We are delighted to announce that Emily Kwilinski, Ph.D. is joining our team as Slant’s Managing Editor. Emily comes to us with a wide array of skills and experiences perfectly suited to expanding Slant’s readership and further establishing its presence as one of the most distinguished independent literary presses in North America today.

Slant founder Gregory Wolfe observed: “Emily will be an indispensable part of our effort to build Slant from a fledgling indie press into a sustainable, nonprofit publisher. We are very lucky to have someone of her talents and drive aboard for this next chapter of our history.”

Emily has served in a variety of roles, from associate editor at Verily Magazine to communications work for the Communion and Liberation movement, and brings marketing, social media, and editorial expertise to our small but dedicated staff.

Her first encounter with Slant was about a decade ago at Hillsdale College where as an undergraduate she attended a Visiting Writers seminar with Andrew Hudgins and Erin McGraw led by Gregory Wolfe. Slant has published two books that were a great influence on her—Everything I Did I Did for Happiness, a biography of Enzo Piccinini; and Shakeshafte, Rowan Williams’s brilliant play about a young William Shakespeare.

Kwilinski received her Ph.D. in 2023 from the University of St Andrews program in Theology, the Imagination, and the Arts while studying as a Fulbright scholar. Her dissertation, To Tell My Story: Narrativity and Community in Shakespeare and Dostoevsky, explored the profound contributions these authors have made to human self-understanding as it is communicated in philosophy, psychology, theology, and the turmoil of the contemporary world.

Slant’s mission and vision spoke to Kwilinski, whose intellectual interests include the importance of community, the human experience of narrativity, and the problem of increasing polarization in American society. She was drawn to the motto “I am human, I consider nothing human alien to me” (Terence), cited in Slant’s guiding vision. Her own love of literature and approach to life was catalyzed by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s observation that “The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either—but right through every human heart.”

“Literature has a profound role to play as a mediating force in contemporary culture, and the opportunity to work with Slant to expand the republic of letters is an immense privilege,” said Kwilinski. “I look forward to being of service in the bright future of Slant Books.”