A Meaningful Chapter in a Continuing Story

For the last several years as Electric Literature’s Managing Editor, grant writing has been a component of my job description. For those unfamiliar with the work, it is almost entirely an exercise in articulating and appropriately packaging the organization’s best features. As a result, I can, upon request, reel off a list of Electric Lit’s accomplishments. There are many. More than you might reasonably expect of what is, essentially, a small arts nonprofit. We send over 500 pieces out into the world every year, publish more than 400 authors, reach more than 3 million readers. The combined catalog of our magazines—Recommended Reading and The Commuter—constitutes the largest free archive of contemporary literature outside a library system. Our work has been recognized by nearly every major industry award. I could go on. 

When Halimah Marcus told me earlier this year that she would be stepping down as Executive Director, I was surprised. (There has, perhaps, never been a greater understatement.) It was—in that mome...