Tracy K. Smith was named Poet Laureate for 2017-2018, starting her role in September. Smith is the author three collections, including Life on Mars, which won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry. The first laureate appointed by new Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, Smith is interested in using the position to reach a broad audience. Hayden said: “The fact that Tracy wants to go into rural areas and talk about poetry is such a great idea and something that really excited me because I think that’s the kind of thing we should be doing as an institution.” Smith succeeds Juan Felipe Herrera.
Helen Duan has been appointed ceo of Penguin Random House North Asia. She will be based in the Beijing office and report Markus Dohle. She will also become a member of the Penguin Random House Global Executive Committee. Most recently, Duan was director of business development for Asia at Oxford University Press. She succeeds Jo Lusby, who left the company in March.
Allison Remcheck has been promoted to associate agent for Stimola Literary Studio representing middle-grade and YA fiction.
At Penguin Random House Audio, Heather Dalton has been promoted to vice president of marketing, adding oversight for the library and children’s sales teams, along with her current responsibilities for the adult sales divisions. Jennifer Rubins, and Brie Garcia will now report to her. Katie Punia has been promoted to vice president of publicity.
Nick Chiles has joined Aevitas Creative Management as an agent based in Atlanta, GA. Previously, he worked as a writer and journalist, co-authoring Bobby Brown’s memoir Every Little Step: My Story.
Ingram Content Group announced a number of promotions and appointments. Kris Wiese has joined as senior manager of public relations and communications. Marcelo Suarez Melgarejo has been named key account sales manager for Ingram’s Lightning Source office in Milton Keynes, UK. Derek Tolley joins Ingram Library Services as a senior sales representative covering the Mid-Atlantic region. Marc Visnick has been appointed business development manager for Ingram Book Group. Chris Thompson has been promoted to key account sales manager at Ingram Book Group in Greater Nashville. Beth Reinker has been named manager of collection development adult materials for Ingram Library Services.
Bookselling
Fort Worth bookstore The Last Word will close on June 18. Owner Paul Combs said in a notice to customers, “Sales have steadily declined to the point that it is no longer viable for us to continue the business.” The store opened in May 2016.
Amazon‘s first bookstore in New Jersey (and its eighth location nationwide), a 3,500-square-foot space in the Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, opens today.