Dear Saturnalia Books readers and fans,
I founded Saturnalia Books in 2002 with the desire to bring new voices into the American poetry landscape. In the past nineteen years, I have fulfilled that dream beyond my wildest expectations. The authors we’ve published, the poetry that has contributed to national dialogues, are among my proudest achievements.
Which brings me to 2021. I am thrilled that we are bringing in two new staff members to guide Saturnalia Books to its next iteration. Timothy Liu and Sarah Wetzel, both accomplished poets in their own rights, will be Editor-in-Chief and Editor-at-Large respectively. I’m sad to announce that Chris Salerno will simultaneously be transitioning out of his role as Editor. It has been an honor to work with him over the past 5 years and all of Saturnalia Books wishes him the best in his future adventures and sends a gigantic thank you.
I have full confidence that Timothy and Sarah will be able to keep Saturnalia Books relevant and expand its aesthetic vision for years to come. To ensure a smooth transition, I will remain on staff as Founder and consultant through 2022. I am excited to see how this transfusion of fresh blood will invigorate Saturnalia Books.
May 2021 bring you all much needed joy,
Henry Israeli
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Timothy Liu is the author of twelve books of poems, including Vox Angelica (1992 Norma Farber First Book Award from the Poetry Society of America), Say Goodnight (1999 PEN Open Book / Beyond Margins Award), Of Thee I Sing (2004 Publishers Weekly Book-of-the-Year), and three titles from Saturnalia Books. His journals and papers are archived in the Berg Collection at the New York Public Library, and his poems have been translated into ten languages. A reader of occult esoterica, he divides his time between Manhattan and Woodstock, NY. www.timothyliu.net
Sarah Wetzel is the author of the poetry collection All Our Davids, recently released from Terrapin Books. She is also the author of River Electric with Light, which won the AROHO Poetry Publication Prize and was published by Red Hen Press in 2015, and Bathsheba Transatlantic, which won the Philip Levine Prize for Poetry and was published by Anhinga Press in 2010. When not shuttling between her two geographic loves—Rome, Italy and New York City—she is a PhD student in Comparative Literature in the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City. She holds an engineering degree from Georgia Tech and a MBA from Berkeley. More importantly for her poetry, she completed a MFA in Creative Writing at Bennington College in January 2009. www.sarahwetzel.com.