Purple Paw Press
See your work in print!
Purple Paw Press is the publishing imprint of the Department of Languages & Literatures. It aims to recognize and celebrate student work and to give L&L students direct publishing experiences. PPP makes it possible for departmental programming, student-led initiatives, and class projects to be published and nationally distributed. PPP is part of Amazon Advantage, a program that allows for national distribution of publications in both digital (Kindle) and print formats.
Our department connects students with a wonderful variety of writing and publishing opportunities, and Purple Paw Press offers publishing experience that's both customizable and scalable. For instance, students in one class might design content for an upcoming title throughout the semester, while in another class, students might spend one concentrated lesson unit on writing publicity content. The press also vertically integrates authors across the department. One publication project might largely be written by a faculty member but its layout designed by students, while another title might be entirely student-composed with contributions from a couple of faculty.
Keep an eye on this page for announcements about future publications from Purple Paw Press!
Celebrating Writing by Iowa High School Students
Annual collections of the University of Northern Iowa Writing Competition (2025-26, 2024-25, 2023-24, 2022-23 and 2021-22) celebrating the best of writing by Iowa high school students. This publication is also part of the scholarship competition that provides UNI scholarshipd to the authors of winning selections in English (Creative Writing and Critical Writing), French, and Spanish. The creation of the books has been integrated into Professional Writing classes taught by Professor Adrienne Lamberti.
A Night of Monsters
On Halloween 2024, students in Professor Brooke Wonders's class, Studies in Literature: Dark Fantasy and Horror, were the featured readers at the Final Thursday Reading Series, where they shared original stories of terror and dread. The presentations from that evening are at the bleeding heart of A Night of Monsters, a collection of horror writing by 16 students from that class. Such synergies, combining students' coursework with community engagement and publication opportunities, are the kind of experience the Department of Languages & Literatures prides itself on being able to provide.
Craft of Fiction Anthologies—Spring 2024
The inaugural Craft of Fiction anthologies of original student fiction students includes the following collections (also produced with the assistance of students in Professor Lamberti's Introduction to Workplace Writing class):
• Monsters Declassified, a speculative compilation on otherworldly (and all too worldly) creatures
• Nexus Six, a thriller written as a collective novel
• Some Context Required, an experimental collection based on the surrealist concept of the "exquisite corpse"
Craft of Fiction Anthologies—Spring 2025
During the Spring 2025 semester, students in Professor Jim O'Loughlin's Craft of Fiction class conceived, designed, and wrote three separate anthologies of original fiction:
• To the End of Our Line, a compilation of stories following one family's quest for power across generations
• If These Walls Could Talk, an anthology of stories set at the same location across time
• The Lake House Lies, a murder mystery written as a collective novella
Production assistance was provided by students in Professor Adrienne Lamberti's Introduction to Professional Writing class.
Craft of Fiction Anthologies—Spring 2026
The Spring 2026 publications from Professor Jim O'Loughlin's Craft of Fiction class offer distinctly different takes on the anthology concept.
• Speakeasy of the Dead is a supernatural murder mystery in the form of a collective novella.
• In The Dragon Project, dragons are real. And they're endangered!
• The Karner Coincidence tells a series of interlinked stories in which each character's actions become another's consequences.