Algonquin – About Us
About Us
About 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. Algonquin has earned international recognition with numerous bestsellers, in both fiction—including Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants, Gabrielle Zevin’s The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry, B. A. Shapiro’s The Art Forger, and Robert Goolrick’s A Reliable Wife—and nonfiction, including Amy Stewart’s The Drunken Botanist and Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods. In 2013, Algonquin launched the Algonquin Young Readers imprint featuring middle grade and young adult books.
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 Southern American writers, 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 diversity 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.
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.
Meet Our Editorial Team
Betsy Gleick, VP, Publisher and Editorial Director, joined Algonquin in 2016 after a career as a magazine writer and editor in New York City and London. She acquires literary fiction and nonfiction, with a special love for stories—be they fiction or memoir—about people: their intimate histories, their connections, their relationships, their conflicts, and their loves. She is also drawn to topical nonfiction, loves a great mystery or brilliantly written work of true-crime, and is always looking for something funny. Her books include Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai’s international bestsellers The Mountains Sing and Dust Child; Louis Bayard’s Courting Mr. Lincoln and Jackie & Me; Kathryn Miles’s Edgar finalist Trailed, also CrimeCon True Crime Book of the Year in 2023; Tim Johnston’s literary crime novel, Distant Sons; award-winning stories and fiction from Shruti Swamy and Kate Doyle; and from abroad, the works of Booker finalist Fiona Mozley, Northern Ireland’s Michelle Gallen, and debut Irish author Roisín O’Donnell. Forthcoming titles include Babe in the Woods, a graphic work of autofiction by painter Julie Heffernan, and Silver State, a literary noir by Gabriel Urza.
Kathy Pories, Executive Editor, first joined Algonquin as an editorial intern after gaining her Ph.D. in Renaissance Studies. She is primarily interested in literary fiction that has a compelling narrative, but is also a huge fan of commercial fiction well told; and she also acquires narrative nonfiction. Authors she has worked with include Gabrielle Zevin, Kaitlyn Greenidge, Thrity Umrigar, Lisa Ko, Lauren Grodstein, Gabriel Bump, Jill McCorkle, Oscar Hokeah, Hillary Jordan, Silas House, Daniel Wallace, Lee Smith, Robert Olmstead, and Jean Thompson.
Amy Gash, Executive Editor, works out of the New York office of Algonquin Books, where she acquires literary fiction and narrative nonfiction. Her books include Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights, Julia Alvarez’s Afterlife, Bonnie Tsui’s Why We Swim, and Rabia Chaudry’s Fatty Fatty Boom Boom. Authors whose books she has edited have won the National Book Critics Circle Award (Ariel Sabar’s My Father’s Paradise); the Audubon Medal (Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods); and the Sami Rohr Prize (Matti Friedman’s The Aleppo Codex). She’s keenly interested in memoir, popular science, history and natural history, and social justice, but whether it’s a book about the evolution of teeth, the history of the pocket, a true crime tale of a Jazz Age jewelry thief, or an exploration of our planet at night, she aims to acquire stories that entertain us and change the way we see the world.
Madeline Jones, Editor, joined Algonquin in 2021 by way of Henry Holt and Simon & Schuster, and acquires mostly narrative nonfiction titles. She especially loves immersive, character-driven journalism, on topics ranging from environmentalism to fashion, psychology to politics, and sociology to pop culture. She’s also drawn to voicey essay collections steeped in research and cultural references, and books by experts – whether via the academy or lived experience. Maddie publishes the occasional novel or story collection, usually in translation or otherwise international in theme and setting. She’s worked with Bora Chung, Anna Lekas Miller, Erika Hayasaki, Malaika Jabali, Molly Ball, Silvia Vasquez-Lavado, Elena Medel, Hilary Mantel, and Chelsea Conaboy.
Evan Hansen-Bundy, Associate Editor, joined Algonquin in 2022, after three years at Little, Brown and Company. Before arriving in New York, he interned at Graywolf Press in Minneapolis, read for McSweeney’s Quarterly in San Francisco, and managed irrigation systems on a ranch in California’s Trinity County. Evan acquires plot-driven literary fiction and is drawn to authors who seek to give new perspective to an established genre, as well as novels that move the conversation on contemporary issues. On the nonfiction side, he is looking for narrative proposals that explore underreported cultural phenomena or shed new light on a charged historical moment, particularly literary memoir blended with cultural criticism. Forthcoming titles include: All Friends Are Necessary by Tomas Moniz, Get It Together by Dean Spade, Gaysians by Mike Curato, Liquid by Mariam Rahmani, and Treat Them as Buffalo by Blair Palmer Yoxall.