Sadi Ranson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti is a British poet and author living in the United States who has published widely in the United States and in Europe. Although she has written for print publications, she is most widely known as a result of her prolific output online.
[edit] Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti
Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti first became known for her premier novel, Eels, which was published by Alyscamps Press in Paris in 1997. Eels was compared to the novel by Elizabeth Smart, By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept and, among others, Sylvia Plath's [[The Bell Jar]]. The novella, Eels, was well received and well-reviewed by Dalkey Archive Press, The Boston Book Review, The Harvard Review, among others, in the States and Europe. At the time of publication, Ranson had already left David R. Godine Publisher to found her own imprint, Lumen Editions.
[edit] Lumen Editions
Ranson-Polizzotti was founder and Editorial Director of the literary press Lumen Editons, an imprint of Brookline Books, which was known for publishing work in translation, and shedding a light where none had been shed before. The board of Lumen Editions was comprised of, among others, notable individuals in the publishing world, Nobel Prize Winner Saul Bellow, author Tom Porht, artist Rosamund Purcell, New York publisher Ned Chase (father of Chevy Chase), and other notable figures in the publishing industry.
Lumen Editions quickly established itself as one of the best independent publishers in its class and received a great deal of media attention both for its high-profile Editorial Board as well as the fine quality of work in translation. It soon became one of the most watched publishers in its class.
Under Ranson-Polizzotti's direction, Lumen Editions published many great authors including the work of Prix Goncourt winner Jean Echenoz, Harry Mathews, Florence Delay, Margeurite Duras, and others. The publishing house received a great deal of attention in both trade and nontrade magazines such as Publisher's Weekly, Independent Publisher, and the books are notable for receiving a New York Times review (per book) as well as garnering attention and numerous reviews from other major national media.
Ranson has been profiled by various magazines for her work at Lumen and was most recently profiled for the famous Cleveland Blogcritics [1], an online newspaper and magazine that won Best of Forbes in its class. Due to the work Ranson was doing at Lumen and that paperback translations had previously not garnered much attention where Lumen succeeded, Independent Publisher named Ranson the enfant terrible of the publishing world.
One of the most important books that Lumen Editons and Ranson published was the final book written by French author Marguerite Duras. The book's title was Writing (in French, Ecrire), was translated by Mark Polizzotti (author of Revolution of the Mind, the biography of French Surrealist Andre Breton, and a well-known French translator). Duras is best-known for her book The Lover as well as her screenplay Hiroshima, Mon Amour, among many other books that Duras published both in French and that have now been translated into English.
[edit] Background sketch; The Atlantic Monthly, Conde-Nast Publications, David R. Godine, Publisher, teaching.
Ranson had previously worked in publishing since the age of fifteen and was one of the youngest "Rovers" or interns ever hired by the large magazine publishing house of Conde Nast (where she worked in the New York city office), which publishes many of the top magazines world-wide. Ranson worked at Vogue.
After being born and raised in Great Britain, Ranson attended University and interned in the United States. At present, she is an established writer and poet (in many areas, including technology), as well as professor (at the graduate level where she teaches Book Editing and Publishing to graduate students). She also guest lectures on various topics at a number of universities and has participated in she has also done public radio programs on the state of translation public radio programs. She has lectured at Harvard University's Bunting Institute for publishing, and is soon lecturing on pop culture and Bob Dylan, about whom she runs a successful web site.
[edit] Vogue - Conde-Nast - Authors Worked With
Vogue, Elle, House & Garden (at the time), Gentlemen's Quarterly, Vanity Fair and other publications owned by Conde Nast were soon published under the leadership of Steven T. Florio who became CEO of Advance Publications, which also published The New Yorker.
After working at Conde Nast Publications, Ranson attended Boston University, returning to Conde Nast for several summers to work as a fashion assistant at Vogue magazine where she worked for Jade Hobson and Anna Wintour as well as other editors under the direction of then editor Grace Mirabella. Note that this is the same program that employed Sylvia Plath at one time and which provides the backdrop of her famous book the The Bell Jar.
After graduating with a Bachelor of Science from Boston University, Ranson worked at The Atlantic Monthly as a literary associate where she evaluated incoming manuscripts for Staff and Fiction Editor C. Michael Curtis as well as Poetry Editor Peter Davison, before she was hired by the well-known independent literary publishing house of David R. Godine, Publisher. Note that David R. Godine, Publisheris known for its fine quality books and high-profile authors such as Leslie Fiedler, poet Kate Barnes (daughter of Henry Beston, the author of classic book Outermost House), Walter Abish, John Banville, Aharon Appelfeld, Harry Mathews and many others.
[edit] David R. Godine, Publisher
Godine quickly established itself as one of the premier publishers of fine typography books and limited letter-press editions of rare titles. As an aside, Godine recently acquired the much-acclaimed publisher Black Sparrow Books of which David Godine wrote "The Black Sparrow backlist is an American literary treasure that we intend to keep intact, available, and alive for many years to come. Here, for newcomers and long-term admirers alike, are the real goods, a flashing heaven of good books. Welcome to the Great Outside." Black Sparrow established itself as a publisher of fine work including that of Paul Bowles.
[edit] Lewis Carroll - Bob Dylan - Other Writings
Ranson has well-established herself in the world of trade publishing as an editor and is also well-established as a poet as well as writer of fiction and non-fiction. Ranson has written widely about author Lewis Carroll. Ranson-Polizzotti is now under contract to Continuum Books and is writing a full-length manuscript about Carroll as part of a series of great authors, edited by VP and Senior Editor, Evander Lomke[2]
Ranson-Polizzotti's other manuscripts are represented by Michelle Rubin, literary agent, located in Manhattan, at writer's house, which also represents the estate of Dr. Martin Luther King, among many other authors (a partial list on site.)
She has written a great deal about Temporal Lobe Epilepsy for major health sites as well as more general news sites and again, on Wikipedia.
Ranson-Polizzotti has published widely in the IT field for her technical writings and podcasts for various organizations including Teleread, editor David Rothman.
Ranson also runs a highly-trafficked web-site about Bob Dylan from her general site, tant mieux where the full-breadth of her work is available. The Dylan section's articles are carried by expectingrain, an officially endorsed Dylan site. The Bob Dylan section is part of The Tant Mieux Project (a collection of related sites that deal mostly with biography) and can be found at Bob Dylan[3]
[edit] Original Poetry & Essays About Poetry
Ranson-Polizzotti writes poetry on her personal website on a regular (almost daily) basis. Most are confessional in nature (similar to poets she admires). Usually first person, sensual and involving a lot of recurring themes. Many are about her life overseas in France. Many are accompanied by photos (sometimes of herself). These poems haven't been yet collected. Her articles cover a variety of subjects, including cultural comment, GenX issues, review, literature, music and more and are available in her collected works at Tant Mieux
Varieties of Poetic Experience lists the various poetic genres she has written. Her work has been published in journals both in the United States and abroad and has been well-received and reviewed by many journals such as The Dalkey Archive Press (publisher) which reviewed Ranson's first book, Eels;[4] .
The Plath-Hughes Project contains essays on theSylvia Plath and Ted Hughes relationship.
[edit] Books & Notable Works
Eels, Alsycamps Press, Paris, ISBN 1-897722-89-3
The American Directory of Writer's Guidelines, 3rd Edition: A Compilation of Information for Freelancers from More Than 1,400 Magazine Editors and Book Publishers (Paperback), Quill Driver Books, 3rd Edition, January 2003
What About Lewis Carroll Biography & Source Studies, editor Fred Carl
First Book Market, editor Jason Shinder, “Faith and Fiction” by Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti, Macmillan, Book of the Month Club selection. ISBN 188495619X,
Biography & Source Studies; an anthology editor Fred Carl, "What about Lewis Carroll" by Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti, editor Fred Carl
Epilepsy & Exorcism All the RageTant Mieux, 2006
42 Seconds Underground with Lewis Carroll
The Dreamchild: Carroll & Nabokov's Elusive Nymphet
[edit] Webpages and Online Writing
Sadi-Ranson Polizotti runs several personal websites and projects, contributes poetry to dozens of literary magazines, and has (as of November 2006) published over 275 articles/essays on American culture for blogcritics. (Here is a partial list).
Personal website: includes poetry, essays, photos & epilepsy writings on Tant Mieux.
Ourmedia page for Sadi Ranson-Polizotti: includes audio and video.
[edit] Some Epilepsy Writings
[edit] Secondary Material: Essays & Reviews about Sadi-Ranson Polizzotti
Sorting through the Shards with Sadi: The Confessional Essay: discussion of Ranson's confessional style by Robert Nagle.
[5]: Blogcritics Interview
