Well, whoa, Philip Gourevitch announced last week that he’ll step down as editor of the Paris Review next year, having decided he can’t dedicate his time to both editing the last lit mag standing in the national conversation, and working on long-form reporting about Africa.
Over his five years as editor of the Review, Gourevitch was the late George Plimpton’s spiritual if not immediate successor (everyone seems to be leapfrogging the brief Brigid Hughes reign; the first editor following Plimpton’s death was rather quickly dropped, on account of the then-30-year-old was running the Review like it was, well, a lit mag, and not a black-tie literary institution. She now runs the lit mag A Public Space, which is basically the Paris Review for Brooklyn, and with fewer full-time employees). The handsome lit mag is distinguished for its canonical interview series and, under Gourevitch, an increasingly global eye: photojournalism, travel writing and reportage to go alongside stories from, more and more, foreign authors and lesser-known Americans.
Anyway, whoever succeeds Gourevitch—I’m assuming they’re hiring from outside rather than inside—should probably be a renowned writer in his or her own right, and well-connected in the American and European literary community; but also someone with experience in the world, through writing (as a critic, reader and editor) and as a traveler and/or reporter, with a wide-angle view of world politics and literature. Someone of both life and letters, basically.
The first name that comes to mind is Aleksandar Hemon, for some reason. Thoughts?
I don’t think Hemon has the kind of Northeastern lit clout required, insofar as he’s Chicago by way of Bosnia. Benjamin Kunkel would be good, mainly because he’d restore the grand Plimp-Dog tradition of casual loucheness and inappropriateness to recent Barnard-grad slush readers. (I just assume this about Kunkel, he’s never actually made a pass at me…)
Hemon is great (I’m reading Lazarus Project right now), but I agree on the “Northeastern lit clout” point. What about Zadie Smith?
Also, ever notice how no matter what Hemon is writing, he always starts it off talking about being from Bosnia?
How about Geoff Dyer? He seems less overcommitted than ZS, and therefore less likely to burn out.
Dyer totally has the credentials. Good point.
Zadie Smith would be kind of an incredible choice, but I don’t think she’d take it… I feel like it’ll be someone on sort of a downward arc, career-wise.
Lopate.
Philip or Leonard?
Either