Memoirs—the personal, evocative, true stories we tell—have the power to educate, enlighten, and entertain. In its continuous and longstanding goal to amplify diverse voices, for more than fifty years SIU Press has published hundreds of memoirs and autobiographies. These books include the stories of a woman pioneer, a Chicago Heights mob member, people who escaped enslavement through the Underground Railroad in Illinois, Civil War soldiers, politicians, Black families, a Civil Rights worker, and many more.
We are seeking to build on this strong foundation by publishing up to two new memoirs a year written by people who are from or in Illinois. We will also consider edited historical memoirs by people from Illinois and its surrounding states. New books will feature the voices of people who have traditionally been overlooked. We welcome a diversity of background, thought, style, and expression. Send queries and book proposals to Executive Editor Sylvia Frank Rodrigue at [email protected].
You can explore the current Illinois Lives books below.
Loving Lincoln
$24.95
Son of Southern Illinois
$28.95
Chicago Heights
$22.95
Nobody Calls Just to Say Hello
$22.50
A View from the Inside
$19.95
Growing Up with Southern Illinois, 1820 to 1861
$22.50
The Maverick and the Machine
$22.50
The Gentleman from Illinois
$39.95
A Decisive Decade
$29.95
It's Good to Be Black
$19.95
The Boy of Battle Ford and the Man
$18.00
Growing Up in a Land Called Egypt
$22.95
Wings Over Illinois
$28.00
Autobiography of Silas Thompson Trowbridge M.D.
$14.95
Escape Betwixt Two Suns
$21.95
Tell Us a Story
$22.95
Reminiscences of a Soldier's Wife
$21.95
Army Life of an Illinois Soldier
$19.50
All Anybody Ever Wanted of Me Was to Work
$19.95
Black Jack
$26.95
A Woman's Story of Pioneer Illinois
$19.50
Always of Home
$22.00
Woman from Spillertown
$20.00
The Personal Memoirs of Julia Dent Grant
$29.95
Penny's Worth of Minced Ham
$15.95
Foothold on a Hillside
$19.95
Nickel's Worth of Skim Milk
$15.95