Atlanta's Literary Community Rallies Against Newspaper's Elimination of Book Review Editor Position

By Lynn Andriani -- Publishers Weekly, 4/19/2007 9:32:00 AM

In the wake of the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s elimination of the books editor position formerly held by Teresa Weaver, Atlanta’s literary community is mobilizing to get Weaver reinstated. A petition is making the rounds, and publishing folk ranging from independent bookseller Wordsmiths Books to NBCC president John Freeman have posted pleas to bring Weaver back on their blogs and web sites.

Shannon Byrne, an Atlanta-based publicity manager for Little, Brown who is involved with the campaign to bring Weaver—and the book review section—back, said "We will probably picket. The way we see it, the book review section cannot be run without [Weaver]." Byrne e-mailed her signed petition to the newspaper’s editor, Julia Wallace, and received an automated response stating "We are not killing our book coverage or book pages.... We will be using freelancers, established news services and our staff to provide stories about books of interest to our readers and the local literary community." (Look here for the full text of Wallace's letter.) Byrne’s response to Wallace’s message? "I don’t buy it for one minute."

On the NBCC’s blog Critical Mass this morning, John Freeman wrote, "The AJC’s section was run by long-time NBCC member and former board member Teresa Weaver, who put together one of the best-edited literary pages in the country, giving Atlanta -- which was #15 on the list of most literate cities in the U.S. (far ahead of New York (#49) -- the cultural dialogue it deserved."

Ironically, the AJC co-sponsored first annual Atlanta Journal Constitution Decatur Book Festival last year, and will do so again this year (Aug. 31-Sept. 2). The paper's support of the fair but apparent change in its book review coverage sends "a mixed message," said Byrne.