Boston-based nonprofit Beacon Press has added two senior editors to its staff, and is padding its list from 35 titles a year, to 45. “After 13 consecutive years of surpluses, we felt it was time to grow,” said Beacon Press director Helene Atwan in announcing the new hires who, it is hoped, will extend Beacon’s geographic reach.
Rakia Clark, who has held editorial positions at HarperCollins, Viking, and Kensington Publishing Corp., will be based in New York City. She has worked with Bill Cosby and Native American historian Joseph Campbell, among others, and serves as an adjunct lecturer at the City College of New York.
Former South End Press editor-publisher Jill Petty, who worked with bell hooks and Noam Chomsky, among other well-known authors, will be based in Chicago. She has directed communications/community engagement for Equal Justice Initiative, a nonprofit headed by Bryan Stevenson that provides legal representation to poor people. She is a member of the Prison + Neighborhood Arts Program teaching collective.
With the two new hires, Beacon's editorial staff jumps from seven to nine. The press also announced several in-house promotions. Joanna Green will move from associate editor to editor; Rachel Marks and Will Myers will move from assistant editors to associate editors. In addition, Alexis Rizzuto will transition from full-time senior editor to contributing editor, focusing on the environmental list.
“The entire editorial team, the entire press, is energized by these new hires and promotions of our current staff,” said Atwan. With the new editorial team in place, she plans to grow Beacon’s list over the course of the next two to three years.
