Julia Cheiffetz joins the Atria Publishing Group today as vice president and publisher of a yet-to-be-named imprint, effective today. She reports to new group publisher Libby McGuire, The imprint “will draw on [her] unique strengths as an editor and her passion for publishing books that address issues of social import.” She has been executive editor at Dey Street Books.
Christine Mykityshyn is joining Celadon Books as director of publicity. Most recently she was publicity manager at Random House Publishing Group.
Sara Beth Haring has joined St. Martin’s as marketing manager. Previously, she worked at Faith Words and Center Street.
Tom Hallock, associate publisher of Beacon Press for 22 years, will retire June 28 and plans to pursue his interests in political and electoral organizing. Before joining Beacon in April 1996, Hallock was vice president, director of sales and marketing at Farrar, Straus, Prentice Hall Press and the Aperture Foundation.
Awards
The Center for Fiction will present their 2018 Maxwell E. Perkins Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Field of Fiction to Knopf Doubleday chairman and editor-in-chief Sonny Mehta at their annual gala in December. Mehta says in the announcement, “I am honored to be receiving this award and humbled by the list of its previous winners.”
Harassment Files
MIT has cleared Junot Diaz to teach this fall, after concluding an investigation of inappropriate conduct claims made in May. The university launched the investigation after author Zinzi Clemmons posted on Twitter that Diaz cornered and forcibly kissed her. (Others, including authors Carmen Machado and Monica Byrne, accused Diaz of verbally abusive behavior. But Machado recently told Vulture in a modified stance, “I’m not a victim of Junot Diaz. I’m a female writer who had a weird interaction with him.”) MIT said in a statement: “To date, MIT has not found or received information that would lead us to take any action to restrict Professor Diaz in his role as an MIT faculty member, and we expect him to teach next academic year, as scheduled. This is the extent of public comment and information available on this personnel matter.”
Diaz did not comment, but his agent Nicole Aragi told the Boston Globe, “I expected no less. And I’m expecting positive outcomes from any inquiries that test the allegations.”
The investigation involved reaching out to current students, as well as “extensive conversations” with Diaz and his colleagues. Byrne, who was collecting complaints from people posting them online, said she was contacted by the university and asked to forward them any complaints from MIT students. She said, “I told them, look, I have 38 tips, stories, accounts . . . and they’re, like, Well, if you hear from any MIT students, let us know.'”