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
Nadxieli Nieto (she/they), Editorial Director, is an editor of literary and upmarket fiction, select nonfiction, and art books, including NYT bestseller and Reese’s Book Club pick LA Weather; 2022 Lambda Literary Award finalist My Government Means to Kill Me, Shirley Jackson Award finalists Tiny Nightmares and Tiny Crimes, BCN award-winning Carteles Contra Una Guerra, and others. Prior to joining Algonquin, she was an executive editor at Flatiron Books, where her authors included Kaitlyn Greenidge, Manuel Gonzales, Rasheed Newson, María Amparo Escandón, John Manuel Arias, Jessica Hoppe, Monica Brashears, Jean Grae, Wendy Chin-Tanner, Erica Berry, Ben Austen, Marielena Hincapie, and others. Her anthologies, co-edited with Lincoln Michel, have featured work by Carmen Maria Machado, Yuri Herrera, Charles Yu, and Lilliam Rivera, and her collaborative artist books may be found in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. She is the former director of PEN America’s Literary Awards, and is on the advisory board of Latinx in Publishing.
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.
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.
Jovanna Brinck, Assistant Editor, joined Algonquin Books at the beginning of 2023. Before that, she interned at Macmillan. 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 helped edit recent and forthcoming titles such as The Wildes by Louis Bayard, A House for Miss Pauline by Diana McCaulay, and So Many Stars by Caro De Robertis, and has assisted with publications by Jennifer Savran Kelly, Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, Ross Gay, and Julia Alvarez, among others.