URP grows into wide-ranging publisher while working with underrepresented writers

Known as the “little house on the Prairie with big ambitions,” the University of Regina Press (URP) publishes a mix of trade and academic books for audiences in and beyond the academy in Canada and around the world.

“We strive to develop writers into public intellectuals, encourage debate, publish top-notch scholarship and award-winning books, and inspire young people to study the humanities by producing titles that help inform the most central issues of our time,” acting director Kelly Laycock says. “These aims drive our editorial vision, as does our motto, ‘a voice for many peoples,’ which has guided us in publishing underrepresented authors from all walks of life.”

URP was founded in 1973 as the Canadian Plains Research Centre (CPRC). The press has gone from a small research centre at the University of Regina, publishing important regional documents and scholarly research from Saskatchewan, to the wide-ranging publisher that it is today.

“Redefining itself as a traditional publishing house with a national and international reach since its launch in 2013, URP has had some incredible successes,” says Laycock. “With a team of dedicated and talented publishing professionals, including an award-winning cover designer, URP has published multiple bestsellers that speak to a wider audience and continue to push the boundaries between academic and trade titles.”

URP is located on Treaty 4 Territory, the traditional lands of the Cree, Saulteaux, and Assiniboine, and the homelands of the Métis. “We have worked hard to help share the voices from this land. With a strong Indigenous studies list, including language resources in Cree, Saulteaux, and Nakoda, among others, we try to honour the voices of Indigenous people by sharing their stories to a wide Canadian and international audience,” Laycock says.

URP’s current titles include Indigenous titles, Black Canadian titles, and titles in the areas of Canadian history and politics, environmental studies, food studies, and gender and queer studies.

Efforts at sharing the voices of Indigenous authors in particular have had a profound impact. Genocidal Love by Bevann Fox won the Indigenous Voices Award for Creative Nonfiction and Life Writing, and six Sask Book Awards. In My Own Moccasins by Helen Knott was long-listed for the RBC Taylor Prize and won the 2020 Sask Book Awards Indigenous Peoples’ Publishing Award.

Their language resource for beginners Nakón-i’a wo!: Beginning Nakoda, compiled by Vincent Collette with Language Keepers Armand McArthur and Wilma Kennedy, won the Saskatchewan Book Awards Publishing in Education Award.

Continuing this work into the future, upcoming in Spring 2022 will be the new intermediate level Cree language resource by Solomon Ratt entitled âhkami-nêhiyawêtân: Let’s Continue Speaking Cree, the first in the Continuing Languages series.

Laycock is enthusiastic about URP’s Fall 2021 season. “We have some incredibly important, exciting books. #BlackInSchool by Habiba Cooper Diallo is the author’s high school journal, in which she recounted, processed, and resisted against the outright and systemic racism she experienced in a Canadian high school. Bread & Water, by dee Hobsbawn-Smith, is a stunning collection of creative non-fiction that combines food writing, place, and ruminations on ‘home’ in a truly beautiful way.

“The Unravelling is Donna Besel’s brave memoir about the horrific abuse she and her siblings suffered at the hands of their father and illustrates what happens to survivors of sexual assault when they step forward, and why they may be hesitant to do so.”

Due to current COVID-19 restrictions, URP has adapted their public celebrations and events. “Like the rest of the world, we eagerly await the time when conferences and book launches can resume safely in person. Until then, we’ll be holding online launches for all upcoming books.”

Laycock explains the impact the pandemic has had on URP’s operations and sales. “It’s been a difficult time, for sure. URP has fared well, generally speaking. Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, we’ve seen an increase in sales in the 2020 year and greater direct engagement with our readers on our social media channels.”

URP’s success is no accident. “We’ve been successful at helping authors achieve national and international media attention and acclaim. Our team is incredibly knowledgeable and experienced, and our authors are supported every step of the way, from acquisition, design, marketing, and sales. URP’s award-winning art director, Duncan Campbell, creates bold, clever, and beautiful covers, which truly make a difference where sales and marketing are concerned,” Laycock says.

“Just as no two books or authors are the same, our marketing and publicity team creates holistic marketing plans for each author that are specifically designed to reach our target audiences and ensure the author is under the spotlight they deserve.”