Special Announcement

KR Names New Editor:
Nicole Terez Dutton

The Kenyon Review is delighted to announce that Nicole Terez Dutton has been named KR’s new editor. Dutton, a widely admired poet, editor, and teacher, will assume leadership of the journal and multi-faceted arts organization July 1. She succeeds David H. Lynn, who is retiring after twenty-six years.

Dutton is currently poetry editor at The Baffler as well as the managing editor of Transition Magazine and the Du Bois Review, both affiliated with the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University.

She holds an MFA from Brown University, and teaches in the Solstice Low-Residency MFA Program of Pine Manor College as well as the writing program at Emerson College.

Her collection of poems If One of Us Should Fall (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2012) won the 2011 Cave Canem Poetry Prize. Her work has appeared in Callaloo, Ploughshares, 32 Poems, Indiana Review, and Salt Hill Journal. She has received fellowships from the Frost Place, the Fine Arts Work Center, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.

Dutton will move to Ohio—and KR’s home on the Kenyon College campus in Gambier—from Somerville, Massachusetts, where in 2015 she was chosen as the city’s inaugural poet laureate.

“The position of editor of the Review is significant and challenging, especially in view of the accomplishments of David Lynn for more than twenty years,” said John Adams, who chairs the KR board. “But there is no person more capable of stepping into the role than Nicole. The Review is fortunate, indeed, to engage such a talented person.”

Grace Keefe Huebscher, a KR trustee who with Adams led the national search for a new editor, added: “The Kenyon Review trustees and the search committee knew the gravity of carrying forward the legacy of the Review that was so ably led under David Lynn’s stewardship. We couldn’t be more thrilled that the thoughtful and diligent search led us to Nicole Terez Dutton. Besides her literary accomplishments, Nicole is a revered teacher, a leader with many diverse and creative ideas who will only build and expand the Review’s reach.”

Lynn shared this enthusiasm. “Nicole Terez Dutton will be a brilliant editor to carry the Kenyon Review into a new era,” he said. “I’m confident that she has the experience, the imagination, and the vision to lead KR forward in a time of great opportunities as well as significant creative challenges.”

KR Managing Editor Abigail Wadsworth Serfass said, “We’re thrilled to welcome Nicole to Gambier as our new editor. The Kenyon Review will benefit immensely from her fresh perspective, creative energy, and collaborative approach to leadership.”

Fiction Editor Kirsten Reach, recalling Dutton’s visit to Kenyon as part of the interview process, said, “Our staff was bowled over by Nicole’s poetry, her experience, her intentional way of listening, and her new vision for the Review. We will be lucky to work with her.”

Noting that summer writing workshops have become central parts of KR’s mission, Director of Programs Anna Duke Reach added, “I welcome Nicole’s innovative ideas, which I know will enliven our programmatic work and enhance the educational mission of KR.”

Kenyon President Sean Decatur praised Dutton as both “a tremendously skilled writer and editor” and “a devoted teacher, with an enthusiasm for nurturing emerging talent that will serve her well at Kenyon. There is no doubt in my mind that Nicole will continue the Review’s upward trajectory, launching it toward new and exciting opportunities. I look forward to welcoming her to Gambier.”

That “upward trajectory” owes a lot to Lynn, who led the way in transforming KR from a storied but financially troubled print journal into a thriving literary arts organization. From KR’s headquarters in Finn House, Dutton will guide an organization that now stands out in the world of letters not only through the magazine—published six times a year—but also through the digital journal KROnline, summer writing workshops, a reading series, a major literary award and festival, a fellowship program for emerging talents, and an array of podcasts, blogs, social-media postings, and web features.

Dutton’s experience as a teacher will be valuable in advancing KR’s additional role in engaging the talents and energies of Kenyon undergraduates. Through the KR Associates program, roughly eighty students work with the KR staff, reading submissions, publicizing events, and undertaking initiatives of their own. The program adds to an already rich literary life at Kenyon, where KR and a highly respected English Department have for many years drawn students interested in writing and the study of literature.

Keep an eye on your email inbox for upcoming issues of the KR newsletter. A future issue will include a Q&A in which Nicole Terez Dutton shares a few thoughts on KR, her new role, and herself.

Celebrate with Subscription Savings

To share our excitement in welcoming Nicole Terez Dutton as KR’s new editor, we’re offering extraordinary savings on a subscription. You can get a full year of KR for $24.99—that’s 60 percent off the cover price, and our best discount ever. Click here to take advantage of this limited-time offer.

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