The Cambridge Writers’ Workshop would like to give a hearty congratulations and three cheers to Emily Nemens, co-editor of The Southern Review, and our 2017 Spring in New Orleans Writing Retreat Instructor, for her new appointment as Editor of The Paris Review.  On Ms. Nemens’s appointment, The New York Times writes:

Emily Nemens, a co-editor of The Southern Review, seems agnostic and omnivorous when it comes to narrative mediums. In addition to publishing poetry, fiction and essays, she is a prolific illustrator who has amassed a large following on Tumblr for her watercolor portraits of women serving in Congress.

She will now take on a more prominent role in American letters. On Thursday, she was named the new editor of The Paris Review, one of the most prestigious literary magazines in the United States.

Ms. Nemens, who lives in Baton Rouge, La., and has been a co-editor of The Southern Review since 2013.

“Her literary tastes, her accomplishments, the combination of her work ethic and her sense of collaboration — both with her writers and her staff — make her a really unique package of talent,” said Akash Shah, a Paris Review board member who led the search for a new editor. “This is someone who is on a steep trajectory, and The Paris Review is going to benefit from that.”

Ms. Nemens’s eclectic taste and creative ambitions proved to be a draw for the Paris Review board, which chose Ms. Nemens over a pool of candidates better known in New York’s literary circles. Ms. Nemens will begin her new job on June 1.

Read the full New York Times article on Emily Nemens here.  Our warm congratulations to Emily Nemens on her new position, and best wishes for much continued success!