OUT NOW: Oral Poetry by Ruth Finnegan explores the vast field of oral poetry, traversing continents, genres and eras. Written from an anthropological and literary perspective, this is a key text for anyone with an interest in poetry, comparative literature and global folk traditions. Read for free: https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0428

@bregt_lameris 😍

https://www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.11647/obp.0380

Great experience to present my book Feeling Colour at EYE Filmmuseum. Published in 💎OA by @OpenBookPublish!

We're thrilled that three of our authors have been nominated for the 2025 ACLS Open Access Book Prizes and Arcadia Open Access Publishing Awards in the Environmental Humanities and Literary Studies categories!

This is a fantastic acknowledgement of their work & their decision to publish #OpenAccess.

Those authors and their books are... 🥁

(1/5)

Kathryn M. Rudy, 'Image, Knife, and Gluepot: Early Assemblage in Manuscript and Print' traces the birth, life & afterlife of a Netherlandish book of hours made in 1500, dismembered in the nineteenth century & now reconstructed via Rudy's research: https://www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.11647/obp.0145

(2/5)

Enormous congratulations to them & to the other nominees for this wonderful recognition of their fine research & writing 👏

We're also delighted that through these nominations we're flying the flag for independent #OpenAccess presses: we're hugely proud to represent this growing community!

(5/end)

Jan M. Ziolkowski, 'The Juggler of Notre Dame and the Medievalizing of Modernity', a 6-volume study exploring a single, electrifying story from its first incarnation in a medieval French poem to its prolific rebirth in the 19th & 20th centuries: https://www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.11647/obp.0132

(4/5)

Joanna Page, 'Decolonial Ecologies: The Reinvention of Natural History in Latin American Art' shows how contemporary artists in Latin America reinvent older methods of collecting & displaying nature to create new aesthetic & political perspectives: https://www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.11647/obp.0339

(3/5)

AND we've got more prize nomination news coming up...

We're delighted that our author, Michael Hughes, is shortlisted for the James Tait Black Biography prize for his book, 'Feliks Volkhovskii: A Revolutionary Life'.

Huge congratulations to Michael & to the other nominees!

Read Michael's book #OpenAccess: https://www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.11647/obp.0385

Find out more about the awards and the nominees: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/celebrating-the-2025-james-tait-black-prizes-tickets-1368655719099

From @OpenBookPublish: "Defending Academic Freedom in an Age of Censorship: Why Open Access Matters More Than Ever."
https://blogs.openbookpublishers.com/defending-academic-freedom-in-an-age-of-censorship-why-open-access-matters-more-than-ever/

"#OpenAccess is often perceived as a risk: can a publisher risk shifting to an OA model; can libraries have confidence that their OA investments are worthwhile or that an OA initiative is ‘sustainable’; can authors take the risk of publishing with a less well-known Diamond OA press? But in a world where old certainties are crumbling – where #censorship, platform instability and political interference pose real threats – OA offers something traditional publishing cannot: resilience. Once knowledge is openly available, it cannot easily be silenced. In this light, OA is not a gamble: it is a safeguard."

#DefendResearch #Trump #TrumpVResearch #USPol #USPolitics

@petersuber @OpenBookPublish Thank you for raising the issue of #censorship and highlighting how open access is one of our tools for resisting! We also need to take #action! Use our toolkits to call elected officials and write letters to your local papers! Increasing the pressure to end censorship is essential! https://defendresearch.org

ONLINE TALK: Our author, Bregt Lameris, is launching her book 'Feeling Colour, Chromatic Embodiment in Film Culture, 1950s–1960s' TODAY at 3pm BST!

In discussion with Lucy Fife Donaldson (University of St. Andrews) and Joshua Yumibe (Michigan State University), Bregt will discuss the role colour has played in the oft-fraught relationship between cinema and its audiences.

SIGN UP HERE: https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=MH_ksn3NTkql2rGM8aQVG0Yzsl7P5klKm5ZmPRhfmd9UQllZOTQ4SjZZMDBOU1pJOVUwVzlZREtTOC4u&route=shorturl

READ BREGT'S BOOK: https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0380

We've published two blog posts recently that reflect on the role of #OpenAccess in protecting academic research from censorship. One is by our team, the other by our author Ash Lierman.

Our team: https://blogs.openbookpublishers.com/defending-academic-freedom-in-an-age-of-censorship-why-open-access-matters-more-than-ever/

Ash: https://blogs.openbookpublishers.com/defending-academic-freedom-in-an-age-of-censorship-reflections-from-author-ash-lierman/

We've also signed the #DefendResearch campaign, joining nearly 5,000 signatures & more than 100 organisational signatories to publicly condemn & resist the censorship of academic research. Find out more about the campaign: https://www.defendresearch.org/

OUT NOW: Qur’an Translations in the Eastern Bloc and Beyond uncovers the hidden histories of Islamic texts under communism—and the global forces that shaped them. From Uzbekistan to East Germany, this groundbreaking volume traces how Qur’an translations became tools of state policy, identity, and resistance. https://www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.11647/obp.0444

OUT NOW: Qur’an Translations in the Eastern Bloc and Beyond uncovers the hidden histories of Islamic texts under communism—and the global forces that shaped them. From Uzbekistan to East Germany, this groundbreaking volume traces how Qur’an translations became tools of state policy, identity, and resistance. https://buff.ly/RZIwMdx

4) All our images have full captions, and most books published since summer 2022 include alt-text for images, which we have now made part of our standard workflow.

5) We also supply all our EPUB editions to RNIB Bookshare: https://www.rnibbookshare.org

6) Our co-director, Rupert Gatti, and our developers Javier Arias and Ross Higman are part of
@copim's Accessibility team. Find out what they're working on here to make it easier for smaller presses like us to make our books accessible for all:

https://hcommons.social/@copim/114511293118088717

Through iterative development & with our work alongside the Copim team, we aim to keep improving the accessibility of our books so that #OpenAccess means open for everyone.

#GAAD #GAAD2025 🧵(2/END)

It's Global Accessibility Awareness Day & we're reflecting on accessibility at OBP!

As an #OpenAccess press, accessibility matters to us—but as a small not-for-profit with limited resources, we can't do everything we'd like to all at once.

So we're going step by step:

1) Since June 2020, our EPUB editions have been created in line with WCAG 2.0 AA guidelines. Our EPUB editions are made accessible by an Open Source plug-in created by Luca Baffa & maintained by OBP, which can be freely accessed on GitHub & used by anyone:

https://github.com/OpenBookPublishers/access-aide

2) We create HTML versions that produce a clearly structured text with elements specialised according to their function.

3) We've added metadata that tells a reader using accessibility aids what type of content is included, and whether or not the book is accessible for them.

🧵(1/2)

#GAAD #GAAD2025

OUT NOW: Bioethics: A Coursebook redefines how we teach and think about ethics in science, medicine, and beyond. Blending philosophy, biology, and social critique, this boundary-pushing guide invites students to grapple with the ethical questions shaping our future—from epigenetics to environmental health. https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0449