published by the press are from Dartmouth authors. "Dartmouth has always had a leading role in the consortium, being the host institution," Landrigan said.
Occasionally, UPNE publishes a special series of books. Currently, two of these series are being sponsored by Dartmouth, and a third is in the works.
The first of these series, begun in 1990, is "The Collected Writings of Rosseau," edited by government professor Roger Masters of Dartmouth and Chris Kelly of the University of Maryland.
"There were no definitive English translations of many of Rosseau's works," said Landrigan. "This series fills the gap."
The second series, called "Re-encounters with Colonialism," was launched in 1997 and is edited by four Dartmouth professors: Mary Kelley, Agnes Lugo-Ortiz, Donald Pease and Ivy Schweitzer.
The series-in-progress, "Interfaces," is set to debut in 2004 in the visual cultures field, which Landrigan describes as the combination of culture studies on art history.
Of UPNE's many imprints, Hardscrabble Books is one of their most popular. This imprint showcases authors of fiction, including Ernest Hebert, Cynthia Huntington and Terry Osborne.
UPNE has had various locations in Hanover since 1970, but is currently set to relocate to an office near the Lebanon Green. The new location will be closer to their warehouse, which is located at Centerra Industrial Park in Lebanon.
Gabriela Sapia '03 has been a marketing assistant at UPNE for the last year and a half, and enjoys the environment. "I went into it not knowing anything about marketing and publishing, but everyone there took the time to help me and give me guidance. It's a very relaxed and friendly atmosphere. The office itself is more like going home to friends or to a family. It never feels as if I'm going into a job where I have to answer to someone -- everyone appreciates everyone else's work and lets them know it," she said.
UPNE is becoming increasingly well known. Last week, Richard Lourie's "Sakharov," a book printed by Brandeis University Press (an imprint of University Press of New England) was featured on the cover of The New York Times Book Review.
"As publishers, it's our job to know who the market is and how to reach them," Landrigan said. "For some books, we try to get media attention. Other books, we try to get them reviewed in the journals in their field. The work that gets done is to help the book reach the audience that's going to be interested in it."
