People 9/23

Executive director Gwydion Suilebhan will step down on November 15 after more than seven years in the position. The board of directors is launching a nationwide search for a successor.

“PEN/Faulkner has always been animated by a belief in the power of literature to deepen our understanding of one another and the world we share,” said board co-president Anne Aaron in a release. “We’re grateful to Gwydion for his more than seven years of service at a time when superior agility was required to navigate unprecedented times. As we look ahead, we’re building on a strong foundation thanks to his dedicated leadership, and we’re excited about this moment of possibility — an opportunity to strengthen our programs and partnerships, reach new audiences, and imagine ambitiously what PEN/Faulkner can become.”

Elizabeth Vinson has been promoted to assistant editor.

Genni Eccles has been promoted to assistant editor.

Tanya Leet has joined as assistant marketing director. She was previously at Penguin.

Michael Barkin (president of Clear Secure) and Vivek Sharma (ceo and co-founder of Quantelix) join the board as independent non-executive directors, and Alex Svensson (partner at Cevian Capital, now Pearson’s largest shareholder) joins as a non-executive director, all as of October 1.

All rights and royalties for Ralph Ellison’s work have been donated by his trust to Bard College, where the author taught. The college is creating the Ralph Ellison Center, “aimed at inspiring scholarship around the author’s oeuvre,” which will feature a biannual lecture series in three parts. The assets total approximately $3.6 million, $600,000 of which are copyrights, the NYT reports.

Sara Crowe Literary and SteelWorks Literary have formed a partnership.

Faith Lane was promoted to associate agent.