Los Angeles, CA – Los Angeles Review of Books (LARB) and the University of Southern California (USC) have begun the inaugural LARB / USC Publishing Workshop, an immersive, five-week program designed to train students in digital and print publishing through real-world, hands-on experience.
The first week includes lectures and presentations by many experts and innovators, including writer, editor, and entrepreneur Richard Nash, media scholar Henry Jenkins, author and senior writer at Buzzfeed Doree Shafrir, Editor-in-Chief of The Paris Review Lorin Stein, and Los Angeles Times Arts and Entertainment Editor Laurie Ochoa.
“This is a chance for us to help train the editors and publishers of tomorrow,” said Tom Lutz, Editor-in-Chief of the Los Angeles Review of Books. “We’re thrilled to be teaming up with USC to bring the best innovative thinking about the future of publishing to the table.”
The Workshop’s newly appointed Director is Janice Rhoshalle Littlejohn. An alumnus of USC and a Senior Editor at the Los Angeles Review of Books, Littlejohn has had an extensive career as a journalist, as a columnist for the Associated Press, and contributor to USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, Essence, and other publications. She is also the co-author of Swirling: How to Date, Mate, and Relate Mixing Race, Culture, and Creed (Atria, 2012), as well as the screenplay Those People: A Love Story, which was selected by the DreamAgo 2016 Plume & Pellicule international screenwriting atelier.
“The Workshop provides our cohorts a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in the foundations of traditional and innovative platforms from experts who specialize in various facets of the publishing business, from creative to social, business to technological,” said Littlejohn. “We have 56 students attending this summer’s workshop, and I’m excited about the diversity in this summer’s class. Moving forward, it is my goal to increase our enrollment and attract an even broader diversity of voices that will be an essential part of the future growth and stability of the publishing community. To that end, we are dedicated to making the program available to any qualified applicant, regardless of their ability to pay, and this is made possible by generous grants.”
Attracting students from all over the country and the globe, the Workshop is made possible with the help of fellowships from the Germanacos Foundation, The Goldhirsh Foundation, Amazon Literary Partnership, and UNLV’s Black Mountain Institute. In addition, each year the Los Angeles Review of Books will enroll two USC students or alumni free of charge, distinguishing them as LARB-USC Fellows; LARB will also offer two scholarships for applicants not affiliated with USC.
“Through hands-on experience, this innovative publishing program will give participants the practical and conceptual tools they need to succeed in this rapidly changing industry,” said Daniela Bleichmar, Associate Provost for Faculty and Student Initiatives in the Arts and Humanities at USC. “We are excited to give the program a home and to collaborate with LARB in bringing it to life.”
The Los Angeles Review of Books / USC Publishing Workshop will differentiate itself from more traditional publishing courses by emphasizing real-world experience: students will work in groups to create a print magazine or website, or develop a business plan for a new publishing enterprise. Industry experts will advise students about every aspect of digital and print publishing, from line editing to layout, and coding to graphic design.
The Workshop will prepare students for the exciting and evolving world of 21st-century publishing, under the guidance and mentorship of experts at the vanguard of the industry.
More information on the program can be found here:
www.thepublishingworkshop.com
ABOUT THE LOS ANGELES REVIEW OF BOOKS
The Los Angeles Review of Books is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and disseminating rigorous, incisive, and engaging writing on every aspect of literature, culture, and the arts. Its online magazine was created in part as a response to the disappearance of the traditional newspaper book review supplement, and, with it, the art of lively, intelligent long-form writing on recent publications in every genre, ranging from fiction to politics. The Los Angeles Review of Books seeks to revive and reinvent the book review for the internet age, and remains committed to covering and representing today’s diverse literary and cultural landscape.