Algonquin – About Us
About Us
Our Mission
Founded in 1983, Algonquin has earned international recognition with numerous award-winners and bestsellers, in both fiction — including Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies, Tayari Jones’ American Marriage, Kaitlyn Greenidge’s Libertie, Gabrielle Zevin’s The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry, Thrity Umrigar’s Honor, and Bora Chung’s Cursed Bunny — and nonfiction, including Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights, Jaquira Diaz’s Ordinary Girls, and Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods. Algonquin believes in publishing books from a wide range of voices that entertain us, challenge us, and reflect us.
Meet The Team
Kathy Pories, Executive Editor, joined Algonquin Books as an editorial intern while finishing her Ph.D. in Renaissance Studies and teaching undergraduate literature. She acquires a broad range of fiction, primarily literary and upmarket, and select nonfiction, with a specific interest in stories told in a singular way. She has been with Algonquin for over two decades, during which she acquired and edited Gabrielle Zevin’s NYT bestselling The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, Oscar Hokeah’s PEN/Hemingway winner Calling for a Blanket Dance, Lauren Grodstein’s Jenna Book Club Pick We Must Not Think of Ourselves, Thrity Umrigar’s Reese Book Club Pick Honor, Gabriel Bump’s Ernest J. Gaines Award winner Everywhere You Don’t Belong, Lisa Ko’s National Book Award finalist The Leavers, and Whiting Award winner Jaquira Díaz’s Ordinary Girls. She has also worked with Jill McCorkle, Lee Smith, Kaitlyn Greenidge, Robert Olmstead, Daniel Wallace, Ayesha Rascoe, Michael Parker, Rebecca Lee, Bill Roorbach, Silas House, Nayantara Roy; and many more; her authors’ books have been finalists or winners of numerous prizes including The Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the Kirkus Prize, the National Book Award, and the Thomas Wolfe Award. For seventeen years, she worked alongside Barbara Kingsolver as a judge for and editor of the winners of the PEN/Bellwether Prize.
Madeline Jones, Senior Editor, joined Algonquin in 2021 by way of Henry Holt and Simon & Schuster, and acquires narrative nonfiction, especially immersive, character-driven journalism, on pressing sociological, political, and science topics. Maddie also acquires select literary fiction, mostly in translation, and loves sweeping international stories, and novels with a weird, speculative or surreal hook. She’s worked with authors including Bora Chung, Elena Medel, Simón López Trujillo, Heather Christle, Leni Zumas, Erika Hayasaki, Malaika Jabali, Yeon Somin, Maggie Mertens, Caro De Robertis, Molly Ball, Silvia Vasquez-Lavado, Frode Grytten, and Hilary Mantel. She is also a Spanish-English translator and former editor-at-large for the international literary magazine Asymptote Journal.
Jovanna Brinck, Assistant Editor, joined Algonquin Books at the beginning of 2023. In both fiction and nonfiction, she looks for stories by, for, and about people from historically underrepresented communities, particularly Caribbean, Polynesian, and Indigenous voices. She has assisted with publications by Roisín O’Donnell, Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, Louis Bayard, Caro De Robertis, Dean Spade, Ross Gay, and Julia Alvarez, among others. She has edited recent and forthcoming titles such as A House for Miss Pauline by Diana McCaulay, And I’ll Take Out Your Eyes by A. M. Sosa, and Evergreen by Trent Preszler.
Marisol Salaman, Senior Publicity Manager, oversees the publicity strategy for all titles. She’s had the immense pleasure of working with a number of award-winning, bestselling authors, including Bonnie Tsui, Bora Chung, Lauren Grodstein, Nayantara Roy, Dean Spade, Ayesha Rascoe, Jaquira Diaz, and many other brilliant writers. When Marisol isn’t caught with a gripping read, she is typically found hanging with her dog, George, trying new eats in Queens, and on the continuous hunt for the best chocolate chip cookie in New York.
Kara Brammer, Marketing Director, joined Algonquin Books at the beginning of 2025. She oversees marketing strategy for the imprint and serves as the primary title marketer for all frontlist releases. Kara got her start in publishing over a decade ago, previously holding marketing positions at Penguin Random House and HarperCollins.
History of Algonquin Books
In 1983, Algonquin Books set up shop in a woodshed behind cofounder Louis Rubin’s Chapel Hill, North Carolina home. He and Shannon Ravenel founded Algonquin as an independent press devoted to publishing literary fiction and nonfiction by undiscovered writers, mostly from the South. And from its very first books Algonquin garnered national attention, with authors—including Julia Alvarez, Jill McCorkle, Robert Morgan, Larry Brown, and, later, Lee Smith—who earned great acclaim and devoted fans.
Acquired by Workman in 1989, Algonquin Books expanded to include offices in both New York City and Chapel Hill, while holding true to its founding principles to publish quality narrative work that stimulates, enriches, and entertains readers. In 2024, Algonquin became an imprint of Little, Brown and Company.
A Note On Our Name
Algonquin Books was founded in 1983 by Louis Rubin, a professor at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and a former student, Shannon Ravenel. As an independent publisher dedicated to elevating writers from the south in the United States, Rubin wanted to remind the East Coast literary establishment centered around the New Yorker and the legendary wits of the Algonquin Round Table of the multitude of voices and stories outside of that insular world. The name also reminded Rubin, a passionate sailor, of a beloved steamship, the USAHS (U.S. Army Hospital Ship) Algonquin, whose port was near his childhood home of Charleston, South Carolina.
We at Algonquin Books respectfully acknowledge that Algonquin is also a French name for the Omàmiwininiwak, Indigenous peoples mostly from eastern Canada. We also recognize the historic harm, forced displacement, genocide and other oppressive acts that have been perpetrated on them and all the Indigenous people throughout North America.
Today, we gratefully recognize the vibrant Native communities across North America, and we reflect that in our publishing. We understand that this commitment requires a sustained effort, beyond this statement, and we are dedicated to taking concrete actions to support and uplift Indigenous peoples and their communities.
Our Commitment to Native Readers and Writers
As part of our commitment to inclusivity, we are collaborating with the We Need Diverse Books Native fund on various initiatives aimed at enhancing Indigenous representation in literature. If you are an educator at a school serving predominantly Indigenous students, we invite you to visit this page to request book donations from Hachette for your classroom and school library. Learn more about our commitment to diversity.