University of Michigan Press Blog

Q&A with Liza Wieland, author of A Watch of Nightingales

University of Michigan Press: What is your book about?

Liza Wieland: The novel takes place in present-day Washington, D.C., and in England, in 1977, both in London and in a girl’s boarding school near Wales. The two main characters are an American, named Mara, and a Pakistani, called Kokila. They meet at the boarding school in 1977 when Mara’s an exchange student and Kokila is finishing there, headed for university, at Cambridge. They meet again in Washington, D.C. where Mara is the widow of the headmaster of a boy’s school, and Kokila is the mother of one of the students. There are new problems now based partly on cultural differences, but also old problems to be sorted out, difficulties, relationships, dating from their first meeting in the late 70s. So the novel brings them back together and it’s structured back and forth—a chapter in Washington, a chapter in England.

UMP: What was the inspiration for writing it?

LW: The novel’s very close to autobiography. I was an exchange student at a girl’s school in England and the head girl was a Pakistani who got herself in some trouble. Though I haven’t met up with her again, I’ve often imagined what it would be like to do so, and I got interested in the possibility. The novel opens as Mara, the headmaster’s widow, has to deal with an incident involving a kirpan, which is an unsharpened knife that Sikh men wear. It’s wrapped in a sheath and is worn next to the body, but it is exposed in a pick-up basketball game at the school. The students mistake it for a threatening sort of knife, and Mara has to sort this out. There was a case like that in Canada in the 80s, and was intrigued by. I’m interested in how it plays out: the law of the land versus spiritual law. And I’m interested in people who are different from each other, who are trying to get past those differences or at least live with them if they can’t get past them. This may have something to do with growing up in Atlanta in the 60’s, to look more deeply into the question of inspiration. My first novel, The Names of the Lost, is about the Atlanta child murders of the late seventies and early eighties and the questions of racism raised in the city at that time. I think in some ways, there’s a part of that time and place in everything I write.

You can listen to this interview on our University of Michigan Press Author Podcast page at: http://www.press.umich.edu/podcasts/index.jsp

Q & A with Douglas Edlin- author of Judges and Unjust Laws

In Judges and Unjust Laws, Douglas E. Edlin uses case law analysis, legal theory, constitutional history, and political philosophy to examine the power of judicial review in the common law tradition. Edlin is Associate Professor of Political Science at Dickinson College.

Is suspending habeas corpus at Guantanamo Bay just?

UM Press: If you could name one goal you have for this book, what would it be?

Douglas Edlin: To start people thinking that unjust laws don’t just create a moral vs. legal problem for judges and to focus attention on the genuine historical and theoretical bases for judicial review in the US and the UK.

Reginal Shepherd named finalist for National Book Critics Circle Award

Reginald Shepherd was named a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award this weekend for his Poets on Poetry series collection, Orpheus in the Bronx: Essays on Identity, Politics, and the Freedom of Poetry.

Shepherd is one of the rare writers who could transcend the boundaries between poetry and prose, and never more so than in his essays on poetry itself. Under pressure to represent both black men and gay men, he said he turned to poetry as a way to escape those kinds of limitations and boundaries. “Orpheus” could easily have been a dry academic monograph, but instead sings, from his opening autobiography – which touches on everything from death to Greek heroes to X-Men – to his commentary on all nature of poets and poetry to his once-again-reflective closing remarks on the role of poetry. “I write not to be bored,” he says in that essay, “Why I Write.” “I hate being bored, and I don’t want to bore others.”

There’s certainly no danger of that.

The University of Michigan Press is proud and honored to be the publisher of “Orpheus in the Bronx: Essays on Identity, Politics and the Freedom of Poetry,” by Reginald Shepherd. Published in January 2008. A free tribute reading for Shepherd is planned March 12, 7 p.m., at the Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House on 58 West 10th Street in New York.

Learn more about Orpheus in the Bronx

Op-Ed: What President Obama Can Learn from Gov. Milliken

President-Elect Barack Obama has been making conciliatory gestures to those who opposed him since he won the election in November, bringing to mind the governing style of Michigan’s longest-serving chief executive: William G. Milliken. Obama will take the Presidential oath in the same month that marks the 40^th anniversary of Milliken’s swearing-in. Are there lessons the new President–and we–can draw from the moderate Republican Milliken’s nearly 14-year span as governor?

The answer is a qualified “yes,” despite the change in political style, tone and substance between 1969 and 2009.

Milliken was able to do two things at once–something that modern campaigns and politicians seem to think is impossible, like chewing gum and walking. He showed that he could be an unabashed member of his own political party and firm in his beliefs without demonizing–and while recognizing the legitimacy of–his opposition.

On BBC this Sunday: Steve Ziliak, author of The Cult of Statistical Significance

Originally published by: BBC Radio 4's More or Less, with interviewer Tim Harford, is broadcast on Friday, 23 January at 1330 GMT and will be repeated on Sunday, 25 January at 2000 GMT (2:00 PM eastern, 3:00 PM central). Click to view details or to listen in: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/more_or_less/7845787.stm

Click here to enter the controversial world of The Cult of Statistical Significance.

Steve Ziliak, author of "The Cult"

The figures on fertility

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has the world's largest database on artificial insemination.

But how does the HFEA make all this information useful to anxious couples considering having IVF treatment?

To find out Tim Harford speaks to Lisa Jardine, chair of the HFEA and Helen Joyce the education correspondent for the Economist and mathematician, who has had IVF treatment herself.

Maths of the credit crunch

Continuing with our credit crunch series, Paul Willmott returns to explain how the value of the global derivatives market could possibly be three times that of the world economy - a figure amounting to $150 trillion.

And, following a deluge of emails he responds to listeners' gripes about his piece on traders' bonuses from our 2nd January programme. 

Statistical significance

Professor Steve Ziliak, economist and co-author of 'The Cult of Statistical Significance' discusses the mathematical tool for separating random from real effects.

He explains to us why the misunderstanding of statistical significance has lead to bad government policy making and how one particularly famous brewery employed the technique to improve the pints we enjoy today.

A Whole New Level of "Networking"

Originally posted by: Purdue University News Service

Congress helps politicians hone skills for future careers

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -

Glenn R. Parker
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The time U.S. senators and representatives spend in Congress can be viewed as similar to the on-the-job training a carpenter or plumber would acquire during an apprenticeship, says a Purdue University political science expert.

"What would you do if the very day you were hired, you knew you could be unemployed in as little as two years?" says Glenn R. Parker, a distinguished professor of political science. "Politicians are concerned about what will happen when they leave public office, either through electoral defeat or retirement. Facing these circumstances, they hone their political skills, develop substantive expertise, cultivate bureaucratic contacts and build marketable reputations - all designed to amass what we call human capital - in order to make themselves more attractive to future employers."

For example, some individuals may specialize in banking matters, and their careers are directed toward developing legislation in the area, serving on related committees and becoming experts on financial issues. Ultimately, the goal is to parlay that experience into employment opportunities in the financial sector, Parker says. 

Parker surveyed more than 200 former members who served in Congress during the past half century. His findings are published in his new book "Capitol Investments: The Marketability of Political Skills."

The Power of the Pulpit

by Eric L. McDaniel | Politics in the Pews: The Political Mobilization of Black Churches

When examining the success of Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement, it becomes apparent that there is a great deal of influence in the Black pulpit. Being the main institution for expressions of Black independence, the Black church has remained the most important place in Black society. Because of this, being the leader of a Black church provides a great deal of authenticity when speaking to the public.

It is no coincidence that the most visible leadership in the Civil Rights Movement was members of the clergy. While there were secular leaders from organizations such as SNCC and CORE, speaking from the Black pulpit garnered the greatest attention. What we saw from Dr. King is not new. The Black pulpit has not just served as a symbol of spirituality; it has also served as a symbol for justice. It has provided a venue for those who wish to speak on behalf of the downtrodden, while also providing authenticity for a speaker attempting to communicate on behalf of the less fortunate.

Learn more about other Martin Luther King related titles from the UM Press, here.

Also read a message from Nancy Goldstein, author of Jackie Ormes: The First African American Woman Cartoonist, on Martin Luther King,Jr. here.

University of Michigan Press Celebrates Elizabeth Alexander

New site dedicated to the acclaimed poet and UM Press author, who will read at the Presidential Inauguration on January 20

The University of Michigan Press announced this week that it is celebrating the selection of poet Elizabeth Alexander to read at the Presidential Inauguration with a special Web site commemorating her work. “Power & Possibility,” her volume of essays, reviews and interviews on poetry -- which covers the role of poetry in politics -- will also be sold at a special inaugural discount.

"The University of Michigan Press is immensely proud that the incoming President of the United States, Barack Obama, has chosen Elizabeth Alexander, author of and contributor to two books that we publish, for the honor of reading an original poem at his inauguration," UM Press Director Phil Pochoda said. "Though her exceptional talent and insight have long been obvious to us, we are gratified that Professor Alexander has been singled out in this historic manner."

Alexander is just the fourth poet in the history of this country to be chosen to read at a presidential inauguration. She will join the ranks of such luminaries as Robert Frost and Maya Angelou when she steps up to read her new poem on January 20.

The new UM Press site dedicated to Alexander, located at www.press.umich.edu/alexander, features an extensive biography, quotes from her peers about her historic selection, new excerpts from her work (including an essay on poetry and politics) and details about her books.

Al (Franken) Gets His Wish

by Kimberley Coles, author of new UMP release Democratic Designs: International Intervention and Electoral Practices in Postwar Bosnia-Herzegovina

Minnesota’s ongoing – and to some, ludicrous – electoral recount saga between Al Franken and Norm Coleman is actually a well-trodden electoral sorrow story.  The case of the 171 uncounted ballots “discovered” on December 2nd, 28 days after the election, is just a singular episode in the larger drama, but one variously interpreted as state sponsored fraud, an embarrassment, or, more rarely, as within an acceptable margin of error (0.000065, 171 out of about 2.6 million or so). An alternative interpretation of both the episode and the larger drama is one that notes the social and technical impossibility of capturing voter will.

Electoral laments are actually ubiquitous and include: poorly designed ballots making it hard for voters to realize their “intent,” indirect voting (such as the Electoral College system) confounding voter will, politicized constituency boundaries, declining voter turn-out, and the corrupting influence of money. Even reforms such as electronic voting schemes – hailed as a mechanism for improved efficiency and accuracy in result tabulation – suffer from proprietary software and hacker fraud.  Although these stories are peculiarly American, similar stories can be heard around the globe.