Celebrate “Kirktober”
Support The University Bookman
Since it was founded by Russell Kirk six decades ago, The University Bookman has continued to examine the most important books of our time. Here we offer clear and reflective book reviews in light of the “permanent things” that constitute the best of Western civilization. We do so for general readers across the United States and the world—those who, while not specialists, are interested in higher culture and the life of the mind and spirit.
But our work is only made possible by the generous donations of our friends and readers.
For the first and only time this year, we are asking for your support in order to raise $20,000 for operating costs. This amount will cover publishing expenses through the spring of 2025.
What will these funds be used for?
- To pay reviewers (average monthly expense is $1,200)
- To cover website hosting costs, email service, webinar costs, and production software costs
- For our communication staff’s work
The editors nobly volunteer their time for the good of the cause. And some reviewers forgo their honorarium to stretch the journal’s bandwidth. All contributions go towards the direct costs of running the journal.
As you may know, October has been nicknamed “Kirktober” by some Russell Kirk readers in honor of his birthday on October 19. And the Book Gallery hosts a lively discussion focused on Kirk’s supernatural fiction each October. We hope to be able to announce that the goal of $20,000 has been reached by All Soul’s Day. At that successful conclusion, we will release an audio recording of a Kirk short story as read by one of his former literary assistants.
Longtime reader Jack Fowler remarked:
“As our culture is buffeted by attacks from Marxists and ideologues and the foes of civil order, intent on the destruction of the American Project, conservatism has a pressing need for meaningful and reasoned examination of the principles that underwrite a free society. The University Bookman, an old and wise friend, a jewel, has never been more needed than now. A dedicated platform for the discussion of new books that deserve a hearing in the public square, University Bookman is a place of sanity and intelligence and honesty.”
By making a contribution, you join this important endeavor to renew our culture and redeem our time.
The University Bookman is the online journal of the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal, a 501(c)(3) non-profit public charity. All donations are tax-deductible.
To make a donation through direct deposit or a donor advised fund, contact info@kirkcenter.org.
If you would like to donate by check to support the University Bookman, please send it to:
The Russell Kirk Center
P.O. Box 4
Mecosta, Michigan 49332
Read More Bookman Articles
Tiber, Thames, Potomac
That the First Amendment establishes a “separation” between church and state throughout all levels of government has long been a stubborn myth of American life, shared by both nativists and, at least since the early part of the last century, most liberals. Philip...
Dissonance and Faith
“While billed as an accessible and clarifying introductory guide to the ideas that shaped the New Testament, I would not endorse this description of Spencer’s book. It is not a book for beginners, nor an introduction, nor a clarifying guide. It is, rather, a mineshaft—dark, with dim lighting—in which the wary may yet strike treasure.”
Prudence in the Political Philosophy of George Washington
“What is apparent from reading Washington’s private letters and public documents is that his political ideas were formed from experience and sober assumptions about the possibilities of politics. He was repeatedly reminded by his experience in political affairs of the limits and challenges of politics.”
Hope in the Past, Hope in the Future
“Stephen Presley proposes a model of cultural engagement that looks to the earliest centuries of the Church, its fledgling period before the so-called ‘Constantinian shift.’ Given the ongoing dismantling of the structures of Christendom, the earliest period of the Church offers an ever more fitting parallel to ours, one in which religious devotion is regarded not merely as irrelevant but increasingly as a threat to social order.”