UWA Publishing (formerly known as UWA Press but re-named in June 2009) began life as the University of Western Australia Text Books Board, established in 1935 to 'produce less expensive and more relevant student text books than those available through British publishers'. UWA Press has since developed as an academic publisher with a regional focus. Its list includes titles in literary studies, history, economics, anthropology, and natural sciences, as well as titles of wider interest. Since the 1990s, UWA Press has diversified its list further to include general and children's titles. By 2005, it had published a total of over 800 titles. An initiative launched in 2005 assists the publication of literary fiction by students in university courses in creative writing around Australia.
In November 2019, the University of Western Australia's deputy vice-chancellor, Tayyeb Shah, announced that the press was closing at the end of November, and would be replaced with an open-source digital publishing model. The news was greeted with shock by the Australian literary community.
Sources include Criena Fitzgerald, A Press in Isolation: University of Western Australia Press 1935-2004, UWA Press, Crawley, 2005; Emma Young, '"We Will Fight": Writers Aghast as University Signals Closure of UWA Publishing', Sydney Morning Herald, 8 November 2019 (https://www.smh.com.au/culture/books/we-will-fight-writers-aghast-as-university-signals-closure-of-uwa-publishing-20191108-p538su.html)
