Harman Writer-in-Residence Program Internship Pipeline at the New York Review of Books

The New York Review of Books

Through the generous support of the Harman Family Foundation and by arrangement with Baruch’s Sidney Harman Writer-in-Residence Program, The New York Review of Books is now offering paid, flexible internships to Baruch seniors and recent graduates, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds and communities, who have a strong interest in the kind of intellectually rigorous writing and publishing that the Review specializes in, from politics to poetry to science to fiction.

How the Internship Works

The interns are hired in pairs. The first two worked in fall of 2020, and there have been five more pairs of interns since then. The Spring 2023 internships will last for six months, most of which will be remote, with the opportunity to work in the office on occasion.

Occasional internships are also available at New York Review Books, the book publishing arm of NYRB. Students who are interested in pursuing a book publishing internship should indicate that in their cover letter.

The next pair of interns on the magazine side will begin in January of 2023. Pay is $16/hr.

Talented, disciplined students who are interested in and able to make the most of this opportunity should send an NYRB-specific cover letter and recently updated resume to Prof. Esther Allen, director of the Harman Writer-in-Residence Program:

Esther.Allen@baruch.cuny.edu

For consideration for the winter/spring 2022 magazine internship, cover letter and resume should be submitted by December 1st, 2022.

Students who apply for this position should first research The New York Review of Books. A good place to begin is Martin Scorsese’s 2014 documentary film The 50 Year Argument, which chronicles the Review’s first half-century. Click here to access the film, available to us from Baruch’s Newman Library .

More About the NYRB

“With a worldwide circulation of over 145,000, The New York Review of Books has established itself, in Esquire’s words, as ‘the premier literary-intellectual magazine in the English language.’ The New York Review began during the New York publishing strike of 1963, when its founding editors, Robert Silvers and Barbara Epstein, and their friends, decided to create a new kind of magazine—one in which the most interesting and qualified minds of our time would discuss current books and issues in depth. Just as importantly, it was determined that the Review should be an independent publication; it began life as an independent editorial voice and it remains independent today.”

As an example of the kinds of opportunities available to the interns, this interview of Ed Park, a novelist, journalist, former executive editor at Penguin Press, and founding editor of The Believer magazine, was done by Baruch student Sable Gravesandy and recent Baruch grad Anacoana Rodriguez Martinez, and published in the NYRB internal newsletter, which circulates to staff and subscribers.

A string of alumni who worked as assistants for the Sidney Harman Writer-in-Residence Program and/or who interned at The New York Review of Books are launching careers in the publishing industry.

Baruch alumna Ashley Candelario, a former NYRB intern, recently got a job at HarperOne Group (HarperCollins Español, HarperVia, Amistad, HarperOne) in the publicity department. Alumna Nikkia Rivera, who does publicity for Flatiron Books, was a Harman Program Assistant. Katherine Hernandez, who works at Simon & Schuster, was also a Harman Assistant.

The pathway to the publishing industry “seems to be a lovely pattern for former Harman Assistants,” said Professor Bridgett Davis, former director of the Harman Program.

Baruch Professor Gisele Regatao, a member of the Harman Program’s Advisory Board, with her former student and former Harman Assistant Katherine Hernandez, who now works at Simon and Schuster.