Longtime literary agent Frances Goldin, 95, died in her home in New York on May 16, after years of declining health. She founded the Frances Goldin Literary Agency in 1977 to champion left-wing authors, and her roster included Dorothy Allison, Barbara Kingsolver, Martin Duberman, Adrienne Rich, Mumia Abu Jamal, Mike Wallace, Frances Fox Piven, Susan Brownmiller, Martin Espada, Juan Gonzalez, and many others. A memorial will be held when gathering becomes possible again, with details to be announced.
Pam Gruber has joined Irene Goodman Literary Agency as a literary agent, representing adult, young adult, and middle grade fiction, graphic novels, and select narrative non-fiction. She was previously editorial director at Rebel Girls.
The Romance Writers of America annual conference, scheduled for the end of July, was officially cancelled and will be replaced by a virtual event. The organizers write, “We would like to thank everyone for your patience waiting for this announcement as we finalized contract negotiations with the hotel over the past weeks, and we thank the San Francisco Marriott Marquis for working with us to navigate this difficult situation.” Most major participating publishers pulled out of this year’s show long before the pandemic, at the beginning of the year, following the turmoil in the organization’s administration. This year’s RITA awards were cancelled at the same time.