Announcing the Next Editor of McSweeney’s Quarterly
McSweeney’s is pleased to announce the appointment of Rita Bullwinkel as the next editor of McSweeney’s Quarterly.
Founded in 1998 by Dave Eggers, McSweeney’s Quarterly publishes stories from both established and emerging writers. McSweeney’s stories have won three National Magazine Awards for Fiction, multiple awards for independent publishing and design, and two Caine Prizes for African Writing.
Rita Bullwinkel has been an editor at large for McSweeney’s since 2016 and was previously the deputy editor of The Believer. She has also edited book-length works for McSweeney’s, including Rerun Era by Joanna Howard, Spilt Milk by Courtney Zoffness, and Yr Dead by Sam Sax (forthcoming August 2024). Bullwinkel has also served as a contributing editor to NOON, Diane Williams’s literary annual, since 2013, and was the assistant fiction editor of The Brooklyn Rail and the fiction editor of theNashville Review. She is also the author of two books of fiction: Belly Up, which won a 2022 Whiting Award, and Headshot, which is forthcoming from Viking.
“I have been deeply changed, as both a writer and a person, by countless stories published by McSweeney’s Quarterly,” says Bullwinkel. “It’s an honor and a joy to get to shepherd this next era of the magazine. I view this role as primarily a job centered around cheerleading, around celebrating the brilliant, urgent work of new and established writers, and working to get that work into as many hands as possible. Each issue of the Quarterly is always an incomparable art object thanks to the intense talent of the magazine’s art director, Sunra Thompson. It’s a privilege to get to collaborate with Sunra to bring the most beautiful stories we can find into the most beautiful physical forms we can imagine.”
Rita Bullwinkel succeeds Claire Boyle, who served as editor for the past six years, and James Yeh who was Deputy Editor in 2023. Boyle remains an editor at large for McSweeney’s while she pursues an MFA in painting at the Art Institute of Chicago.
“We’re so lucky to have Rita come aboard,” says Dave Eggers, founder of McSweeney’s. “She brings exquisite sensitivity to her work as an editor, and she has a deep well of experience with independent publishing. She’s also one of the kindest people you’ll ever meet, so we can’t wait to hand her the keys.”
“Across all of our publishing at McSweeney’s we seek out original voices and excellent writing,” says Amanda Uhle, the executive director and publisher of McSweeney’s. “I have such confidence in Rita’s discerning eye to deliver those very things and to continue to provide our readers something gorgeous and unexpected, in every issue.”
McSweeney’s Quarterly Issue 77, which will be released in the winter of 2025, will be the first issue under Bullwinkel’s full editorial direction. Over the course of 2024 the Quarterly will publish four guest-edited issues. Bullwinkel will be considering work for Issue 77, and future issues, through hard copy submissions. To submit, send your work to the attention of Rita Bullwinkel/McSweeney’s Quarterly at 849 Valencia St, San Francisco, CA 94110. McSweeney’s is an extremely small and dedicated staff, and we are regrettably unable to respond to every submission.
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