09 Nov UWA Publishing
ASAL joins with colleagues at UWA and across the diverse fields of Australian writing and Australian literary studies to protest in the strongest terms the action currently proposed by the University of Western Australia to close UWAP. This press is an essential and long-standing part of the dynamic field of Australian literary studies and of central importance to publishing in the West. UWAP fosters writers and writing that contribute strongly to cultural work of national and international standing and they have managed this by retaining the strength of their heritage and also moving relentlessly with the times. The closure of this university press is a radically short-sighted move that will affect the artistic and intellectual life of state and nation, not to mention UWA as an institution. To cite budgetary constraints as a reason to erode the work of University presses, and small presses in general, is both ahistorical and profoundly consequential, since no free market mechanism or belief in open access can substitute for the intellectual work and acumen of an experienced publisher and press.