Written by Megan Malashewsky, Agency and Digital Marketing Coordinator

UBC Press has a longstanding tradition of bringing quality books from international publishers—mostly university presses—to the attention of Canadian readers. Since 2016, I’ve been proud to take on the role of Agency Coordinator, working directly with our publishing partners to sell their books in Canada. With our strong marketing/sales team and knowledge of the Canadian market, we’ve expanded our roster of partner publishers, offering a diverse list of books that complement and expand upon our own list.

For over 50 years, UBC Press has been publishing books in select subject areas. We’re known for our strong work in Indigenous Studies, Environmental Studies, Asian Studies, and Military History, among other subjects. Though we have four extremely dedicated and prolific editors, they’re not robots (we don’t think) and there are only so many hours in a day! That’s why we’re honoured to expand our list by distributing work from other publishers.

For example, Rutgers University Press publishes a robust list of Asian Studies books, which work well alongside our own Asian Studies list. But they also publish in Film Studies and Jewish Studies, which are currently not part of our own list. They also work with Bucknell University Press (known for their Literary Studies books), University of Delaware Press, and Templeton Press.

Asian Studies is also a primary publishing area for the University of Hawai’i Press, including their well-known Korean Languages titles. By working with the University of Hawai’i Press, I also have the added bonus of one day convincing my supervisors to send me to Hawai’i.

University Press of Mississippi also publishes extensively in Film Studies, as well as Pop Culture and African American Studies. You’ll find excellent books in African American Studies from our friends at University of Alabama Press, too, alongside their strong list of experimental fiction titles published by their Fiction Collective 2 imprint.

“Do you publish any books in Latin American Studies?” Nope, but may we suggest some titles from University of Arizona Press, University of Texas Press, or University of New Mexico Press?

Anthropology is a strength of University Press of Colorado, who also brings along their publishing partners University of Alaska Press, Utah State University Press (check out their excellent writing books), and University of Wyoming Press.

A little closer to our Vancouver home, we’ve been working with Oregon State University Press for many years, bringing their books on natural and regional history to Canadian readers. Speaking of regional history, all our distribution publishers offer regional books that we wouldn’t otherwise offer on our list, such as books on Florida history and the outdoors from University of Florida Press’ Florida in Focus and Wild Florida series. University of Massachusetts Press also has a strong regional focus, with their Bright Leaf imprint publishing books about New England for a popular audience.

West Virginia University Press, too, publishes a strong list of books for academic and trade audiences, including books on music and Appalachian Studies. (Side note: One of the first things I learned from WVUP is how to properly pronounce “Appalachia.”)

University Press Week highlights—I think—the important work that individual publishers are doing to produce important and illuminating books that further our understanding of the world and the people in it. From my humble vantage point, there has been no more important time in history for these books to find an audience and that’s why I’m honoured to have a small role in bringing them to Canadian readers. But above the individual works and individual publishers, University Press Week is a time to celebrate the work that we do to lift each other up, to work as a collective to further our common goal to educate and inspire. The UP community is strong and will always #StepUP.