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
came poetry psyche
I've always used poetry to explain myself to myself. These things just sat in my psyche and then came out.
poetry
I've always loved the poetry in 'Pale Fire.' I think it's wonderful.
deal poetry
I think poetry was always where I went to deal with my deepest feelings.
except poetry
I think poetry should be read very much like prose, except that the line breaks should be acknowledged somehow.
analyse dig evoke poetry state trying
Poetry is really about your mental state or intellectual, and where you are, and you're trying to evoke that, explain it to yourself, whatever, you're trying to dig into it, analyse yourself.
art mainstream neither particular poetry serious
Poetry is not mainstream, but then neither is serious fiction, really. But I don't think there's a lot to worry about in this particular 'problem'. Why does art have to be mainstream to be significant?
carry close literary love poems poetry primary reading suppose
I love poetry; it's my primary literary interest, and I suppose the kind of reading you do when you are reading poems - close reading - can carry over into how you read other things.
What the beautiful-writing writers are most attached to is almost always superfluous.
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.
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.
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.