Nadja Spiegelman to Head New Literary Quarterly

Astra Publishing House announced plans to launch the Astra Quarterly, a new international literary magazine, under the direction of Nadja Spiegelman, formerly online editor of the Paris Review, who has been named editor-in-chief.

Spiegelman will oversee an international network of editors and work to develop a global community of writers and readers. She said “we are living through twinned phenomena—the rise of a global populism, and the rise of an international community, multilingual and multicultural,” adding that the new quarterly was being launched on the “cusp of a new era, more isolated and more interconnected than we have ever been.”

“I am delighted to join the Astra team in its deep desire to uphold voices across borders," Spiegelman said. "The new generation of readers—from New York to Lagos, Paris to Shanghai, Mexico City to Berlin—has more in common with one another than ever before. We hope to show audiences that literature from abroad can and will speak as directly to them as the writing found at home. I am delighted to join the Astra team in its deep desire to uphold voices across borders. The new generation of readers—from New York to Lagos, Paris to Shanghai, Mexico City to Berlin—has more in common with one another than ever before."

Spiegelman joins Astra publishing after three years as online editor of The Paris Review. She is credited with expanding its reach with new essays and columns on poetry and feminism in addition to adding such noted writers as Sabrina Orah Mark, Hanif Abdurraqib, Meghan O’Gieblyn, and Elisa Gabbert. She is the author of the memoir I’m Supposed to Protect You from All This and the award-winning children’s graphic novel Zig and Wikki, Lost in NYC, and the forthcoming Blancaflor. She is the daughter of celebrated comics author Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly, publisher and founder of Toon Books, and art director of The New Yorker.

Astra Publishing House COO Ben Schrank said of the new hire: “Nadja Spiegelman’s passion and intelligence and proven track record of discovering and championing new voices has all of us at Astra eager to welcome her on board and support her as she creates this new publication.”