SUP publishes first three books
After launching an open call for book proposals in February 2023, we are delighted that we have successfully published our first three open access books. Conversations with Tim Ingold, Digital editing and publishing the in the twenty-first century and The vow of stability are all now available to download for free or to purchase in print via our website.
Launch plans were coordinated across SUP members, harnessing the power of our network to present the books to a wider range of potential readers through in-person events and displays across participating libraries. We are grateful to all of our members for their help in promoting our first books!
We also held well-attended virtual fireside chats with our authors to launch the books. Feedback from the authors and audiences has been extremely positive, indicating that the informal ‘fireside chat’ approach was effective as a means of reducing barriers to engagement with academic writing. One common thread from these events has been our author’s enthusiasm for a library-led and not-for-profit approach, and how initiatives like SUP are helping to democratise knowledge.
We are now looking forward to publishing our next books, with a pipeline of content running up to 2029. Our call for book proposals remains open to all UK HEI-affiliated researchers.
You can read more about our first books and view the book launch events below.
Conversations with Tim Ingold: Anthropology, education and life
Tim Ingold, Robert Gibb, Philip Tonner and Diego Maria Malara
On 22 October 2024, during International Open Access Week, SUP published its first open access book, Conversations with Tim Ingold: Anthropology, education and life by Tim Ingold, Robert Gibb, Philip Tonner and Diego Maria Malara.
The book offers a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the work of Tim Ingold, one of the leading anthropologists of our time, through a set of lively and engaging interviews which were undertaken by the three co-authors, all from the University of Glasgow.
A virtual fireside chat with the authors was held on 24 October. The informal format of the event had broad appeal, attracting attendees from around the globe and from a variety of backgrounds with over 230 people registering to attend. The full recording of the first fireside is available on YouTube.
A follow up Q&A blog post covered the key themes from the fireside, such as the benefits of the unorthodox interview format, anthropology’s enduring relevance in addressing pressing global challenges and open access as part of a broader ecology of dissemination.
We are delighted that the open access book has been downloaded 1656 times from the SUP platform to date.
Recording of SUP Fireside: Conversation with Tim Ingold
Digital editing and publishing in the twenty-first century
Edited by James O’Sullivan, Michael Pidd, Sophie Whittle, Bridgette Wessels, Michael Kurzmeier and Orla Murphy
SUP’s second book, Digital editing and publishing in the twenty-first century, published on 29 April 2025. This edited volume collects a range of perspectives on the current state and future of digital editing and publishing, in an effort to further that dialogue and encourage continued exploration of how we make and share knowledge and meaning in the digital age. The collection engages with timely and important topics which are often neglected, including queer approaches to editing, accessibility, editing and publishing in the age of artificial intelligence, and the data edition.
As with our first book, we co-ordinated our launch plans across our participating libraries, with in-person stands and digital posters displayed across member institutions. We also held another online fireside chat with authors which is available to watch in full on YouTube. This covered definitions of digital scholarly editions, workflows for born digital content, Radical Iterative Editing and AI, the value digital scholarly editing offers beyond the research community, and much more!
The open access book has already been downloaded 1812 times from the SUP platform since publication at the end of April.
Recording of SUP Fireside: Digital editing and publishing in the twenty-first century
The vow of stability: An ethnography of monastic life
Richard D.G. Irvine
Our third book to publish, The vow of stability, is a close study of the rhythms and challenges of community life based on long-term fieldwork in an English Benedictine monastery. This book considers the importance of stability in a world of movement and fleeting interaction, and how religious institutions endure and change through time.
Richard published a fantastic blog post with the University of St Andrews discussing some of his reasons for publishing open access with a library-led press. Richard said, ‘Reading ethnographies is a very important part of learning about anthropology ... But there’s very uneven access to those books. I want people to have the opportunity to read this book and potentially to teach with, without having that barrier.’
The fireside launch event was held on Thursday 22 May and is available to view on our YouTube channel.
The book has been downloaded 359 times from the SUP platform since publication on 20 May.
Recording of SUP Fireside: The vow of stability
