TCU Press

TCU Press is among the smallest of university publishers in the nation, with a staff of three. We believe it is better to publish distinguished books, for the scholar and the general reader, in areas where we can excel, rather than to compete with much larger presses in the general arena. Therefore the focus of the press is on the history and literature of Texas and the American West. The press has grown steadily in stature and in its ability to bring credit to its parent university over the last twenty years, and we have been praised for publishing regional fiction, which often doesn’t find a market in New York, and for preserving the tradition of Texas literature.

TCU Press has several established series and some new ones. The Texas Tradition Series reprints classic Texas literature which would otherwise disappear from bookstores and libraries—novelist Elmer Kelton is the mainstay of that series. The Chisholm Trail Series offers books that capture the history and culture of Texas, and Chaparral Books are historical fiction for middle-school readers. We believe that history frequently comes alive more through fiction than textbooks, and the aim of the Chaparral series is to captivate youngsters with Texas history.

As TCU Press grows and expands its list, we have recently established two new series. Texas Small Books are literally that, small books—4-1/2 x 6-1/2, 96 pages, printed in full color, and priced under $10. Meant for bookstore and general trade, they acquaint the general reader with aspects of Texas history and popular culture—women’s history, football, country singers, movies, cooking, wineries, etc. Look for that series to continue.

A TCU Vision in Action grant recently made possible the TCU Texas Poets Laureate series, books collecting recent and new work by the Texas poets laureate beginning with Alan Birkelbach, 2005, through Larry D. Thomas, the 2008 Texas poet laureate.

The Texas Biography Series, sponsored by the Center for Texas Studies at TCU, offers scholarly, documented biographies of second-tier Texans—Sam Houston and Philip Austin have been covered extensively, but many who made strong contributions to Texas history have not. The first volume, issued in the Spring of 2009, deals with Emily Austin. To come are studies of Edmund J. Davis of Texas: Civil War General, Republican Leader, Reconstruction Governor by Carl H. Moneyhon; John S. “Rip” Ford: Fighting for Texas by Richard B. McCaslin; and R. Lee Clark: Father of Modern Oncology by James S. Olson

Recently we have done some wonderful photography books in four- and five-color—Day of the Dead, by Denis Defibaugh, Going to Texas: Five Centuries of Texas Maps, a project of the Center for Texas Studies, and Fort Worth: A Personal View, journalist and photographer Phil Vinson’s interpretation of Fort Worth. Coming soon is Calvin Littlejohn: Portrait of a Community in Black and White.

TCU Press has won awards from the Texas Institute of Letters, the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, Western Writers of American, PENWest, the Rounce and Coffin Club, and the Southwestern Council of Latin American studies, among others. Our Texas poets laureate series recently won an Addy for design.

As TCU Press strives to bring academic recognition and prestige to its parent university, reaching out to a literary audience, the press is grateful to have strong support from the TCU administration.

Vision Statement

Texas Christian University Press focuses on the history and literature of Texas and the American West and shares the overall mission of all university presses, as expressed by the Association of American University Presses: to contribute to the existing body of scholarly knowledge and to bring academic prestige to its parent university.

Goals Statement

To be a dynamic regional press using the most current technology to publish innovative and significant titles and to carry the TCU imprint into the literary world in all its forms.