WVU Press

A university press is an extension of its parent institution, charged with serving the public good by publishing works of scholarly, intellectual, and creative merit. West Virginia University Press’s primary goal is to find, develop, select, and publish scholarship and creative works of highest quality and enduring value. Through the publication of all such works, WVU Press helps to fulfill West Virginia University’s land-grant mission.

A Brief History

West Virginia University Press was founded in the mid-1960s by Dean of Libraries Dr. Robert Munn. In these early years, WVU Press was successful publishing a small group of important bibliographies and histories of the coal industry.

In 1999, the Press was relocated to within the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, and Dr. Patrick Conner accepted the challenge of directing the Press. Dr. Conner, along with others, was determined to both reinvigorate the Press and establish it among the foremost university presses in the country. In 2008, Carrie Mullen was hired as the director, where she led the Press according to its mission.

In 2014, Derek Krissoff, previously editor in chief at the University of Nebraska Press, began his tenure as director, which ended in 2023.

Fields of Publication

Appalachian Studies 
Art
Creative Nonfiction 
Energy and Environment
Fiction
Geography
Higher Education
History
Medieval Studies
Music
Natural History 
Race
Sociology
Sports
West Virginia

Series

Borderless
Central Appalachian Natural History
Energy and Society
Gender, Feminism, and Geography
Histories of Capitalism and the Environment
In Place
Radical Natures
Regenerations
Rural Studies
Salvaging the Anthropocene
Sounding Appalachia
Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
West Virginia and Appalachia
West Virginia Classics