Penn State University Press

08/31/2026

We’re celebrating America 250 with free reads. Today (8/31) is your last chance to check out the August article selections on the theme of “Surprising American Histories.” https://www.psupress.org/journalsreads.html

08/28/2026

“Charybdis is a well-known sea monster in both the ancient and modern imaginations resulting from her prominent appearance in the Odyssey. Yet, in contrast to her counterpart across the strait, Scylla, she has been overlooked by modern scholars, and few have examined what makes her monstrous in the first place…This article ‘aims to provide a thorough examination of this understudied sea monster in the Odyssey and her later Greco-Roman appearances.’”

Read “Monstrous Disembodiment and Ontological Uncertainty in Charybdis” from PRETERNATURE, free through 9/15.

https://www.psupress.org/emailassets/odyssey_journal_reads.html

08/28/2026

We're keeping the America 250 celebration going! Explore a collection of unexpected and little-known stories of American people, places, and phenomena. Through 8/31, save 50% with promo code 036USA250. https://bit.ly/4wiMfi2

08/27/2026

“In 1907, the editorial board of Neuen Blatterfur Literatur und Kunst, a Viennese journal for criticism in the arts and humanities, invited a number of renowned intellectuals, including. . . Sigmund Freud, to compile a list of what they regarded as ‘good books’. . . Instead of immediately listing his ‘ten good books,’ Freud preferred to contemplate first ‘the ten most magnificent works (of world literature)’ (245), whereby he started with a single name rather than a specific book: Homer.” Read “Polymetis Freud: Some Reflections On The Psychoanalytic Significance Of Homer’s Odyssey” from COMPARATIVE LITERATURE STUDIES, free through 9/15. https://scholarlypublishingcollective.org/psup/cls/article/43/3/252/302132/Polymetis-Freud-Some-Reflections-On-The

08/27/2026

“New York City, Muslims, and the Indian Ocean: Preliminary Findings on the Connection via the Slave Trade” examines the enslaved African population in early New York City, with a particular focus on those who may have been Muslims. Read the article from JOURNAL OF AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT for free through 8/31. https://scholarlypublishingcollective.org/psup/african-development/article/13/1-2/67/261592/New-York-City-Muslims-and-the-Indian-Ocean

08/26/2026

Celebrate America’s 250th anniversary with 50% off individual one-year subscriptions to all PSU Press journals! Enter discount code 036USA250 when ordering. Offer expires 12/31/2026. www.psupress.org/journalsreads.html

08/26/2026

Tomorrow! Join QUAKER, WHALER, TRAITOR, SPY! creators Sarah Crabtree and Melissa Philley for a virtual book talk with the New Bedford Whaling Museum. More info can be found on the NBWM website.

In art and text, author Sarah Crabtree and illustrator Melissa Philley focus on the story of NB businessman William Rotch (1734-1828) and demonstrate the power of comics to illuminate the power of the archive, the contingencies of narrative, and the motivations of historical actors.

08/25/2026

“…In the early national period the lack of ancestral manors integral to European political identity and authority meant that newer American estates, such as George Washington’s (1732 –99) Mount Vernon and Thomas Jefferson’s (1743–1826) Monticello, were appropriated and understood by the American public as ‘crucial sites of identity formation,’ both for the individuals who lived in them and for the new nation at large.” Read “Made in America: Mechanics and the Anxiety of Creation in the Early Republic” from NINETEENTH CENTURY STUDIES for free through 8/31. https://scholarlypublishingcollective.org/psup/pahistory/article/92/2/200/399656/Revolution-Right-or-Responsibility-The-Mid

08/24/2026

“On July 4, 1776, a cadre of ‘hardy pioneers’ squatting on Native American land, known to history as the ‘Fair Play men,’ gathered under the shade of an elm tree (nicknamed the ‘Tiadaghton Elm’) just north of where Pine Creek meets the northwest branch of the Susquehanna River, and signed a document declaring ‘themselves and the country free and independent of Great Britain.’ And they did this without knowing the Second Continental Congress proclaimed national independence ‘on the same day.’ Or so the story goes.”

“Becoming Patriots: The Struggle for Inclusion and Exclusion on Pennsylvania’s Revolutionary Frontier” from PENNSYLVANIA HISTORY is free to read through 8/31.

https://www.psupress.org/journalsreads.html

08/24/2026

For many First World War writers, the classics offered a way of articulating experiences of war. To date, scholars have not yet acknowledged Wharton’s reworking of Homer’s Odyssey, the archetypal story of a soldier returning home. Montgomery argues that Wharton draws on the Odyssey to reinforce her position as an eyewitness to the war in France. Read the article from EDITH WHARTON REVIEW for free through 9/15. https://scholarlypublishingcollective.org/psup/edith-wharton/article/35/1/1/200830/Edith-Wharton-s-Coming-Home-Spinning-a-Good-Yarn