Wilfrid Laurier University Press

 

The 50th Anniversary of WLU Press - 1974-2024

   University presses are often overlooked by book lovers. They shouldn't be as I have illustrated in this series of posts about "University Presses." My tenth one will be about WLU Press which has been around since 1974.

   WLU Press publishes a few dozen titles annually and there about 700 in print. A variety of subjects are covered, ranging from environmental humanities to international politics and the books are available in print, electronic or audio versions. Some of the audible ones are pictured above. If you go to the Wilfrid Laurier University Press website you can search by subject, read their blog or listen to some podcasts. 

   This Cohen cover can serve as a sample indicating the wide variety of titles available. Here, however, I will focus on the ones about the "Waterloo Region." In the nine other university presses I have written about (all American), you can see that, among a number of academic and arcane titles, there usually will be some about the area in which the university is located. Broader in scope than local histories, regional ones often cover large areas and a variety of subjects within them. For example, Penn State's "Keystone Books" and Wayne State's "Great Lakes Book Series" will be of interest to many living in Ontario. The same is true for WLU.

   There are some about cities, The Battle for Berlin, Ontario: An Historical Drama; Kitchener: An Illustrated History and A History of Kitchener, Ontario and there is even one for Elora, The Early History of Elora and Vicinity. There are also a few about higher education in the area: I Remember Laurier, Recollections of Waterloo College, and Recollections of Waterloo Lutheran University, 1960 - 1973.

    This book about Mennonite cooking is probably one of the best selling books published by a Canadian university press:

   "An updated edition of a bestselling book in the food writing genre from award-winning author and journalist Edna Staebler. In the 1960s, Edna Staebler moved in with an Old Order Mennonite family to absorb their oral history and learn about Mennonite culture and cooking. From this fieldwork came the cookbook Food That Really Schmecks.

   Originally published in 1968, Food That Really Schmecks instantly became a classic, selling tens of thousands of copies. Interspersed with practical and memorable recipes are Staebler’s stories and anecdotes about cooking, life with the Mennonites, family, and the Waterloo Region. Described by Edith Fowke as folklore literature, Staebler’s cookbooks have earned her national acclaim. Back in print as part of Wilfrid Laurier University Press’s Life Writing series, a series devoted celebrating life writing as both genre and critical practice, the updated edition of this groundbreaking book includes a foreword by award-winning author Wayson Choy and a new introduction by well-known food writer Rose Murray."

   Readers of MM  will remember that Guelph University close by, has a great culinary collection - see "Food History" for examples of regional cuisine and other food-related collections.

   Sports lovers will even find reading material. This book demonstrates that university presses often produce interesting books for people beyond the shadows of the ivory towers: The Chatham Coloured All-Stars and Black Baseball in Southwestern Ontario, 1915–1958. 

"Although many know about Jackie Robinson’s experiences breaking major league baseball’s colour barrier in 1947, few are familiar with the Chatham Coloured All-Stars, a Black Canadian team from 1930s Ontario who broke racial barriers in baseball even earlier. In 1933, the All-Stars began playing in the primarily white world of organized amateur baseball. The following year, the All-Stars became the first Black team to win a provincial championship.

While exploring the history of Black baseball in one southwestern Ontario community, this book also provides insights into larger themes in Canadian Black history and sport history including gender, class, social justice, and memory and remembrance.

University Presses:
  For your convenience, I will gather here all the posts in MM about this subject in chronological order:

1. Environmental Books - University of Washington - May 13, 2018

2. University Presses - Penn State - Sept. 1, 2018

3. Wayne State -  Sept 21, 2019

4. University of Minnesota Press March 28, 2020

5. Northwestern University Press - Oct. 16, 2021

6. Wolverines, Spartans and Books, (Michigan State) June 10, 2022

7. MIT PRESS - Aug. 10, 2022

8. Princeton University Press - see "Ancient Wisdom..." Dec. 18, 2022.

9. Ohio State University Press - Feb. 20, 2023

10. Wilfrid Laurier Press - Jan. 10, 2024