About Us
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Stop By
Find us at Williams Hall Annex
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Contact Us
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Mailing Address
Publications Unit
Department of English
Illinois State UniversityCampus Box 4241
Normal, IL 61790-4241
About Us
The Publications Unit is a service and instructional branch of the Department of English, which provides editorial, technical, marketing/advertising, graphic design, and desktop publishing/production support associated with several independent literary publications, scholarly journals, and a small fiction press, including, Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora, SRPR (Spoon River Poetry Review), the Sinclair Lewis Society Newsletter, Downstate Legacies, PRESS 254, and FC2 (Fiction Collective 2). Most of the publications have a faculty affiliation or historical connection with the Department of English.
The Publications Unit also serves the vital role of providing educational and practical experience for the department's graduate assistants and undergraduate interns interested in nonprofit presses, journals, and scholarly publications. Many students in the Publishing Studies sequence receive their practical experience, a requirement of the program, at the Publications Unit. This experience includes proofreading, editing, design and layout, marketing, advertising, permissions, graphic work, record keeping, archiving, and bulk/distribution mailing. By providing a broad work experience, the assistants and interns not only build their portfolios, but also enter the marketplace with valuable and current skills.
Our Mission
The Publications Unit is dedicated to serving the mission of:
- advancing the publication, dissemination, and readership of contemporary literature and scholarship
- educating students in publishing studies and creative writing
- developing and promoting equitable and inclusive praxes in literary and scholarly publishing
- serving as a community resource for scholarship, research, and publishing
- engaging the community through partnerships, activities, and events
Faculty and Staff
Steve Halle
Director
Steve Halle is the director of the Publications Unit at Illinois State University. He is the author of Map of the Hydrogen World, cessation covers, and The Collectors, and his writing has been published in various literary magazines. He is the founder and publisher of the award-winning nonprofit literary publisher co•im•press, the editor-in-chief of the poetry magazine SRPR, and the founder and publisher for Downstate Legacies, Undiscovered Americas, and the teaching chapbook press and workshop PRESS 254.
Phil Spotswood
Assistant Director
Phil Spotswood is a poet from Alabama. Recent work can be found in mercury firs, Broken Lens Journal, and The Westchester Review. He is currently Assistant Director of the Publications Unit at ISU.