Presenting experimental and boundary-breaking prose from women, people of color, and LGBTQ writers, Behind the Stars, More Stars imagines a more diverse and inclusive Luso-American and Portuguese-American literary scene, which has traditionally been dominated by male voices. Since its first “Writing the Luso Experience” workshops were held in 2011, Dzanc Books's Disquiet International Literary Program in Lisbon has aimed to break silences within today's Luso-American communities. Disquiet faculty Katherine Vaz and Frank X. Gaspar appear alongside up-and-coming writers from the workshops, such as Traci Brimhall, Megan Fernandes, Hugo Dos Santos, and previously unpublished women writers.

Longlisted for the 2022 Kraszna-Krausz Book Award, Moving Image Category

Despite their considerable presence in Hollywood, extras and working actors have received scant attention within film and media studies as significant contributors to the history of the industry. Looking not to the stars but to these supporting players in film, television, and, recently, streaming programming, Below the Stars highlights such actors as precarious laborers whose work as freelancers has critically shaped the entertainment industry throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. By addressing ordinary actors as a labor force, Kate Fortmueller proposes a media industry history that positions underrepresented and quotidian experiences as the structural elements of the culture and business of Hollywood.

Resisting a top-down assessment, Fortmueller explores the wrangling of labor unions and guilds that advocated for collective action for everyday actors and helped shape professional norms. She pulls from archival research, in-person interviews, and firsthand observation to examine a history that cuts across industry boundaries and situates actors as a labor group at the center of industrial and technological upheavals, with lasting implications for race, gender, and labor relations in Hollywood.

Nautilus Book Awards Silver Award Winner, Animals & Nature Category, 2020

These stories take readers where they cannot go, be it out into space, back in time, deep under the ocean, down to microscopic scales, or out onto the geologic overview.

Squid turn themselves inside-out when disturbed by predators hunting through the darkness with sonar. Beneficial microbes spend their summer living in nectar and being transferred between blooms by the bees, then spend the winter living within those bees. Ecological stories are seen through the eyes of squirrels, birds, fish, ants, butterflies, and beetles.

Between the Rocks and the Stars dives deep into the relationships that shape the natural world. The book presents a collection of vignettes from the wild, each of which describes the natural advantage of a particular organism. These true-to-life accounts are then posed in particular circumstances that illustrate the principles—commensalism, speciation—that shape the place of these organisms in their living environment. Some stories cover topics in geology and cosmology, describing the physical world context in which natural history progresses across the eons.

Underlying themes in the book include the network of connections that link all these organisms together and the adaptations they make to the physical world in which they must find themselves a home.

Cargo Hold of Stars is an ode to the forgotten voyage of a forgotten people. Khal Torabully gives voice to the millions of indentured men and women, mostly from India and China, who were brought to Mauritius between 1849 and 1923. Many were transported overseas to other European colonies. Kept in close quarters in the ship’s cargo hold, many died. Most never returned home.

With Cargo Hold of Stars, Torabully introduces the concept of ‘Coolitude’ in a way that echoes Aimé Césaire’s term ‘Negritude,’ imbuing the term with dignity and pride, as well as a strong and resilient cultural identity and language. Stating that ordinary language was not equipped to bring to life the diverse voices of indenture, Torabully has developed a ‘poetics of Coolitude’: a new French, peppered with Mauritian Creole, wordplay, and neologisms—and always musical. The humor in these linguistic acrobatics serves to underscore the violence in which his poems are steeped.
 
Deftly translated from the French by Nancy Naomi Carlson, Cargo Hold of Stars is the song of an uprooting, of the destruction and the reconstruction of the indentured laborer’s identity. But it also celebrates setting down roots, as it conjures an ideal homeland of fraternity and reconciliation in which bodies, memories, stories, and languages mingle—a compelling odyssey that ultimately defines the essence of humankind.

Everyone has a memorable story about attending a performance at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts or the Robin Hood Dell—“the Mann” and “the Dell” to their many patrons. Lavishly illustrated with more than 200 images, meticulously researched, and engagingly written by historian Jack McCarthy, A Century of Music Under the Stars reveals the fascinating inside story of Philadelphia’s premier outdoor concert venues on the eve of the Mann’s 50th Anniversary.

The Dell, which opened in 1930, and the Mann, which opened in 1976, were initially built as summer homes for The Philadelphia Orchestra. As McCarthy fondly recounts, the Mann Center evolved to host the world’s top artists across many musical genres. Contemporary audiences have gathered on the Great Lawn for concerts by performers including James Taylor, The Roots, Phish, Diana Ross, John Legend, and others. 

The venues, however, are more than just the music; they are about the beautiful natural setting, communal atmosphere, and spectacular view of the Philadelphia skyline. A Century of Music Under the Stars is a revealing and celebratory look back at beloved Philadelphia cultural icons. This informative and illuminating history will provide happy memories for generations of music lovers.

A richly illustrated history of Wisconsin’s astronomical innovations

Explore the remarkable story of Wisconsin astronomers whose curiosity, persistence, and innovation helped us better understand our universe. 

Chasing the Stars traces the history of the University of Wisconsin’s Washburn Observatory, where some of the world’s most cutting-edge astronomical inventions were born. Learn about the earliest Indigenous stargazers, the women who worked as the first human computers, the astronomers who sold time by the stars, the scientists who shrank the Milky Way, and the crucial role Wisconsin astronomers played in the development of modern astrophysics and space astronomy.

This extraordinary book features more than 100 modern and historic photographs that illustrate the people and science behind Wisconsin’s astronomical innovations. Designed for lay readers and astronomers alike, Chasing the Stars inspires all of us to look up at the sky in wonder.



“Filled with fascinating astronomy-related facts, Chasing the Stars covers the first century-plus of the University of Wisconsin’s Washburn Observatory and the science it inspired. . . . [It is] a thorough, enlightening history of an important scientific site and the personalities who brought it to life.”
—Foreword Reviews 

“Lattis and Tyrrell give us a masterful tour of Washburn Observatory, its legacy of astronomical discovery, and the key figures who forever changed our understanding of the cosmos. Readers will find delightful insights on these pages that bring this rich history to life and instill a desire to gaze at the stars.”
—Kenneth Sembach, former director of the Space Telescope Science Institute

“Through enchanting photos and compelling tales of astronomers, Lattis and Tyrrell shed light on the impressive innovations Wisconsin has contributed to the field of astrophysics. From the novel ways of collecting light from space to the new technologies sent to space on early satellites, readers will be fascinated to learn how Wisconsin astronomers have influenced our understanding of the universe.”
—Dr. Amanda Bauer, deputy director and head of science and education, Yerkes Observatory

“This fascinating and detailed account of the history of astronomy in Wisconsin highlights a diverse set of connections, from the construction of the University of Wisconsin’s first observatory in the late 1880s, to General Mills, Oscar Meyer, railroads, and the creation of the American Astronomical Society. Chasing the Stars recounts for us how Wisconsin’s astronomers came to be leaders in this field for more than a century and reminds us of why astronomy is a deeply human endeavor that appeals to professionals and nonprofessionals alike.”
—Dr. Andrea Ghez, UCLA astrophysicist and Nobel laureate 

 

In the 1990s, Ed Galindo, a high school science teacher on the Fort Hall Reservation in Idaho, took a team of Shoshone-Bannock students first to Johnson Space Center in Texas and then to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. These students had submitted a project to a competitive NASA program that was usually intended for college students—and they earned a spot to see NASA astronauts test out their experiment in space. The students designed and built the project themselves: a system to mix phosphate and water in space to create a fertilizer that would aid explorers in growing food on other planets.

In Children of the Stars, Galindo relates his experience with this first team and with successive student teams, who continued to participate in NASA programs over the course of a decade. He discusses the challenges of teaching American Indian students, from the practical limits of a rural reservation school to the importance of respecting and incorporating Indigenous knowledge systems. In describing how he had to earn the trust of his students to truly be successful as their teacher, Galindo also touches on the complexities of community belonging and understanding; although Indigenous himself, Galindo is not a member of the Shoshone-Bannock tribes and was still an outsider who had as much to learn as the students.

Children of the Stars is the story of students and a teacher, courage and hope. Written in a conversational style, it’s an accessible story about students who were supported and educated in culturally relevant ways and so overcame the limitations of an underfunded reservation school to reach great heights.

This study is the first to examine the important political role played by astrology in Italian court culture. Reconstructing the powerful dynamics existing between astrologers and their prospective or existing patrons, The Duke and the Stars illustrates how the “predictive art” of astrology was a critical source of information for Italian Renaissance rulers, particularly in times of crisis. Astrological “intelligence” was often treated as sensitive, and astrologers and astrologer-physicians were often trusted with intimate secrets and delicate tasks that required profound knowledge not only of astrology but also of the political and personal situation of their clients. Two types of astrological predictions, medical and political, were taken into the most serious consideration. Focusing on Milan, Monica Azzolini describes the various ways in which the Sforza dukes (and Italian rulers more broadly) used astrology as a political and dynastic tool, guiding them as they contracted alliances, made political decisions, waged war, planned weddings, and navigated health crises.

The Duke and the Stars explores science and medicine as studied and practiced in fifteenth-century Italy, including how astrology was taught in relation to astronomy.

"I hadn't, till I really started digging, gauged the fierce intensity of the need for myth in the human psyche, of any age, or sensed the variety of motives dictating that need," writes Peter Green in the introduction to this wide-ranging collection of essays on classical mythology and the mythic experience. Using the need for myth as the starting point for exploring a number of topics in Greek mythology and history, Green advances new ideas about why the human urge to make myths persists across the millennia and why the borderland between mythology and history can sometimes be hard to map.

Green looks at both specific problems in classical mythology and larger theoretical issues. His explorations underscore how mythic expression opens a door into non-rational and quasi-rational modes of thought in which it becomes possible to rewrite painful truths and unacceptable history—which is, Green argues, a dangerous enterprise. His study of the intersections between classical mythology and Greek history ultimately drives home a larger point, "the degree of mythification and deception (of oneself no less than of others) of which the human mind is capable."

Willard’s love of music combines with his love and respect for the natural world. Often rooted in, or coming out of, domestic encounters, the poems of this collection rise up (much like the clouds over his oft-traversed Rockies), as the speaker throws his attention to earth and sky, better to understand his own dynamic and shifting inner weather.

The muse of Pietro Federico’s most recent collection of poems, La Maggioranza delle Stelle (Most of the Stars), is the United States of America, her people and landscapes. In fifty poems (one for each state), Federico plumbs the depths of the historic, geographic, political, emotional, psychological, and metaphysical realms through a variety of voices of these fifty states. Translated from Italian into English by the author with American poet John Poch, this book is unlike any other collection of poems. Federico is fascinated by the American spirit, to use the words of Giancarlo Pontiggia, "an America made up of stories as raw, rough, endless and inconclusive as the immense landscapes in which they took place." 
 
In Most of the Stars the linguistic power of the Italian literary tradition and the contemporary vernacular combine to articulate an idiosyncratic understanding of the New World—the breadth of its cities, its towns, its frontiers and interiors. Federico’s deeply spiritual understanding of our own American personalities and histories offers us a gift of beautiful objectivity. Students of poetry, linguistics, and cultural anthropology will be grateful to Federico and Poch for the wonder offered in this bilingual collection. 
 

A Chicagoan’s coming-of-age memoir finds courage in the face of immense loss

In her early twenties, Maggie Andersen was a founding ensemble member of Chicago’s storied Gift Theatre with her then-boyfriend, Michael Patrick Thornton. But after a series of spinal strokes left Thornton paralyzed, Andersen made the heart-wrenching decision to leave him, along with their growing company and, later, her beloved city. No Stars in Jefferson Park alternates between two narratives: the energy and excitement of making art in Chicago’s thriving storefront theater scene and the devastating day-to-day realities of rehabilitation and rebuilding—and somewhere in the middle finding the courage to choose yourself.

Over the past twenty-plus years, the Gift—now performing in the working-class neighborhood of Portage Park—has become one of the most vital storefront theaters in Chicago, with Thornton’s career taking him to Hollywood and Broadway. But Andersen’s story has brought her back home. No Stars in Jefferson Park is a testament to lifelong friendship, a love letter to Chicago, and a profound coming-of-age story about the pain and necessity of putting yourself first.

Lavishly illustrated volume revealing the intricacies of a 1742 map of the cosmos.
 
The expansive and intricate Atlas Coelestis, created by Johann Doppelmayr in 1742, set out to record everything known about astronomy at the time, covering constellations, planets, moons, comets, and more, all rendered in exquisite detail. Through stunning illustrations, historical notes, and scientific explanations, Phenomena contextualizes Doppelmayr’s atlas and creates a spectacular handbook to the heavens.
 
Phenomena begins by introducing Doppelmayr’s life and work, placing his extraordinary cosmic atlas in the context of discoveries made in the Renaissance and Enlightenment and highlighting the significance of its publication. This oversized book presents thirty beautifully illustrated and richly annotated plates, covering all the fundamentals of astronomy—from the dimensions of the solar system to the phases of the moon and the courses of comets. Each plate is accompanied by expert analysis from astronomer Giles Sparrow, who deftly presents Doppelmayr’s references and cosmological work to a modern audience. Each plate is carefully deconstructed, isolating key stars, planets, orbits, and moons for in-depth exploration. A conclusion reflects on the development of astronomy since the publication of the Atlas and traces the course of the science up to the present day. Following the conclusion is a timeline of key discoveries from ancient times onward along with short biographies of the key players in this history.  
 

After centuries of colonization, this important new work recovers the literary record of Oceti Sakowin (historically known to some as the Sioux Nation) women, who served as their tribes’ traditional culture keepers and culture bearers. In so doing, it furthers discussions about settler colonialism, literature, nationalism, and gender.

Women and land form the core themes of the book, which brings tribal and settler colonial narratives into comparative analysis. Divided into two parts, the first section of the work explores how settler colonizers used the printing press and boarding schools to displace Oceti Sakowin women as traditional culture keepers and culture bearers with the goal of internally and externally colonizing the Dakota, Nakota, and Lakota nations. The second section focuses on decolonization and explores how contemporary Oceti Sakowin writers and scholars have started to reclaim Dakota, Nakota, and Lakota literatures to decolonize and heal their families, communities, and nations.