Melbourne University Publishing (MUP) is the book publishing arm of the University of Melbourne. The press is currently a member of the Association of University Presses.^[2]

MUP was founded in 1922 as Melbourne University Press to sell text books and stationery to students, and soon began publishing books itself. Over the years scholarly works published under the MUP imprint have won numerous awards and prizes. The name Melbourne University Publishing was adopted for the business in 2003 following a restructure by the university, but books continue to be published under the Melbourne University Press imprint.^[3] The company’s mandate was expressed by the tag line, “Books with Spine”, which was coined by the writer Guy Rundle when Louise Adler asked him for a suitable motto.^[4] The tag line was later changed to “Australia’s first university press”.^[5]

The Miegunyah Press is an imprint of MUP, established in 1967 under a bequest from businessman and philanthropist Russell Grimwade, with the intention of subsidising the publication of illustrated scholarly works that would otherwise be uneconomic to publish. Grimwade’s great-grandnephew Andrew Grimwade was its patron. Miegunyah is from an Aboriginal Australian language, meaning “my house”.^[6]

Since 2008, the literary journal Meanjin is an editorially independent imprint of MUP.^[7]

• 1922–1932: Stanley Addison
• 1932–1942: Frank Wilmot
• 1943–1962: Gwyn James
• 1962–1988: Peter Ryan
• 1989: Brian Wilder
• 1990–1994: John Iremonger
• 1994: Andrew Watson (Acting)
• 1994–1996: Brian Wilder
• 1996–2002: John Meckan
• 2002–2019: Louise Adler
• 2019–2023: Nathan Hollier

• List of university presses