HONOREES
24 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ SEPTEMBER 9, 2019
IVY NOELLE WEIR
Publicist, marketing manager
Quirk Books, Philadelphia
I
n book publishing, one usually isn’t both a publicist and a
marketing manager, but at Quirk, until last month, Weir wore
both hats. She recently shared what she described as the “bit-
tersweet” news that she’s moving to Boston to be closer to her
family and has accepted the position of collection management spe-
cialist, at EBSCO eBooks. Before joining Quirk, she worked as a teen
librarian for five years and was selected to participate in the American
Library Association’s class of Emerging Leaders. Her Quirk colleague
Andie Reid says, “I’m not sure I’ve ever met someone more dedicated
to and immersed in the world
of books than Ivy.” Weir
brought her varied experience
to many innovative cam-
paigns, such as Book Pop!,
which features fun kits that
give convention-style experi-
ences to bookstores. Weir calls
her time at Quirk invaluable
and says, “I’m beyond grateful
for my time at Quirk.”
REID WELSH
Senior analyst, sales business development
Penguin Random House, New York CityO
ur cutting-edge analysis of marketplace trends
provides a strong competitive advantage for
Penguin Random House,” says v-p of sales Randi
Rosenkranz, and she believes that Welsh has had
a major impact in achieving that edge. She cites the company’s
recent adoption of Microsoft’s Power BI, a business analytics
service, in which Welsh played a key role. Working closely with
senior v-p and COO Nihar
Malaviya’s team, “he
helped create a tool that
provides flexible reporting,
time-saving solutions, and
unique insights on catego-
ries and trends,”
Rosenkranz says. Welsh
fast-tracked to his current
position. It was only four
years ago that he joined the
company as a sales assistant. Two years later he was a business
analyst, and last November he was named to his current posi-
tion. “Reid’s enthusiasm and dedication are unmatched,”
Rosenkranz says. “He has quickly become the go-to person for
quick and effective analysis. There’s no project too challenging
or mountain too high for Reid to climb, and it’s easy to forget
that he is still, relatively speaking, a junior employee.”DENIS WOYCHUK
Founder and owner
KGB Bar, New York CityW
e do a lot of culture here,” founder and owner
Denis Woychuk told AM New York about
KGB Bar, the space that is far more literary
venue than bar. The storied (literally) venue
at 85 East 4th St. in New York City’s East Village began as a
speakeasy in the 1920s and, during the Cold War, was the
headquarters of Little Ukraine’s own semisecret socialist club.
But for the past 20 years, the space has established itself as a
literary hot spot providing a pre- and postpublication hub for
writers, with events almost nightly. The bar also publishes its
own literary journal. Nine years ago, Woychuk launched the
Sideshow Goshko performance series curated by Leslie Goshko,
a performer and musician. And while the bar’s various themed
nights—including poetry, fantasy fiction, and writing by sex
workers—are usually home to emerging writers, such lumi-
naries as Jonathan Franzen, Joyce Carol Oates, Luc Sante, A.M.
Homes, and Rick Moody have hallowed its literary halls. ■“
“
DANIEL VAZQUEZ
Assistant editor
Farrar, Straus and Giroux/MCD,
New York CityD
avid Unger, director of
the Publishing
Certificate Program at
the City College of New York, has a self-described
“proud papa” attitude toward his former student Vazquez,
whom he calls “a wonderful and talented young man.” Vazquez’s
star was shining bright when he was accepted into Unger’s
graduate Translation Seminar while he was still an undergrad,
where he did translations of Dominican and Puerto Rican
authors. Now he is at MCD, FSG’s imprint dedicated to pub-
lishing “the unexpected—surprising stories, unusual authors,
innovative formats—with the creativity and energy it deserves,”
Vazquez says. His particular interest is genre-bending narra-
tives representing strong, diverse characters and bold, progres-
sive ideas. His first acquisition was the Man Booker–nominated
debut novel In Our Mad and Furious City by Guy Gunaratne.
He also was behind the recently published memoir This Is Not
a T-Shirt from Bobby Hundreds, founder of the streetwear label
the Hundreds. Vazquez is a member of the diversity initiatives
in publishing Latinx and POC in Publishing.