Jen Knoch, Senior Editor

What I'm looking for . . .
When it comes to fiction or memoir, I’m looking for a voice that is arresting from the first page, as in Catherine Gildiner’s Coming Ashore. A strong plot is important too, and though I generally don’t acquire genre fiction (romance, sci-fi, mystery, etc.), some genre flair can be a welcome addition, as in Brenda Brooks's Honey. I also work on pop culture books, especially music books (Joni Mitchell, Nowhere with You). I am always looking for narrative non-fiction on health, social issues, women's issues, and nature/environment, and especially love when some of those things intersect (Born to Walk, The Fruitful City, BLEED). While I don't acquire problem-oriented self-help, I am a sucker for vivacious books about self-improvement: let's call this category being awesomer (Careergasm, Happy Go Money). Across the board, I am especially keen to publish underrepresented voices and experiences. 

What I read (and loved) recently . . .
I’m often drawn into practical memoirs, and found Dan Harris's 10% Happier to be the perfect example — it’s insightful, critical and funny, not to mention genuinely useful. That blend of the personal and the expository shows up in other recent favourites like Roxane Gay’s Hunger, Kyo Maclear's Birds Art Life, Robin Wall Kimmerer's Braiding Sweetgrass, Oliver Burkeman's 4000 Weeks, and anything by Rebecca Solnit. Some of my favourite kinds of books offer transformative frameworks for seeing, and living in, the world, such as How We Show Up by Mia Birdsong and Golden by Justin Zorn and Leigh Marz. I love personal essay collections, like The Wrong Way to Save Your Life by Megan Stielstra, A Mind Spread Out on the Ground by Alicia Elliott, and Inciting Joy by Ross Gay. Recent fiction highlights have been Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Greenwood, The Mothers, All My Puny Sorrows, The Great Believers, and Girl, Woman, Other.

What I do outside of work . . .
Garden. Swim. Fight climate change and food insecurity. Make preserves. Read. Walk. Make soap. Ask my cat if he's the best boy in the world. (He is.)

 @jen_knoch     @jkknoch     jenk@ecwpress.com