Literary Arts 10.20.21
Click on the video to watch a full replay of this live program from October 20th, 2021.
Join our host Audrey Cooper, Editor in Chief at WNYC Public Radio as she leads an expert panel with Johanna Castillo, a Senior Agent at Writers House Literary Agency; Stephanie Frerich, an Executive Editor at Simon & Schuster; and Jennifer Torres, the award-winning author of Stef Soto, Taco Queen; The Fresh New Face of Griselda; and other books for young readers.
Audrey Cooper, Creator Chat Host
Audrey Cooper is Editor in Chief and VP of News for WNYC/New York Public Radio, a role she assumed in July 2020. Formerly she was the editor in chief of the San Francisco Chronicle, the first woman to fill the role in the company’s 154-year history. Under her leadership, the Chronicle won nearly every major national journalism prize, including more than a dozen Emmy awards. San Francisco magazine has named Audrey one of the city’s most powerful women. Editor and Publisher magazine named her one of the world’s “Top 10 Women to Watch” and Advertising Age named her one of their “Top 40 under 40.” A native of the Kansas City area, Audrey graduated magna cum laude from Boston University, which has honored her as a distinguished alumna.
Johanna Castillo
Johanna Castillo is a Senior Agent at Writers House Literary Agency. A seasoned professional in the publishing industry with 19+ years of experience, Johanna was formerly Vice President & Executive Editor at Atria Books/Simon and Schuster and Editorial Director of Atria Español. In that role, she acquired and edited forty-two New York Times bestsellers by multiple national and international bestselling authors including Isabel Allende, Colleen Hoover, Rachael Ray, Sara Shepard, Javier Sierra, Laura Esquivel, Felix J. Palma, and María Dueñas.
After joining Writers House in 2018, Johanna has built a robust list of clients with a focus on representing BIPOC authors, underrepresented voices and books that inspire social change and justice. She is currently representing; Isabel Allende, Ana Castillo, Reyna Grande, Justin Baldoni, Tina Lifford, Antonia Hylton, Natasha Alford, Armando Lucas Correa and others.
Johanna has been featured in The Miami Herald, The Boston Globe, The Daily News, and in Publishers Weekly. She was featured as a “Mujer on the Move” by Latina magazine, named a 2005 Prominent Latina by El Diario La Prensa, and was named one of the 25 Most Powerful Women by People en Español magazine in 2016. She is also a board member of the Board of Directors of Poets & Writers.
Stephanie Frerich
Stephanie Frerich is an Executive Editor at Simon & Schuster, where she acquires and edits nonfiction books on current events, business and technology, history, popular culture, and biography/memoir. Her authors include award-winning journalists Kara Swisher, Brad Stone, Taylor Lorenz, Anna Sale, Laura Coates, Emily Chang, and Sarah Frier; musician Halsey; venture capitalist John Doerr; entrepreneur Marie Forleo; Congressman Ro Khanna; and more. Hailing from Minnesota, she studied James Joyce in Ireland, briefly left publishing for a jaunt in the startup world at Skillshare, and brings an innovative approach to how to publish good books and reach readers with compelling stories and ideas that connect rather than divide us.
Jennifer Torres
Jennifer Torres is the award-winning author of Stef Soto, Taco Queen; The Fresh New Face of Griselda; and other books for young readers. She writes stories about home, friendship, and unexpected courage inspired by her Mexican American heritage. Jennifer started her career as a newspaper reporter, and even though she writes fiction now, she hopes her stories still have some truth in them. Her newest books—The Do-Over, a twist on the Parent Trap set during a pandemic, and the Catalina Incognito series—will be published in Spring 2022. Jennifer lives with her family in Southern California.