University of Texas Press marks 75 years in publishing

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Book fans and authors published by The University of Texas Press on Sunday celebrated 75 years of the publication at the Austin Central Library.

The occasion kicked off with remarks from Mayor Kirk Watson, followed by panels from authors and discussions with the audience.

Sarah Bird, an author of three books published by the UT Press, presented her most recent work, Juneteenth Rodeo, a collection of her photographs taken at small-town Black rodeos in the late 1970s.

“It's amazing to be part of this incredible collaboration – that's existed for almost a century,” Bird said. “I took these photographs at Black rodeos like in the late 70s, and at that time, could not get them published … I owe it to these, to this community, to publish these things.”

“It’s pretty humbling – when I look back over some of the 4000 books we’ve published, a lot of them have really made a tremendous impact,” said Casey Kittrell, editor in chief at UT Press.

“We’ve been doing it for 75 years – we are going to keep doing what we do, which is publish great books with faculty at the University of Texas, with people in Austin,” said Kittrell. “It's really important that their work gets out there and people see it and appreciate it, because it does make a huge difference.”

For more information, visit The University of Texas Press’s webpage.