In our April–June newsletter, we misspelled (in the byline) the name of the editor of the Journal of Language Survey Reports (JLSR), formerly Electronic Survey Reports. The story reported recent changes to that journal, which include the journal name and the new editor, Angela Kluge, PhD. We deeply regret the error.

SIL’s Language and Culture Description and Documentation and Electronic Working Papers series are now open for direct submission by SIL and collegial partner authors. Global Publishing Services staff will no longer moderate, edit, typeset, or post papers published in these two series. Instead, the publishing pathway will be entirely author-driven. SIL staff and collegial partners with access to SIL’s Repository for Electronic Archiving and Publishing (REAP) may follow the best practices in this How to self-publish in LCDD and EWP guide in order to post their papers.

FOR ALL OF OUR READERS, these two series are part of SIL’s free to download publications, Read Online, found on our website. 

Please note, LinguaLinks Library Logos Edition has a single-user license.

Oxford University’s right to print books was first recognised in 1586, in a decree from the Star Chamber. But the centuries-old printing history of Oxford University Press will end this summer, after the publishing house announced the last vestige of its printing arm was closing. Read the rest of the story.

What’s Pressing Editor’s Note: When in Washington DC, consider visiting the LoC: truly beautiful building, tremendous resources and fascinating exhibits. (Someone may or may not have spent the day here.)

Under the agreement with the center... Brill will publish an Arabic journal titled Al Markaz: The Journal of Arab Studies. The journal will be the first to be fully published in Arabic by Brill, a 338-year-old house, and one of the most prestigious in Europe working with Arabic language, literature, and culture, with a focus on various historical and critical issues as well as Arabic book reviews. Read the rest of the story.

This year through May, adult nonfiction topics in social justice and race have sold 700,000 more units than in 2020 year-to-date in the United States’ book market. Read the rest of the story.

Three renowned researchers in digital humanities and computer science are joining forces with the Library of Congress on three inaugural Computing Cultural Heritage in the Cloud projects, exploring how biblical quotations, photographic styles and “fuzzy searches” reveal more about the collections in the world’s largest Library than first meets the eye. Read the rest of the story.

On the StatShot report released May 27 by the Association of American Publishers, the United States’ total revenues across all categories monitored by the system were up in March 40.2 percent as compared to March 2020. That brings the monetary figure to US$896.1 million. Read the rest of the story.

Elephant trunks are capable of astonishing feats of suction, according to new research. The study, published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, finds that these muscular, 200-pound nasal appendages can suck up three liters (0.8 gallons) of water in a second, a mind-boggling flow-rate equal to about 24 shower heads, reports Katherine J. Wu for the Atlantic. Moving that much water so quickly requires inhaling air at a breathtaking 330 miles per hour. That's 30-times faster than a human sneeze and faster than most high speed trains. Read the rest of the story.

In News by Porter Anderson June 7, 2021

‘The biggest threat to our industry post-Brexit,’ says the Publishers Association’s Stephen Lotinga, is an ‘international copyright exhaustion framework’ that could be implemented in UK rule changes. Read the rest of the story.

By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson

In its announcement June 1, the Africa Publishing Innovation Fund has opened its proposal period for grants to be made in 2022. And in what may be its most interesting contextual move yet, this still-young but highly influential fund is calling into question the continent’s focus for so many publishers on textbooks as their core business. Read the rest of the story.

In News by Porter Anderson May 27, 2021

Our interview with Mohamed Rashad—president of the Arab Publishers Association—brings to light many of the policy-level issues encountered by publishers in the region during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and looking at details of what publishing needs to grow and develop as the effects of the contagion hopefully begin to ease. Read the rest of the story.

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In News by Porter Anderson May 24, 2021

One of the most astute observers of Arab world publishing, Arab Publishers Association president Mohamed Rashad met with the Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi of Sharjah in January, on her very first official trip as president of the International Publishers Association (IPA). Al Qasimi was opening a series of conference trips that she has continued all spring, and the importance of her selection as Cairo for her first stop was clear in her comments: the challenge and promise of young readers for the international publishing industry. Read the rest of the story.

In News by Olivia Snaije May 25, 2021 

The Abu Dhabi book fair’s Monday (May 24) session on “The Art of Translation” brought together three very different translators who talked about how to faithfully reproduce an author’s writing in a different language. Read the rest of the story.

In News by Porter Anderson June 21, 2021 

‘She shows social and moral conflicts that go far beyond the regional context,’ the jury says in naming the writer and filmmaker the German Book Trade’s 2021 Peace Prize laureate. In the rationale of the jury, announced today by the Börsenverein’s Karin Schmidt-Friderichs, we read that Dangarembga’s selection has to do with her “unique narrative with a universal view in her artistic work and is therefore not only one of the most important artists in her country, but also a widely audible voice of Africa in contemporary literature. Read the rest of the story.

In Feature Articles by Porter Anderson June 18, 2021

‘Cultural globalization and digitization trends have accelerated the publishing industry’s own globalization,’ says IPA’s president, as the organization observes a major anniversary. Read the rest of the story.

We publish What’s Pressing no more than four times per year. Most issues feature news from the worlds of publishing, academic writing, linguistics, or translation, at times including some items just for fun.

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