Miller Williams, Willard Gatewood and others had an idea in 1980. The University of Arkansas required an extra outlet to publish scholars’ work. A lack of publishing opportunities in Arkansas, along with a lack of attention to Arkansas’s culture and history were also reasons they felt the University of Arkansas needed an additional outlet.
Dec 1980 saw the opening of University of Arkansas Press in McIlroy house, which was renovated on Fayetteville’s edge.
Brent Riffel’s stylized portrayion of this house is what became the UA Press Logo. This was for Central Arkansas Library System’s Encyclopedia of Arkansas. The press was initially without the resources and staff to create its own work. Williams arranged with William King, the head of University of Missouri Press. Missouri would be the editor and producer.
The UA Press did not begin functioning independently until 1983. The first title was released in June 1981. It was entitled “The Governors of Arkansas Essays in Political Biography”, edited by Timothy Donovan, a UA historian.
As I peruse the 40-page 2022 catalogue, I find many books that I would like to purchase for myself, and others I’d love to get as Christmas presents. You wouldn’t know that the press has had a long and turbulent history based on its quality and quantity. This has been the “little university newspaper that could.”
McIlroy House was set on fire in November 1983. The staff had to leave for nearly a year. A warehouse fire destroyed thousands of books in September 1987. John White, UA Chancellor was able to stop the publication house from being published in late 1990.
It’s the tale of some of America’s most gifted people.
Arkansas and the determination of Arkansas to make UA Press a success. Williams and Gatewood rise at the top.
Williams is one of America’s greatest poets. Williams served 33 years at UA as a professor of English and foreign languages. Fayetteville was home to a number of talented writers, many from all over the nation. Williams edited, translated, and wrote more than 30 books of poetry, fiction, literary criticism, and other works.
Williams was born April 30, 1930 in Hoxie. Williams was born in April 1930 at Hoxie. He moved a lot when a boy because he was the son a Methodist minister. He graduated high school from Fort Smith in 1947. He entered Hendrix College, Conway, as a freshman. He transferred across the city to Arkansas State University, Jonesboro. In 1952, Williams published “Et Cetera,” his first collection de poems.
In 1951, he received a bachelor’s in biology from Jonesboro. Two years later, he earned a masters in zoology from UA. For the following ten years, he taught biology. Williams studied briefly at the University of Mississippi’s Medical School while he was teaching biology at Millsaps College, Jackson, Miss.
Gatewood, his friend, wrote later that “In 1962, Flannery Ohio’Connor helped him get a job at Louisiana State University’s English Department.” Williams joined Loyola University, New Orleans in 1962, and founded the New Orleans Review. He returned to UA in 1970 as a graduate student of creative writing and as a member the English department.
He was a rising star in literary circles, as evidenced by the honors that he received starting in 1950s. The Henry Bellman Award was given in 1957. He also received the Breadloaf Writers Conference Fellowship for poetry in 1961. Harvard University’s Amy Lowell Traveling Fellowship for Poetics in 1963-64. New York Arts Fund Award for 1970. Fulbright Professorship at National University of Mexico. In 1970. Prix de Rome for Literature. Charity Randall Citation for Contribution in Poetry as a Spoken Arts.
Williams also received the John William Crrington Award for Literary Excellence and the National Arts Award.
Gatewood stated that Williams gave lectures and reads about tours to several continents, while also mentoring UA students at the State Department’s request. He was chosen by President Bill Clinton to read his poem, “Of History and Hope”, at the 1997 presidential inauguration. Williams said that he was a Southerly product. His long involvement in science was also important for shaping his poetry.
Williams is remembered for having a broad imagination and using irony to convey subtlety and ambiguity. He was also known by a journalist as “the Hank Williams” of American poetry. In 2009, Miller Williams was awarded the Porter Prize’s Lifetime Achievement Award. The UA Press gives the Miller Williams Poetry Prize each year.
Williams died Jan. 1, 2015, at Fayetteville. His daughter Lucinda, despite his popularity as a poet and singer became more well-known as a songwriter. Numerous Grammy Awards were won for her. Time magazine dubbed her America’s Best Songwriter in 2002.
As a child she had the opportunity to meet many of her father’s writers friends. These included Eudora Worldy and Flannery, O’Connor who let Lucinda chase her peacocks. She was 12 years old when she began writing songs and playing for guests. After a short stint at the UA she started her career as an independent musician. She played in coffee shops and bars in Austin, Nashville and Houston.
Lucinda Williams performed at a benefit concert held in September 2007 for Miller Williams Poetry Prize.
Miller Williams grew up in Arkansas in small towns. Gatewood was born in North Carolina, on a North Carolina tobacco farm. Gatewood was born February 19, 1931. He received his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees from Duke University. His college teaching career began at East Tennesssee State University, where he taught from 1957 to 1958. Gatewood was also a teacher at East Carolina University, North Carolina Wesleyan College, and the University of Georgia.
Gatewood was the first Alumni Distinguished professor of History to arrive in Arkansas. The chair is endowed annually by the alumni association. From 1970 to 1998, he held the chair. In 1984-1985, he was UA chancellor. He taught many students and directed 25 doctoral dissertations. Some of these students became college historians.
Tom DeBlack, a fellow Arkansas historian, wrote that Gatewood received most major university awards during his time at UA. These included the University Distinguished Research Award (in 1980) and the Chancellor’s Medal for Distinguished Service (1994). He was co-author, editor or author of more than 14 books. Many of his books are pioneering in African-American History.
Gatewood’s book “Aristocrats of Color, The Black Elite 1880-1920” was published in 1990 by UA Press and nominated to the National Book Award. Gatewood, who was the president of Southern Historical Association between 1986 and 1987.
In 2002, UA Press published The Southern Elite and Societal Change: Essays in Honour of Willard B. Gatewood Jr. These essays were composed by former students as well as colleagues.
It was noted in the introduction that there would be “no doubt” other outstanding teachers and scholars. However, all contributors to this book agree Dr. Willard B. Gatewood Jr. has been a brilliant teacher and scholar. He is the reason we have an abiding passion and respect for history.
Gatewood passed away in October 2011. Gatewood died in October 2011. It sold over 10,000 copies within 10 months, and was widely praised by critics.
Gilchrist was born in Vicksburg, Miss. and graduated from Vanderbilt University. After earning her degree, Gilchrist went on to earn another from Millsaps. There she worked under Welty. Gilchrist published her first collection of poetry in 1976, after completing postgraduate studies in creative writing at UA.
Gilchrist chose to publish “The Land of Dreamy Dreams”, rather than a commercial publisher. Its success led to a contract with Little, Brown & Co. She won the National Book Award for Fiction 1984 with her short story collection, entitled “Victory Over Japan.”
UA Press’ 1981 short story collection was a success and it allowed them to hire Stephanie Brown as its editor in July 1982. Williams handled most manuscript acquisitions. The UA Press instituted a student writing prize in February 1984. The London branch was opened two years later. The journal division was established in 1988. It produced scholary journals.
Riffel stated that UA Press was a leading publisher for American poets by the 1990s. Riffel wrote that the press published several books with award-winning poetry, in addition to Frank Stanford’s posthumous works. … Because of Williams’ friendship, Jimmy Carter was a key figure in the list of writers during these years. Carter was able to publish on many topics through the press.
Carter published a variety of books, including “An Outdoor Journal: Reflections and Adventures” in 1988 and “The Blood of Abraham: An Insights into Middle East” in 1980.
White was elected chancellor in 1997. He decided to shut down the media because it had been losing money consistently. His decision sparked controversy statewide.
Riffel stated that Gatewood and prominent Arkansans responded by launching a campaign for the preservation of its doors. White conceded that White’s plan to close down the newspaper was wrong in 1998. With the funding of Tyson Foods Springdale, the media organization was able to transform itself into a non-profit entity and produce new titles.
“The press made Lawrence Malley its director in the summer 1998. It expanded its efforts into Middle East-themed books under his direction, a reaction to the creation of the UA King Fahd Center on Middle East Studies and Islamic Studies. The press made a significant contribution to Arkansas’ history in recent years with its Histories of Arkansas series. This series traces Arkansas’ past through modern times. Malley retired in 2013, while Mike Bieker, the former assistant director, became director.
Publishing house remains a major focus for poetry, fiction, as well as books on Middle East.
The awards keep coming in. Kathleen Condray’s “Das Arkansas Echo” won the 2021 Booker Worthen Literary Prize. Kenneth Barnes was awarded the J.G. 2022 for his book “The Ku Klux Klan: How Protestant White Nationalism Came into Rule over a State”. Arkansas Historical Association’s Ragsdale Book Award.
John Kirk of University of Arkansas at Little Rock, history professor and author of “Winthrop Rockefeller” was published earlier this year. He is receiving much acclaim.
Cherisse Jones-Branch, ASU historian and author of “Better Living by Their Own Bootstraps” (Black Women’s Activism In Rural Arkansas 1914-1965) also received positive reviews.
My winter reading list includes “Country Boy” by Colin Edward Woodward, and “Up South In the Ozarks” by Brooks Blevins of Izard Country.