With things settling gradually into some new normal—and publishing experiencing continued growth despite the challenges of the pandemic and supply-chain crisis—the staff at West Virginia University Press are pleased to take sixty seconds to look back on a year of genuine celebration and unparalleled achievements. We’re proud of our authors’ many successes in 2021, from national recognition (the PEN/Faulkner Award, the year’s “100 Notable Books” in the New York Times) to regional accomplishments (the Weatherford Award, the Blair Mountain Centennial commemoration) to frequent appearances, by our scholars of teaching and learning, in the Chronicle of Higher Education and Inside Higher Ed.

We’re proud too of the ways we’ve been able to recommit to our mission through challenging times—emerging as an ever-stronger university press, but also a community publisher motivated by editorial independence and investment in place. That work entails close relationships with writers, booksellers, journalists, artists, readers, teachers, and other collaborators across Appalachia and the world. We’re grateful to all of those colleagues and friends, several of whom took time this year to help tell our story. And we look forward to continuing to nurture our many rewarding relationships during what will, we’re confident, be an even more exciting year ahead.