Mission Statement
Ooligan is a not-for-profit general trade press that publishes books honoring cultural and natural diversity. Founded in 2001 as a teaching press, Ooligan is staffed by students pursuing master’s degrees in the Department of English at Portland State University. These students participate in an apprenticeship program under the guidance of a core faculty of publishing professionals dedicated to the art and craft of publishing.
As a teaching press, Ooligan makes as little distinction as possible between the press and the classroom. Under the direction of professional faculty and staff, the work of the press is done by students enrolled in the Book Publishing graduate program at PSU. Publishing profitable books in real markets provides projects in which students combine theory with practice.
Ooligan Press offers the school and general community a full range of publishing services, from consulting and planning to design and production. Ooligan Press students, having already received important “real world” training while at the university and in various internship positions in the greater Portland area, are ideal candidates for jobs in the country’s growing community of independent publishers.
What Does Ooligan Mean?
The name Ooligan is adopted from the Native American word for a smelt otherwise known as the candlefish. The ooligan was an abundant natural resource in Pacific Northwest rivers. It may well be the word from which the name Oregon was derived. During the trade of the valuable fish oil to tribes east of the Rockies, the L in Ooligan was replaced with an R, giving us the sound Ooregon. Gradually, this usage became the name of a place and assumed its current spelling of Oregon in the course of history.
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