If you look up ‘literary hipster’ in the dictionary, you just might find a picture of McSweeney’s, the San Francisco-based publishing company started by rule-bending writer Dave Eggers.
Jordan Bass, managing editor of McSweeney’s, is here to share the story of his now-iconic publishing house – and by extension, his country’s creative writing scene.
What makes McSweeney’s original? How do they remain both irreverent and oddball, respected and popular? And where do they sit in the wider literary playground?
This unique event brings the best of America to the centre of Melbourne, letting book-lovers listen to the beating heart of US literary culture – and sharing an insider’s view on what makes it work, what’s around the corner, and which authors we should all be reading next.
Photo: Daniel Lobo
Featuring
Jordan Bass
Jordan Bass is the managing editor of McSweeney’s Publishing, where he’s helped to edit and design dozens of books, both fiction and non-fiction, since 2004.
His main focus is McSweeney’s Quarterly, a short-story journal which he oversees; McSweeney’s has published work by George Saunders, David Foster Wallace, Stephen King, Lydia Davis, and hundreds of other notable writers. Several stories Jordan has selected and edited for the journal have gone on to appear in the Best American Short Stories, and to receive the National Magazine Award for fiction.