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And Now For a Warm Welcome

Filed under: The Squib Report Tagged: Benjamin Chambers, essays, fiction, Katherine White, poetry, The Complete New Yorker

Emily and I are very pleased to introduce a new member to the Emdashes team. His name is Benjamin Chambers, and some of you will recall his e-mails on past New Yorker essays and his post comments over the past weeks. We’ve been very impressed by his powers of expression, and we look forward to his sure-to-be-insightful posts.

Benjamin’s column will focus on fiction and will be called The Katharine Wheel, aptly named after The New Yorker’s first fiction editor, Katharine White. We feel certain that Benjamin will roam wherever his interest takes him, stories appearing in The New Yorker each week, stories from the distant past encountered in The Complete New Yorker, novels by people associated with The New Yorker, and so on. And if he has any diverting comments on any other subject, we hope he’ll feel free to contribute those too!

Benjamin is the editor of The King’s English, a prizewinning online magazine that specializes in novella-length fiction, which you should definitely check out. He received his MFA from Washington University in St. Louis and has had his fiction, poetry, and essays published in numerous journals, including The Iowa Review, ZYZZYVA, MANOA, and the Mississippi Review.

I’ve enjoyed corresponding with him in recent days, and I’m sure his wit, wisdom, and good taste will enhance this humble project. Welcome, Benjamin!

—Martin Schneider

6 comments

Comments

I’m thrilled about it. I’m delighted that we’ll be covering fiction in such detail, and given the 1925-to-infinity scope, what a beat! Benjamin, I know Emdashers (like haberdashers, but with fewer pins and feathers) will enjoy reading you as much as I do.

Emily February 07, 2008

You guys are much too kind. I’m very pleased to have this opportunity, though. First post, coming right up!

Benjamin ChambersFebruary 07, 2008

Welcome, Benjamin! I’m so glad emdashes is embracing someone who actually reads — and likes! — the fiction. I always read it but I think I’m a member of a very very small minority.

little sisterFebruary 08, 2008

I think lots of people read the fiction! At least, I see blog posts about it here and there. Anyway, I read it faithfully now.

Emily February 08, 2008

Thanks, little sister. I don’t always like the fiction, but I respect it - nobody does it as well as The New Yorker.

Benjamin ChambersFebruary 09, 2008

What a great opportunity.
Thanks.

Terry FinleyFebruary 26, 2008

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Who she?

I'm Emily Gordon, reachable at emily@emdashes.com.

I'm an editor at PRINT magazine in New York City. I've worked at The Nation, Newsday, PEN America, and Legal Affairs. I've written for the NY Times Book Review, Salon, The Washington Post, The Village Voice... continued

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A few clips

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Interview: Designer Eleanor Grosch (for Print)
Review: Charles Addams: A Cartoonist's Life by Linda H. Davis (for Newsday)
Review: The King's Gambit: A Son, a Father, and the World's Most Dangerous Game by Paul Hoffman (for Newsday)
Review: Does The New Republic's recent redesign mean a change of tune? (for Print)
Proposal: A more attractive MetroCard (for A Brief Message)
Interview: James Surowiecki on what's next for the wisdom of crowds (for Assignment Zero)
Report: Eustace Tilley spruces up for The New Yorker's website redesign (for Print)
Feature: Muslim immigration iconography in the Netherlands (for Print)
Review: books about various New Yorker cartoonists by Liza Donnelly and Iain Topliss (for Newsday)
Profile: screenwriter and novelist Joe Keenan (for Newsday)
Review: The Complete New Yorker (for Print)

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They say that dashes “are particularly useful in a sentence that is long and complex.” Emdashes—like em dashes—emphasizes what’s between: in particular, between the lines, covers, and issues of a magazine close to my heart.

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