Brigid Hughes

Brigid Hughes
Born
Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Occupationliterary editor
Years active1996–present

Brigid Hughes is a New York City-based literary editor. Hughes is best known for succeeding[1] George Plimpton[2] as the editor of the literary magazine The Paris Review after his death in 2003 and for founding the literary magazine A Public Space in 2006.

Early life and education

Hughes was born and grew up in Buffalo, New York. Her parents are Patrick Hughes, a doctor, and Patricia Hughes, a research nurse.[2][3]

In 1990, she graduated from the Nichols School.[4]

In 1994, Hughes received a bachelor's degree in English from Northwestern University.[3]

Career

After graduating from Northwestern University, Hughes moved to New York and in 1995 started a job as an intern at The Paris Review before being hired there full-time later that year.[2]

For three years she served as managing editor.[5] After the death of editor George Plimpton, Hughes became editor[3] and continued its tradition of accepting unsolicited submissions (the 'slush pile') as an important part of the role of smaller journals to promote new writers.[3][6] Hughes left the position after only one year, when the (newly created) Board of Directors did not renew her contract,[5][7] appointing Philip Gourevitch.[8][9]

After leaving The Paris Review, Hughes founded A Public Space, a nonprofit quarterly English-language literary and arts magazine based in New York City, in 2006.[10] Under Hughes' editorship, A Public Space has gained a reputation for spotting and publishing writers before they become widely known – two-time National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward's first published short story, "Cattle Haul," appeared in A Public Space in January 2008.[11][12] Leslie Jamison, Nam Le, Jamel Brinkley, and Jamil Jan Kochai also debuted in the magazine. Hughes rediscovered the work of Bette Howland[13] and the writing of filmmaker Kathleen Collins.[14]

In 2007, Hughes was co-curator with Peter Conroy and Jake Perlin of the Between the Lines arts festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.[15] She is a frequent speaker and panelist at literary conferences, including the Lannan Foundation[16] and PEN America.[17]

In 2012, Hughes became a contributing editor to Graywolf Press[18] and A Public Space launched a partnership with the press to publish books by the magazine's contributors. In 2019, A Public Space launched an independent book imprint, A Public Space Books.

Hughes has received the PEN/Nora Magid Award for Editing and the CLMP Award for Paradigm Independent Publishing. In 2018, A Public Space received the inaugural Whiting Literary Magazine Prize, with the judges' citation recognizing the magazine as "a gorgeously curated collection we experience as a cabinet of wonders."

Hughes teaches in Columbia University's MFA program.

Works and publications

  • Howland, Bette, Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage: Selected Stories. Hughes, Brigid, editor. A Public Space Books. ISBN 978-0-9982675-0-0
  • Tolstoy Together: 85 Days of War and Peace with Yiyun Li. Hughes, Brigid, editor. A Public Space Books. ISBN 978-1-7345907-6-0
  • Park, Ed; Hughes, Brigid, eds. (2015). Buffalo Noir. Brooklyn, NY: Akashic Books. ISBN 978-1-617-75421-0. OCLC 907677036.

References

  1. ^ "Paris Review - Writers, Quotes, Biography, Interviews, Artists: Masthead". The Paris Review. Retrieved January 9, 2026.
  2. ^ a b c Smith, Dinitia (January 24, 2004). "An Editor, 31, Who's at Ease With Big Egos". The New York Times.
  3. ^ a b c d Johnson, Kate (Summer 2004). "A new Editor at the Helm". Northwestern Magazine. Northwestern University. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  4. ^ "Notable Alumni: Brigid Hughes '90 (Editor)". Nichols School. 1990.
  5. ^ a b Wyatt, Edward (January 20, 2005). "Plimpton's Big Shoes Are Vacant Yet Again". The New York Times.
  6. ^ Newton, Maude (June 8, 2004). "Interview with Brigid Hughes on unsolicited submissions and emerging writers". MaudeNewton.com.
  7. ^ Haber (January 20, 2005). "Brigid Hughes Out at Paris Review". Gawker.
  8. ^ Wyatt, Edward (March 18, 2005). "New Editor of Paris Review Is Writer for The New Yorker". The New York Times.
  9. ^ Itzkoff, Dave (March 5, 2010). "Paris Review Names New Editor". ArtsBeat, The New York Times.
  10. ^ McFadden, McKay (November 8, 2006). "A place for fiction: A conversation with Brigid Hughes, editor of A Public Space". The Villager. 76 (25). Archived from the original on September 1, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  11. ^ Ward, Jesmyn (January 2008). "Cattle Haul". A Public Space.
  12. ^ Rudin, Michael (December 13, 2011). "Fiction Writers Review". Fiction Writers Review.
  13. ^ Rifkind, Donna (May 24, 2019). "'Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage' Review: Come, Go, Return". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 9, 2026.
  14. ^ "Kathleen Collins's Short Stories Were Almost Lost to History (Published 2016)". www.nytimes.com. New York Times. December 8, 2016. Retrieved January 9, 2026.
  15. ^ Zuarino, John (October 22, 2010). "You Got a Problem With That?". Electric Literature.
  16. ^ Li, Yiyun; Hughes, Brigid (May 12, 2010). "Kindness by Yiyun Li, including interview with Brigid Hughes" (Video interview). Lannan Foundation.
  17. ^ "Literary Quartet: Two on Two". PEN America. May 2, 2014.
  18. ^ Kirch, Claire (February 28, 2012). "Graywolf Goes Public with Literary Magazine". Publishers Weekly.
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