Sanyu Dillon, Kimberly Jackson, and Sasha Quinton
join the leadership of organization that empowers creative writers
New York, NY—November 20, 2023—Poets & Writers, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization serving creative writers, today announced that Sanyu Dillon, Kimberly Jackson, and Sasha Quinton have been elected to its Board of Directors. Madeline McIntosh, the former CEO of Penguin Random House U.S. and a Poets & Writers board member since 2018, was elected as president.
“Sanyu Dillon, Kimberly Jackson, and Sasha Quinton bring deep expertise in publishing, marketing, business, and storytelling,” said Ms. McIntosh. “Their shared commitment to creating vibrant, inclusive spaces for writers and readers alike aligns precisely with the ethos of Poets & Writers. I’m thrilled to welcome them to the board and look forward to working with them.”
Melissa Ford Gradel, executive director of Poets & Writers, added, “Madeline McIntosh’s leadership and the formidable skills of these new members will help Poets & Writers expand its reach and continue to serve writers, as we have for more than fifty years.”
Sanyu Dillon is president of the Random House Publishing Group, where she oversees imprints Random House, The Dial Press, Hogarth, The Modern Library, One World, Ballantine Bantam Dell/Delacorte, Random House Worlds, Harmony/Rodale, Convergent, and WaterBrook & Multnomah. An incisive and inclusive leader guided by future-oriented thinking and a deep passion for creative storytelling, she began her PRH career at Random House in 2004 as director of marketing for the Random House imprint. She held successive marketing roles over the next fourteen years, bringing an empathetic approach centered on a deep understanding of the evolving needs of readers. Dillon moved to corporate marketing in 2018, and in 2020 she became chief marketing officer, helping the company connect with its readers through dynamic storytelling and breakthrough campaigns. She is a member of the Penguin Random House U.S. Board and has an executive MBA from NYU Stern School of Business.
Kimberly Jackson worked in direct marketing for an educational publishing company before moving abroad to produce country-based economic reports for an international press agency. She lived and worked in many different countries, ultimately managing teams across the globe. After completing clinical studies in classical Chinese medicine, she attended Columbia University where she earned a master’s degree in narrative medicine, a discipline that integrates the humanities, health care justice, and clinical practice. Jackson brings a narratological framework to both her clinical work and her writing, and she is currently working on a book about her own experiences in the medical community. She serves as a trustee of the Liana Foundation, which supports education and the arts.
With over two decades of expertise in publishing, retail, distribution, and marketing, Sasha Quinton is recognized as an industry thought leader and champion for literacy and equity of access. As president of Scholastic’s School Reading Events, she leads the iconic Book Clubs and Fairs experiences, which build reading engagement and access for millions of kids each year, while raising more than $200 million in books and resources for schools nationwide. In 2020, she led Fairs’ launch of sponsored book fairs, which now provide more than one million free books annually to under-resourced kids. In her previous leadership roles with Barnes & Noble, Readerlink, and Reader’s Digest Association, Quinton helped modernize the complex business of bookselling across all major facets—from development to distribution—and reimagined the customer experience for the industry’s largest companies. A graduate of Amherst College, Quinton is the 2024 co-chair of the Art & Writing Awards Gala for the Alliance of Young Artists & Writers and served on the board of Bernie’s Book Bank.
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Poets & Writers is the primary source of information, support, and guidance for poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers in the United States. Our mission is to foster the professional development of poets and writers, to promote communication throughout the literary community, and to help create an environment in which literature can be appreciated by the widest possible public.
We advance this mission through Poets & Writers Magazine, the leading publication of its kind; a website that provides extensive free resources for writers as well as a lively online community; professional development opportunities for writers; and grants that pay writers for giving readings and leading writing workshops in small towns and big cities across the country. We sponsor the Jackson Poetry Prize and Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award. We are guided by our core values of service, inclusivity, integrity, and excellence and are committed to becoming an antiracist organization. Learn more at pw.org.
Contact:
Rachel Schuder
Director of Development & Marketing
(212) 226-3596 x201
rschuder@pw.org