Jonathan Galassi
Jonathan Galassi
Jonathan Galassi born 1949 in Seattle, Washington, is the President and Publisher of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, one of the eight major publishers in New York. He began his publishing career at Houghton Mifflin in Boston, moved to Random House in New York, and finally, to Farrar, Straus & Giroux. He joined FSG as executive editor in 1985, after being fired from Random House. Two years later, he was named editor-in-chief, and is now President and Publisher...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPublisher
CountryUnited States of America
background convincing form history interests needs reads terms
A translation needs to read convincingly. There's no limit to what can go into it in terms of background research, feeling, or your own interests in form and history. But what should come out is something that reads as convincing English-language text.
work
An e-book distributor is not a publisher, but rather a purveyor of work that has already been created.
elizabeth particular personally rate
Elizabeth Bishop in particular had a big impact on me personally as well as artistically. Her insistence on clarity is something I rate very highly.
afraid faith hard listen work
Be patient, work hard and consistently, have faith in your writing, and don't be afraid to listen to constructive criticism.
Editing is more by-the-hip. You look at a text and ask yourself how it can be improved.
died europeans
Eugenio Montale - born in Genoa in 1896, died in Milan, 1981 - is one of the twentieth-century Europeans who has spoken most meaningfully to American and British poets.
amazing best except hold publishing telling
Everything is different - except for publishing itself: getting hold of an amazing author, working to make his or her book the best and best-looking it can be, telling the world.
saw
There's an old saw about journalism that the more you know about a subject, the less sense reporting about it makes.
believe experience great market people printed romance smell tactile
There's been a fragmentation of how the market functions, but I believe printed books are here to stay. People like the tactile experience, the smell of them; there's a great romance to them.
authors great published time
A lot of great authors are published before their time. That's not wrong; it's just the way it works.
far positions print sell work
A publisher - and I write as one - does far more than print and sell a book. It selects, nurtures, positions and promotes the writer's work.
couple england studied
After college, I went to England and studied for a couple years.
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The thing that happened with the music business, there are no stores anymore where you can buy music. It's all an online business now, and that's, you know - the bookstore culture is a very vibrant part of the American experience that we're very reluctant to see go away.
came poetry psyche
I've always used poetry to explain myself to myself. These things just sat in my psyche and then came out.