| Brigid Hughes | |
|---|---|
| Born | Buffalo, New York |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | literary editor |
| Years active | 1996–present |
Brigid Hughes is a New York City-based literary editor. Hughes is best known for succeeding George Plimpton as the editor of the literary magazine The Paris Review after his death in 2003 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.
In 1990, she graduated from the Nichols School.
In 1994, Hughes received a bachelor's degree in English from Northwestern University.
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.
For three years she served as managing editor. After the death of editor George Plimpton, Hughes became editor and continued its tradition of accepting unsolicited submissions (the 'slush pile') as an important part of the role of smaller journals to promote new writers. Hughes left the position after only one year, when the (newly created) Board of Directors did not renew her contract, appointing Philip Gourevitch.
After leaving The Paris Review, Hughes founded A Public Space, a nonprofit quarterly English-language literary and arts magazine based in New York City, in 2006. 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's first published short story, "Cattle Haul," appeared in A Public Space in January 2008,. Leslie Jamison, Nam Le, Jamel Brinkley, and Jamil Jan Kochai also debuted in the magazine. Hughes rediscovered the work of Bette Howland and the writing of filmmaker Kathleen Collins.
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. She is a frequent speaker and panelist at literary conferences, including the Lannan Foundation and PEN America.
In 2012, Hughes became a contributing editor to Graywolf Press and A Public Space launched a partnership with the press to publish books by the magazine's contributors. In 2019, A Public Space launched an independent book imprint, A Public Space Books.
Hughes has received the PEN/Nora Magid Award for Editing and the CLMP Award for Paradigm Independent Publishing. In 2018, A Public Space received the inaugural Whiting Literary Magazine Prize, with the judges' citation recognizing the magazine as "a gorgeously curated collection we experience as a cabinet of wonders."
Hughes teaches in Columbia University's MFA program.
Works and publications
- Howland, Bette, Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage: Selected Stories. Hughes, Brigid, editor. A Public Space Books. ISBN 978-0-9982675-0-0
- Tolstoy Together: 85 Days of War and Peace with Yiyun Li. Hughes, Brigid, editor. A Public Space Books. ISBN 978-1-7345907-6-0
- Park, Ed; Hughes, Brigid, eds. (2015). Buffalo Noir. Brooklyn, NY: Akashic Books. ISBN 978-1-617-75421-0. OCLC 907677036.
References
- ^ Smith, Dinitia (January 24, 2004). "An Editor, 31, Who's at Ease With Big Egos". The New York Times.
- ^ Johnson, Kate (Summer 2004). "A new Editor at the Helm". Northwestern Magazine. Northwestern University. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
- "Notable Alumni: Brigid Hughes '90 (Editor)". Nichols School. 1990.
- ^ Wyatt, Edward (January 20, 2005). "Plimpton's Big Shoes Are Vacant Yet Again". The New York Times.
- Newton, Maude (June 8, 2004). "Interview with Brigid Hughes on unsolicited submissions and emerging writers". MaudeNewton.com.
- Haber (January 20, 2005). "Brigid Hughes Out at Paris Review". Gawker.
- Wyatt, Edward (March 18, 2005). "New Editor of Paris Review Is Writer for The New Yorker". The New York Times.
- Itzkoff, Dave (March 5, 2010). "Paris Review Names New Editor". ArtsBeat, The New York Times.
- 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.
- Ward, Jesmyn (January 2008). "Cattle Haul". A Public Space.
- Rudin, Michael (December 13, 2011). "Fiction Writers Review". Fiction Writers Review.
- Zuarino, John (October 22, 2010). "You Got a Problem With That?". Electric Literature.
- Li, Yiyun; Hughes, Brigid (May 12, 2010). "Kindness by Yiyun Li, including interview with Brigid Hughes" (Video interview). Lannan Foundation.
- "Literary Quartet: Two on Two". PEN America. May 2, 2014.
- Kirch, Claire (February 28, 2012). "Graywolf Goes Public with Literary Magazine". Publishers Weekly.