Robert Weil is an Executive Editor and Vice President of the publishing imprint
W.W. Norton
W. W. Norton & Company is an American publishing company based in New York City. Established in 1923, it has been owned wholly by its employees since the early 1960s. The company is known for its Norton Anthologies (particularly ''The Norton An ...
/ Liveright. From 2011 to 2022 he was the Editor-in-Chief and Publishing Director of Liveright, succeeded by Peter J. Simon in July, 2022.
Early life and career
Weil graduated from
Yale College
Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...
with a B.A. in History in 1977, and originally considered teaching high school before beginning his publishing career with Times Books in 1978 as an Editorial Assistant. Two and a half years later he moved to the former ''
Omni Magazine
''Omni'' was a science and science fiction magazine published in its domestic American market as well as the UK. It contained articles on science, parapsychology, and short works of science fiction and fantasy. It was published as a print version ...
''. With ''Omni Magazine'' he introduced a book division and packaged and agented science books to publishers before becoming Senior Editor at
St. Martin's Press
St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...
in 1988, a division of
Macmillan Publishers
Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publ ...
. Weil's acquisitions included Michael Wallis's ''Route 66'',
Henry Roth’s tetralogy of novels called ''The Mercy of a Rude Stream'',
Oliver Stone’s autobiographical novel ''A Child’s Night Dream'', and
John Bayley’s ''Elegy for Iris''.
W.W. Norton & Company / Liveright Publishing
In 1998, Weil moved to
W.W. Norton & Company as an Executive Editor. His acquisition of most of the
Patricia Highsmith
Patricia Highsmith (January 19, 1921 – February 4, 1995) was an American novelist and short story writer widely known for her psychological thrillers, including her series of five novels featuring the character Tom Ripley.
She wrote 22 novel ...
backlist, which included several new volumes, in 1999, helped launch the Highsmith renaissance in the U.S. and the 2015 film ''
Carol'' starring
Cate Blanchett and
Rooney Mara
Patricia Rooney Mara ( ; born April 17, 1985) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, ...
, based on the novel ''
The Price of Salt'', as well as Highsmith's diaries, published in 2021. Weil also worked for several years with
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
(and Paul Muldoon) on the editing of McCartney's book ''The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present'', published in 2021.
In 2011, Weil was named the Editor-in-Chief and Publishing Director of Liveright Publishing Corporation. Per a 2021 profile in ''
Publishers Weekly
''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
'', "The relaunched imprint released its first books in 2012. It started with two full-time staffers and a list of about 20 books per year, and has grown to eight staffers and about 40 books annually." During Weil's tenure as Editor-in-Chief, Liveright received four Pulitzer Prizes (among nine finalists) as well as a National Book Award (among eight nominees).
The current staff of Liveright includes Peter Miller, Dan Gerstle, Nick Curley, Cordelia Calvert, Gina Iaquinta, Haley Bracken, and Zeba Arora.
Additional work
Beyond editing, Weil frequently lectures on writing, publishing history, and the state of American culture and literature. He has spoken in Munich, Guadalajara, Miami, Chicago, and at Yale University, Vanderbilt University, and the University of Nebraska, among others. He has also written on books and publishing for various publications including ''The Washington Post'' and ''ArtForum''.
Selected authors edited by Robert Weil
Selected works edited by Robert Weil
References
External links
*Ronald Collins
An Interview with Robert Weil ''Washington Independent Review of Books'' (April 5, 2016)
Virtual Memories Show 261: Robert Weil*
ttps://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/74116-liveright-to-publish-nelson-mandela-s-prison-letters.html Liveright to Publish Nelson Mandela's Prison Lettersbr>
An Interview with Robert WeilLiveright Publishing CorporationRobert Weil on publishing German literature*[https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/the-complete-works-of-primo-levi-a-literary-treasury-on-humanity/2015/09/23/e7d1beba-5e1e-11e5-b38e-06883aacba64_story.html Michael Dirda discusses the ''Complete Works of Primo Levi'' and Robert Weil's publishing career]
C-SPAN BookTV interview with Robert Weil
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weil, Robert
American book editors
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Yale College alumni