Nicole Rudick introducing Gene Smith’s Sink launch event hosted by The Paris Review and National Sawdust in Brooklyn in October 2017.

Today is Nicole Rudick’s last day as managing editor of The Paris Review, a job she’s held for eight years. She’s moving on to her own writing including finishing a book.  Her new era is exciting, but it gives me pause to look back.  I wouldn’t be the writer I am today if it hadn’t been for her.  We did something like forty pieces together over the eight years, including several ambitious mixed-media collaborations that were unprecedented for the magazine (most notably Big, Bent Ears).  She saw value and gave me confidence in a digressive, associative style I prefer that has baffled some over the years.  She also helped me learn how to use as few words as possible.  Her impact on Gene Smith’s Sink is immeasurable.  I’m happy that she will now have time to focus on her own writing.