Brigid Hughes

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Brigid Hughes
Born
Buffalo, New York
NationalityAmerican
Occupationliterary editor
Years active1996–present

Brigid Hughes is a Brooklyn, New York-based literary editor. Hughes is best-known for assuming the executive editor role at literary journal The Paris Review after the death of founding editor George Plimpton[1] and for founding the literary magazine A Public Space in 2006.

Early life and education[]

Hughes was born and grew up in Buffalo, New York. Her parents were Patrick Hughes, a doctor, and Patricia Hughes, a research nurse.[1][2]

In 1990, she graduated from the Nichols School.[3]

In 1994, Hughes received a bachelor's degree in English from Northwestern University.[2]

Career[]

After graduating from Northwestern University, Hughes moved to New York and in 1995 started a job as an intern at The Paris Review before being hired there full-time later that year.[1]

For three years she served as managing editor.[4] After the death of editor George Plimpton, Hughes became executive editor.[2] As de facto editor (she declined to use the title "editor" out of respect for Plimpton[2]), she continued its tradition of accepting unsolicited submissions (the 'slush pile') as an important part of the role of smaller journals to promote new writers.[2][5] Hughes left the executive editor position after only one year, when the (newly created) Board of Directors did not renew her contract,[4][6] appointing Philip Gourevitch.[7][8]

After leaving The Paris Review, Hughes founded A Public Space, a nonprofit quarterly English-language literary magazine based in Brooklyn, New York, in 2006.[9] Under Hughes' editorship, A Public Space has gained a reputation for spotting and publishing writers before they become widely known – twice National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward, whose first published short story, "Cattle Haul," appeared in A Public Space in January 2008,[10] being one example.[11]

In 2007, Hughes was co-curator with Peter Conroy and Jake Perlin of the Between the Lines arts festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.[12] She is a frequent speaker and panelist at literary conferences, including the Lannan Foundation conference in 2010,[13] and the PEN America literary conference, Literary Quartet: Two on Two, in 2014.[14]

As of 2012, Hughes is a contributing editor to Graywolf Press.[15]

Works and publications[]

  • Park, Ed; Hughes, Brigid, eds. (2015). Buffalo Noir. Brooklyn, NY: Akashic Books. ISBN 978-1-617-75421-0. OCLC 907677036.

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c Smith, Dinitia (January 24, 2004). "An Editor, 31, Who's at Ease With Big Egos". The New York Times.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Johnson, Kate (Summer 2004). "A new Editor at the Helm". Northwestern Magazine. Northwestern University. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  3. ^ "Notable Alumni: Brigid Hughes '90 (Editor)". Nichols School. 1990.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Wyatt, Edward (January 20, 2005). "Plimpton's Big Shoes Are Vacant Yet Again". The New York Times.
  5. ^ Newton, Maude (June 8, 2004). "Interview with Brigid Hughes on unsolicited submissions and emerging writers". MaudeNewton.com.
  6. ^ Haber (January 20, 2005). "Brigid Hughes Out at Paris Review". Gawker.
  7. ^ Wyatt, Edward (March 18, 2005). "New Editor of Paris Review Is Writer for The New Yorker". The New York Times.
  8. ^ Itzkoff, Dave (March 5, 2010). "Paris Review Names New Editor". ArtsBeat, The New York Times.
  9. ^ McFadden, McKay (November 8, 2006). "A place for fiction: A conversation with Brigid Hughes, editor of A Public Space". The Villager. 76 (25). Archived from the original on September 1, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  10. ^ Ward, Jessamyn (January 2008). "Cattle Haul". A Public Space.
  11. ^ Rudin, Michael (December 13, 2011). "Fiction Writers Review". Fiction Writers Review.
  12. ^ Zuarino, John (October 22, 2010). "You Got a Problem With That?". Electric Literature.
  13. ^ Li, Yiyun; Hughes, Brigid (May 12, 2010). "Kindness by Yiyun Li, including interview with Brigid Hughes" (Video interview). Lannan Foundation.
  14. ^ "Literary Quartet: Two on Two". PEN America. May 2, 2014.
  15. ^ Kirch, Claire (February 28, 2012). "Graywolf Goes Public with Literary Magazine". Publishers Weekly.
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