I acquire scholarly and trade books in the humanities, focusing on literature, criticism, biography, and classical music. I look for ambitious books marked by writerly assurance and unorthodox thinking. Recent and forthcoming books include Amitav Ghosh’s Wild Fictions: Essays on Literature, Empire, and the Environment, Daniel Mendelsohn’s translation of Homer’s The Odyssey, Sarah Mesle’s Reasons and Feelings: Writing for the Humanities Now, and Elisa Tamarkin’s Done in a Day: Telex from the Fall of Saigon. See below under “Titles” for other representative acquisitions.

Among the series I sponsor are Thinking Literature, edited by Nan Z. Da and Andrea Gadberry; New Material Histories of Music, edited by Nicholas Mathew and James Q. Davies; and Opera Lab, edited by David Levin and Mary Ann Smart. Poetry and writing about poetry is a longtime strength of the literature list, ranging from the works of Susan Stewart and Charles Bernstein to the Phoenix Poets series. I also acquire books, such as Colby Gordon’s recent Glorious Bodies, that contribute to the Press’s broad strength in gender and sexuality studies. In the area of literary translation, I have published works by Thomas Bernhard, Albert Camus, Friedrich Durrenmatt, Roger Grenier, Robert Musil, and others. I publish occasional books of photography and visual studies, such as W. Eugene Smith’s Dream Street and The Jazz Loft Project, Ashley Gilbertson’s Bedrooms of the Fallen, and the writings of W. J. T. Mitchell. My own publications include pieces for the Los Angeles Review of Books, Places Journal, and Design Observer, as well as the photobook 55x5. You can find me on Instagram, Bluesky, and my personal website.

I am fortunate to work with several editors acquiring in adjacent areas: Mollie McFee acquires our books in ethnomusicology and popular music; Elizabeth Branch Dyson acquires in jazz and blues; Karen Levine acquires in classics and art; Randy Petilos acquires books in medieval studies; and David Olsen is responsible for our Phoenix Poets series. 

I welcome queries both from agents and directly from authors. Prospective authors are encouraged to consult our submission guidelines. We provide an overview about publishing with Chicago here. (If you wish to offer freelance copyediting or indexing services, please contact our manuscript editing department at freelance_inquiries_books@uchicago.edu.)