The North Recommends: Manchester University Press

We asked Rebecca Parkinson at Manchester University Press to tell us more about their growing trade publication list – and what to look out for in 2023.

As we draw closer to the end of 2022, and begin to look ahead to the new year, Manchester University Press (MUP) is delighted to share its new Spring/Summer trade catalogue and the titles we will be publishing in the first half of 2023.

MUP launched its trade list in 2020. These books are written by leading thinkers, academics and researchers, and developed by our editors to ensure the tone, style and content engage the general reader.

Our trade titles address the issues of the day, tackling difficult topics, tap into current debates and reflect headline news, such as Hannah White’s Held in contempt, which criticises the shortcomings of Parliament, and Adrienne Buller’s The Value of a Whale, which exposes the underhand motivations behind so-called ‘solutions’ to the climate crisis.

The catalogue also includes details of our recently launched audiobooks programme and how audiobooks aligns with our sustainability goals.

2023 is an exciting year for us for a number of reasons, but we’re really looking forward to publishing a number of new books by authors from, and writing about, our home city of Manchester. From journalist Andy Spinoza, we are publishing Manchester unspun in early 2023. Followed by Mancunians, the book which graces the cover of our trade catalogue, by poet, musician and presenter David Scott (aka Argh Kid). And lastly, Welcome to the club, the first book by recent DJ Mag Lifetime Achievement award winner Paulette Constable, about her experience as a Black female DJ.

We’re also delighted to have Kim Walker join the team in the newly created position of trade publisher. I asked her about her hopes for the list: ‘With an international reputation in scholarly publishing, MUP’s progressive spirit has driven decades of bold publishing bringing transformative ideas and influential thinkers to a global audience. As MUP’s new trade Publisher my role is to build on that reputation and publish a variety of fresh, distinctive and diverse voices to grow new audiences and reach a wider community of readers. I’ll be bringing in more agented submissions and co-published titles with North American publishers to build on MUP’s success so far in publishing award-winning titles, by winning major trade non-fiction prizes.’

If you have questions about any of our titles, or MUP more generally, please do get in touch.

You can find Manchester University Press’ website here and they can also be found on Twitter and Instagram.