Participants
Sally Bliumis-Dunn’s poetry collection, Talking Underwater — a finalist and semi-finalist for several poetry prizes — was published by Wind Publications in 2007. Her work has appeared in the anthology, Chance of a Ghost, and in Nimrod, The Paris Review, Prairie Schooner and other journals.
Rachel Cohen is the author of A Chance Meeting: Intertwined Lives of American Writers and Artists, which won the PEN/Jerard Fund Award. She has written for The New Yorker, The Guardian, The Los Angeles Times, The Nation and other publications. Her essays have been anthologized in the Pushcart Anthology and in Best American Essays.
Alice Elliott Dark is the author of the novel, Think of England and two short story collections, In the Gloaming and Naked to the Waist. Her stories and essays have been widely published in The New Yorker, Harper’s, Best American Short Stories, Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards, The New York Times and Best American Short Stories of the Century (selected by John Updike). Her story, “In the Gloaming,” was made into films by HBO and Trinity Playhouse.
Patricia Lee Gauch, author of over 35 books for young people, is Vice President and Editor-at-Large of Philomel Books. Publisher of both picture books and novels, she is editor for T.A. Barron, Andrew Clements, Janet Lisle, and Caldecott winners John Schoenherr, David Small, Jane Yolen, and Ed Young. She has reviewed numerous children’s and young adult books for the Book Review section of The New York Times.
John Herman is an associate director of Manhattanville’s graduate writing program. He is the author of two novels for adults published by Doubleday/Nan Talese: The Light of Common Day; and The Weight of Love, which was chosen by Publishers Weekly as one of the best novels of that year. He also wrote two young adult novels, Deep Waters and Labyrinth, and a children’s book, A Winter’s Night, all published by Putnam/Philomel.
Susan Hodara is a journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Communication Arts, salon.com, and other venues. Her memoirs have appeared in anthologies, including: Illness & Grace, Terror & Transformation; I Wanna Be Sedated: 30 Writers on Parenting Teenagers; and Surviving Ophelia; and in literary journals, including The Westchester Review.
Ron Hogan is the founder and publisher of Beatrice.com, one of the Internet’s first literary websites, and the author of The Stewardess Is Flying the Plane, a visual tribute to 1970s Hollywood. He also has written about the publishing industry for GalleyCat.
Major Jackson is the author of the poetry collections: Hoops and Leaving Saturn, winner of the 2000 Cave Canem Poetry Prize and a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist. His work has appeared in the American Poetry Review, Callaloo, The New Yorker, Poetry and other venues. He is a recipient of a Whiting Writers’ Award, the Pew Fellowship in the Arts, the Witter Bynner Foundation Fellowship and other honors.
Kevin Pilkington is the author of six award-winning poetry collections, including Spare Change, winner of the La Jolla Poets Press National Book Award, St. Andrew’s Head, winner of the Ledge Poetry Prize, and Ready to Eat the Sky, part of River City Publishing’s new poetry series and a finalist for an Independent Publishers Book Award.
Paul Rieckhoff is the author of the critically acclaimed memoir, Chasing Ghosts. His opinion pieces have appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and other venues. A veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, he is the Executive Director and Founder of IAVA (Iraq & Afghanistan Veteransof America). He was named among “America’s Best and Brightest” by Esquire magazine in 2004.
Karen Sirabian is one of the founders of Inkwell, the nationally recognized literary journal affiliated with Manhattanville College’s Master of Arts in Writing program, and served as the journal’s faculty advisor. Her poetry and fiction have appeared in numerous journals, most recently RUNES: A Review of Poetryand The Madison Review.
Patricia Smith’s Teahouse of the Almighty, selected for the 2005 National Poetry Series, was published in 2006. Her work has appeared in The Paris Review, TriQuarterly, AGNI and other venues. A recipient of the Carl Sandburg Award, she was inducted into the International Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent. She was featured in the film Slamnation and on the award-winning HBO series, Def Poetry Jam.
Terese Svoboda is the author of ten books, most recently a memoir, Black Glasses Like Clark Kent, and Tin God, a novel written in the voice of God as a woman. Her writing has been featured in the New Yorker, New York Times, the Atlantic, Slate, Bomb, Columbia, Yale Review and the Paris Review.
Nan Talese is a Senior Vice President of Doubleday and the Publisher and Editorial Director of Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, a trade book publishing imprint known for its literary excellence. She is married to author Gay Talese.
Jim Weikart, a graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop, is the author of Casualty Loss and Harry’s Last Tax Cut. His short stories have appeared in Ellery Queen, Alfred Hitchcock and Mystery Monthly. He is past president of The International Association of Crime Writers North America, and past treasurer of Mystery Writers of America, NY Chapter.
MEET THE EDITORS & AGENTS
Ronnie Ann Herman
President, The Herman Agency
Alice Quinn
Executive Director, Poetry Society of America Former Poetry Editor, The New Yorker
Brant Rumble
Senior Editor, Scribner
Robert Weil
Executive Editor & VP, W.W. Norton & Company
Victoria Wilson
VP & Associate Publisher, Knopf