Former president of Macmillan Brian Napack will join Wiley as president and ceo, starting December 4. He has been senior advisor for private equity firm Providence Equity Partners since 2012, and serves on the boards of companies including Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Ingram, Blackboard, and Recorded Books. He will “will transition off certain of these boards. “ Interim ceo since Mark Allin resigned in May for family reasons Matthew Kissner will remain as chairman of Wiley’s board. He says: “After a thorough and thoughtful search, the Board of Directors unanimously agreed on Brian as the type of proven leader that can drive our continuous […]
Personnel
People, Etc.
John Donatich has been named to a fourth term as director Yale University Press, where he has served for 15 years. Julia Reidhead, president of W. W. Norton and chair of the board of governors of Yale University Press, says, “John Donatich’s reappointment is welcome news. His deep publishing wisdom, discerning editorial taste, and energetic leadership are at the heart of Yale University Press’s reputation as a top-tier university press.” Riddhi Parekh is joining Laura Dail Literary Agency as international rights manager and agent, starting October 16. She was most recently children’s scout for Franklin & Siegal Associates. At Atria, Tasha Hilton has been promoted […]
People, Etc.
Beth Harrison is joining the National Book Foundation as deputy director. She comes from the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, where she was assistant executive director for development and external relations. Previously she served for 11 years at the Academy of American Poets, most recently as interim executive director. Michael Eisenberg has been promoted to vice president, associate publisher for the Highlights Retail Group. Melanie Iglesias Perez, Loan Le, and Haley Weaver have each been promoted to assistant editor at Atria Books. Distribution Ampersand will represent Self-Counsel Press in Canada, from Alberta to Eastern Canada.
People: Senior to Leave Critic Role, Bill Clinton at NBF Dinner, and More
NYT book critic Jennifer Senior “has decided to leave” her position in December, moving to a long-form journalism role at the paper. Pamela Paul and Radhika Jones write in their announcement: “Hired as a critic of nonfiction books, Jennifer proved an omnivore across genres, bringing attention to new voices in fiction and covering subjects ranging from the art of dying to the life of truckers to the obsessions of Richard Nixon.” She will “continue to contribute reviews to the Book Review, as she has for many years.” The paper “will now begin our search for a new nonfiction critic.” President […]
Briefs: Cooke and McDermid Merge, and More
HarperCollins celebrated their 200th anniversary one more time with drinks on the floor of the Frankfurt Book Fair towards the end of the business day, with ceo Brian Murray honoring “how resilient HarperCollins has been, and how resilient the publishing industry has been.” In a nod to yesterday’s remark by Andrew Wylie, Murray remarked, “Even though we may be bewildering to some people, I think at HarperCollins, we know that we know what we are doing.” Canada’s The Cooke Agency and The McDermid Agency have emerged to form CookeMcDermid. The new company will be owned in equal parts by McDermid owners […]
People: Nguyen and Ward Win MacArthur Grants, and More
The latest class of 24 MacArthur Fellows was named, and they include novelist and critic Viet Thanh Nguyen, 46, and novelist and memoirist Jesmyn Ward, 40. Also winning grants were playwright Annie Baker, 36, who won the Pulitzer in 2014 for “The Flick,” and NYT Magazine reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones, 41. Hannah-Jones’s first book The Problem We All Live With is forthcoming from One World in 2019. Another winner, artist and geographer Trevor Paglen, 43, has also published a number of books. At Atria, Stephanie Mendoza has been promoted to senior publicist and Rachel Brenner has been promoted to associate publicist. Ingram announced […]