New Directions has named Tynan Kogane editor-in-chief along with a number of other job moves. The shuffle was precipitated by the retirement of EVP Laurie Callahan, who had been at ND for nearly 50 years.
Kogane was previously senior editor at ND and is in his 12th year at the press. Among his acquisitions are books by Prix Goncourt laureate Mathias Énard, Akutagawa Prize winner Hiroko Oyamada, and International Booker Prize shortlistees Fernanda Melchor and Olga Ravn.
Mieke Chew, who has been promoted to senior editor and executive director of publicity, will also get a larger share of editorial oversight at the press. “Both Mieke and Tynan have shown such editorial chops,” ND president Barbara Epler said. She hopes the promotions will get Chew and Kogane used to the responsibility of making decisions that “can be career-making or hurt a career.”
Both Chew and Kogane were recognized by PW Star Watch in 2018 and 2023, respectively.
Rounding out the moves, Declan Spring has been promoted to EVP; Christopher Wait has been promoted to VP and director of subrights and permissions; Maya Solovej has been promoted to publicity manager and associate editor; and Oliver Preston has been promoted to production associate.
Though it seems like a big shakeup, Epler said the press’s internal dynamics and leadership team will largely remain the same. Callahan took with her “irreplaceable” institutional memory, Epler added, “and I thought, actually, there’s so much talent here, we can just divvy up her salary and move everyone up a little bit.”
Looking ahead to ND’s 90th anniversary next year, Epler said the press is “changing to stay the same.”
Epler, who has been with ND since 1984, said she wants to set up the press for a future as resilient as its past. “I want them to feel invested,” she said of the newly promoted staffers. “I want them to feel seen and get them used to the idea of a running a company and what it takes.”
