Miller Williams and Willard Gatewood had an idea in 1980. They felt that the University of Arkansas needed an additional outlet to allow scholars to publish their work. They believed that Arkansas had a shortage of publishing opportunities, as well as a lack of attention to its history and culture.
The University of Arkansas Press was established in the McIlroy House, Fayetteville’s renovated residence, on December 20, 1980.
Brent Riffel wrote “A stylized representation of this house became UA Press logo,” for the Central Arkansas Library System’s Encyclopedia of Arkansas. “Initially, the press lacked both staff and funds to produce its own works. Williams arranged with William King, the head of University of Missouri Press. Missouri would be the editing and production house.
The UA Press was not independent until 1983 when it began to function. The first title was “The Governors of Arkansas: Essays in Political Biography”, published by Timothy Donovan, a UA historian.
As I browse the 40-page 2022 catalog today, I see many books that I want for myself and others that I want as Christmas gifts. The quality and variety of the books are amazing. It’s hard to believe that this press has had such a turbulent history. It was the “little university presses that could”.
McIlroy house caught fire in November 1983, causing staff to flee for nearly a full year. A warehouse fire in September 1987 destroyed large quantities of books and caused extensive damage. John White, UA Chancellor was able to shut down the publishing company in the late 1990s.
But it is also the story of some the most talented people ever to live in the area.
Arkansas and their determination for UA Press to succeed. Williams and Gatewood rise at the top.
Williams was one of America’s most prominent poets of the 20th century. He served 33 years as a UA Professor of English, foreign language and comparative literature for the University of Arkansas. Fayetteville was home to a number of talented writers, many from all over the country. Williams was the author, editor, or translator for more than 30 books of poetry, fiction, and literary criticism.
Williams was born April 30, 1930 at Hoxie. He was the son of a Methodist minister and moved around a lot as a boy. He graduated high school from Fort Smith in 1947. He then entered Hendrix College in Conway as a freshman. He later transferred to the University of Central Arkansas and was again transferred to Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. His first collection of poetry, “Et Cetera,” was published in 1952.
In 1951, he received a bachelor’s degree from Jonesboro in biology. Two years later, he earned a masters degree at UA in zoology. For the next ten years, he taught biology. Williams was a teacher at Millsaps College Jackson, Miss. He also briefly attended the University of Mississippi’s medical school.
Gatewood, his friend, wrote later that “in 1962, with Flannery’s help, Williams got a job as an English professor at Louisiana State University.” “Fourteen years later, Williams joined Loyola University New Orleans where he established and edited “The New Orleans Review.” He returned to UA in 1970 as a member the English department and of the graduate program for creative writing.
His growing status in literature was evident in the honors he received starting in the 1950s. These include the Henry Bellman Award for 1957, Breadloaf Writers Conference Fellowship for Poetics in 1961, Harvard University’s Amy Lowell Traveling Fellowship for poetry in 1963-64, New York Arts Fund Award for 1970, Fulbright Professorship in Mexico in 1970 and Prix de Rome for Literature in 1976. The Charity Randall Citation for Contribution in Poetry as a Spoken Arts 1993 was also among them.
Williams also received the John William Corrington Award of Literary Excellence in 1994, and the National Arts Award 1997.
Gatewood wrote that Williams gave lectures and readings about tours to several continents, while mentoring UA students at the State Department’s request. “President Bill Clinton chose him to read his poem, “Of History and Hope” at the 1997 presidential induction. Williams described himself as a South-born product. His long involvement in science was also important in shaping his poetry.
Williams was known for his diverse imagination and use of irony. A journalist described him 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 fame as poet, became even more popular as a songwriter/recording artist. Multiple Grammy Awards were won for her. Time magazine dubbed her America’s greatest songwriter in 2002.
“As a kid, she met many her father’s writing friends, including Eudora Mundy and Flannery Connor, who famously let Lucinda chase her peacocks,” Philip Martin of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette wrote. She was 12 years old when she began writing her own songs and performing for her parents. After a short stint at the UA she started her career as an itinerant musician. She played in coffee shops and bars in Austin, Nashville and Houston.
Lucinda Williams was the headliner of a benefit concert in September 2007 to raise funds for Miller Williams Poetry Prize.
Miller Williams grew up in Arkansas in small towns. Gatewood was born in North Carolina, on a tobacco plant. Gatewood was born February 1931. He received his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees from Duke University. In 1957, Gatewood began his college teaching career at East Tennesssee State University. 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 in 1970. The chair was established by the university’s alumni association. The chair was his until his retirement in 1998. He was UA chancellor between 1984 and 1985, taught hundreds of undergraduates, and directed 25 doctoral theses. Some of those students went onto become college history professors.
Tom DeBlack, a Arkansas historian, said that Gatewood was the recipient of most major awards at UA during his tenure, including the University Distinguished Research Award (1980) and the Chancellor’s Medal for Distinguished Service (1994). He was the author, coauthor, or editor of 14 books as well as more than 75 articles in scholarly journals. Many of his books were groundbreaking works 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 was the president of Southern Historical Association between 1986 and 1987.
In 2002, UA Press published “The Southern Elite & Social Change: Essays to Honor of Willard B. Gatewood Jr.” These essays were written by former students as well as colleagues.
The book’s introduction stated: “There will, no doubt,” other great scholars and teachers. All who contributed to this book agree that Dr. Willard B. Gatewood Jr. was a great teacher and scholar. He is the reason we have an abiding passion and respect for history.
Gatewood died October 2011, Gatewood and Williams had been publishing university books since 1970. In October 2011, Williams and Gatewood received a break with Ellen Gilchrist’s collection of short stories, “The Land of Dreamy Dreams”. It sold over 10,000 copies within 10 months, and was widely praised by critics.
Gilchrist, originally from Vicksburg in Miss., graduated from Vanderbilt University. She then went on to earn a second degree at Millsaps where she was taught by Welty. Gilchrist, who did postgraduate work at UA in creative writing, was a contributing editor to the Vieux Carre Courier in New Orleans between 1976 and 1979. She also published her first poetry book.
Gilchrist chose to have “The Land of Dreamy Dreams”, rather than a publisher commercial, published by UA Press. Its success led to a contract with Little, Brown & Co. Her collection of short stories, entitled “Victory Over Japan”, was awarded the 1984 National Book Award.
UA Press hired Stephanie Brown in July 1982, after Gilchrist’s 1981 short story collection was a success. Williams handled most manuscript acquisitions. In February 1984, UA Press established a student award for writing. It opened a London office two years later. It established a journal department in 1988 that produced scholary publications.
Riffel stated, “UA Press had become one of the most respected publishing houses for American poets in the 1990s.” The press also published other award-winning poetry books, including Frank Stanford’s posthumous work. … Because of his friendship with Williams, Jimmy Carter, the former President of the United States became a major contributor to the list of authors over these years. Carter was able to write on many topics through the press.
Carter’s books include “An Outdoor Journal – Adventures and Reflections” from 1988, as well as a reexamination of 1980 Camp David peace agreements titled “The Blood of Abraham : Insights to the Middle East”.
White was elected chancellor of the state in 1997. In that year, he decided to close down the press due to its constant loss of money. His decision sparked controversy statewide.
Riffel wrote that Gatewood and other Arkansans responded by launching a public campaign to keep the doors open. White conceded that the plan to shut down the press was a misguided one in 1998. The funding provided by Tyson Foods, Springdale allowed the press to reorganize itself as a non-profit organization and continue publishing new titles.
“In 1998, Lawrence Malley was appointed director by the press. This led to the expansion of its efforts into Middle East-themed books. This was partly due to the establishment of the King Fahd Center of Middle East and Islamic Studies at the UA. The press has been a significant contributor to Arkansas history in recent years, especially with the publication of its Histories of Arkansas series. This series traces Arkansas’ past from the territory period through the present era. Malley, who was the assistant director, retired at end 2013. Mike Bieker, former director of the Arkansas Historical Society, became director.
The publishing house continues to be a strong focus on poetry, fiction, and books about the 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 2022 J.G. for his book “The Ku Klux Klan: How Protestant White Nationalism Came into Rule a Country” Arkansas Historical Association’s Ragsdale Book Award.
“Winthrop Rockefeller, From New Yorker To Arkansawyer 1912-1956” was published earlier this year by John Kirk, University of Arkansas at Little Rock. It is already getting acclaim.
Cherisse Jones-Branch, ASU history professor, also received positive reviews for “Better Living by Their Own Bootstraps : Black Women’s Activism In Rural Arkansas 1914-1965”.
My winter reading list includes “Country Boy: the Roots of Johnny Cash” by Colin Edward Woodward, and “Up South In the Ozarks” by Brooks Blevins of Izard Country.