It has been another busy year for The Digital Press at the University of North Dakota. As we ring in the New Year it is the perfect time to celebrate 2018. We sold our 1000th paper book and have now clocked over 1500 downloads! This year saw the launch of some exciting new projects and the re-launch of an old favorite.

In January we re-launched Chris Price’s The Old Church on Walnut Street: A Story of Immigrants and Evangelicals. The book is a microhistory of a single building in Grand Forks, North Dakota that opens onto a century-long story of immigrants and evangelicals in this community. The turn-of-the-century wood-frame church is sadly long gone, but the story that Chris Price tells of the pastors, the congregation, and life in Grand Forks is a timely reminder that the state of North Dakota and its communities grew from religious diversity and immigrant roots.

Volume 1 of Shawn Graham’s Epoiesen Annual dropped in February and we are delighted to announce Volume 2 will be published next month! Epoiesen is a journal for exploring creative engagement with the past, especially through digital means. Visit them on the web.

A special collaboration with North Dakota Quarterly introduced readers to Paul Worley’s edited and translated collection of Tsotsil Mayan poetry, Snichimal Vayuchil, which has a new introduction by Gloria E. Chacón.

We partnered once again with UND History Professor, Eric Burin (Picking the President: Understanding the Electoral College) to publish his new and timely work, Protesting on Bended Knee: Race, Dissent, and Patriotism in 21st Century America. With essay contributions from journalists, veterans, coaches, and others, along with an extensive Introduction by Burin, this publication provides a nearly contemporaneous account of the latest chapter in a freedom struggle as old as America itself.

Grand Forks hosted a special Joy of Voting project ahead of the 2018 mid-term elections and The Digital Press was excited to play a part. A special collaboration between Dr. Eric Burin and Citizens University saw the development of a campaign to gather and share memories of voters’ first time casting a ballot. Joy of Voting is a national project to encourage and reinvigorate the voting process.

And last, but by no means least we were thrilled to partner with Ad Astra Comix to publish the expanded digital edition of The Beast: Making a Living on a Dying Planet. The graphic novel was first published as a paper edition in early 2018. The expanded digital version combines the comic with several academic essays and an interview with the creators.
2019 is shaping up to be another big year for The Digital Press. As mentioned, the next issue of Epoiesen will be published next month and we’ll be publishing Kyle Conway’s new Williston Report — Sixty Years of Boom and Bust: The Impact of Oil in North Dakota, 1958–2018. Some new Mayan poetry and a couple of other exciting yet-to-be-announced projects in the pipeline. And The Digital Press will be 5 years strong!

A huge thank you to everyone with whom we have collaborated, our authors and contributors. We look forward to working with the team at North Dakota Quarterly, continuing partnerships and developing new ones. From all of us at The Digital Press, Happy New Year and may your year be filled with good reads!