Oxford University Press's
Academic Insights for the Thinking World

A photographer at work: Martin Parr behind the scenes

Martin Parr is one of Britain’s best-known contemporary photographers, with a broad international following, and President of Magnum, the world-famous photo agency. His social documentary style of photography turns a wry and sometimes satirical lens on British life and social rituals, lightened by humour and affection. Parr turned his lens on life at the University of Oxford, capturing the day-to-day life of the colleges and University at work and play.

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A farewell to former OUPblog editor, Dan Parker

I have been fortunate enough to work on the OUPblog every single day I’ve been at Oxford University Press. When I first started in the UK Publicity team nearly six years ago, I was responsible for commissioning, editing, and coding blog posts, and I instantly fell in love with the channel. As my responsibilities for the OUPblog grew, so too did my attachment to it. It was a huge honour to become the Editor of the OUPblog last May.

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Looking forward to Hay Festival 2017

This year Hay Festival is celebrating its 30 anniversary – cooked up round the kitchen table all those years ago it is now a global phenomenon. As part of their celebrations this year they have scheduled 30 Reformation speakers, one of whom is Sarah Harper who will be focusing on ‘Ageing’. She will also be recording one of BBC Radio 3’s Essays. The festival is very good at celebrating not only new writers but also young writers who ‘inspire and astonish’ and I am thrilled that they have selected Devi Sridhar.

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Catching up with Nicole Piendel, Multimedia Producer

Another week, another great staff member to get to know. When you think of the world of publishing, the work of videos, podcasts, photography, and animated GIFs doesn’t immediately come to mind. But here at Oxford University Press we have Nicole Piendel, who joined the Social Media team as a Multimedia Producer at the start of this year.

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Getting to know Antonina in music marketing

Our Cary office has welcomed a new assistant. Antonina Javier joined the marketing team in November 2016 after moving to North Carolina from Hawaii. We sat down with her to talk about publishing, books, and the outdoors. She is always ready for an adventure and is eager to share what she has seen.

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Uncovering the story of Percy Grainger’s wine glasses

It is a curious fact that hidden away in the sheet music archive here in Oxford, we have a set of three wine glasses dating back to the 1930s stored in a dusty old suitcase with luggage tags attached, that rarely sees the light of day. We did some research to uncover the history behind the glasses.

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A Q&A with Jessica Green, global academic marketing assistant for humanities

We caught up with Jessica Green, who joined Oxford University Press in October 2016 and is currently a Marketing Assistant for Global Academic, working across Humanities subjects including Literature, Music, and Linguistics. She talks to us about her favourite authors, her role, and OUP journey so far. When did you start working at OUP? The end of October 2016 – which already feels like a lifetime ago.

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Top ten OUPblog posts of 2016 by the numbers

The 2016 posts that attracted the most pageviews ranged in subject from philosophy to literature, and from mathematics to law. As you might expect, people were also interested in learning more about Shakespeare and politics in 2016. Please find the top ten performing blog posts on the OUPblog in 2016.

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Copyedits, caffeine, and cephalopods [Q&A]

“I am responsible for coordinating the production process—from copyediting to printing—on fifteen very different journals with very different needs.” From time to time, we try to give you a glimpse into our offices around the globe. We sat down with Production Editor Matthew Marusak to talk us through the book production process, his favourite word, and what a day in the life is like for an OUP employee in Cary, North Carolina.

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A Q & A with Georgie Leighton, assistant commissioning editor for classics

We caught up with Georgie Leighton, who joined Oxford University Press in November 2012 and is now Assistant Commissioning Editor for Classics and Ancient History. She talks to us about her proudest moments, advice for first-time authors, and her OUP journey so far. What is your typical day like at OUP? There’s a lot of variation, as I tend to start each day by looking through my emails and making a plan based on what’s in those and what’s already on my to-do list.

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Introducing Elanor from the sheet music marketing team

We are delighted to introduce Elanor Caunt who joined OUP’s sheet music marketing department in September 2016 and is based in the Oxford offices. We sat down to talk to her about what a typical day marketing sheet music looks like, what life on a desert island should involve, and the ‘interesting’ wildlife of Oxford.

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A Q&A with Kate Farquhar-Thomson, Head of publicity

From time to time, we try to give you a glimpse into our offices around the globe. Kate Farquhar-Thomson came to Oxford University Press in 1999 in search of a country life – and found it! Today finds her heading up an almost (apart from the Americas) global PR team for the Oxford University Press’s academic division. We sat down with Kate to talk about her publishing career and what it’s like to work for OUP.

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