From Pitch to Publish in the Public Humanities
February 2 - February 3
FREE
Join award-winning writers and journalists Lauren Markham and Chris Feliciano Arnold for two days of panels and workshops.
When: February 2–3, 2026 Location: Royce 314 Free and open to the public.
Today, it is vital that scholars’ work is made widely available and accessible to the public. Is your research part of the public discourse? Do you have stories the public at large would benefit from knowing? Do you want to reach a broader audience, an audience beyond the peer-reviewed academic outlets? Do you want to learn how to pitch your specific story and research to non-academic publications? We have invited two writers and journalists, Lauren Markham and Chris Feliciano Arnold, to offer insights on the public humanities writing, pitching, and publication process in a series of panels, workshops, and individual feedback sessions.
Public Events
Monday, February 2, 10:30AM–12:00 PM (Royce 314) Workshop: “Enliven Your Prose with Research Details: Public Workshop with Chris Feliciano Arnold and Lauren Markham.”
Discover how vivid storytelling and well-chosen details can transform scholarly work into engaging, resonant prose. This hands-on workshop explores how to integrate research into narrative writing—making complex ideas accessible without sacrificing depth or rigor. Through interactive exercises, close reading, and discussion, participants will learn strategies for bringing their data, fieldwork, and analysis to life on the page.
Monday, February 2, 4:00–5:00 PM (Royce 314) Conversation: “Pitching and Working with Opinion Editors with Chris Feliciano Arnold and New York Times Opinion Staff Editor Isvett Verde.”
Explore strategies and best practices for effectively pitching and collaborating with newspaper editors on op-eds and opinion pieces. Gain insight into the editorial process, from crafting compelling and concise pitches that capture an editor’s attention to understanding the nuances of tone, timing, and topic relevance. This session will cover how to balance academic rigor with public accessibility, navigate editorial feedback, and establish long-term relationships with editors to amplify scholarly perspectives in the media.
Tuesday February 3, 4:00–6:00 PM (Royce 314) Panel: “Writing for the Public in Times of Peril, a panel with Chris Feliciano Arnold, Lauren Markham, The Atlantic Senior Editor Honor Jones and VQR Editor Paul Reyes.”
This panel of authors and editors will address the crucial role of academics in bridging the gap between scholarly research and public discourse during times of crisis, uncertainty, and societal upheaval, including the ethical, intellectual, and practical challenges that scholars face when translating complex ideas into accessible language for broader audiences. Refreshments will be provided.
Panelist & Writer Bios
Chris Feliciano Arnold is the author of The Third Bank of the River: Power and Survival in the Twenty-First-Century Amazon (Picador 2018). He directs the MFA in Creative Writing program at Saint Mary’s College of California.
Lauren Markham is an award-winning writer and journalist based in California whose work regularly appears in outlets such as Harper’s, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times Magazine and VQR, where she is a contributing editor. She is the author of the award-winning The Far Away Brothers: Two Young Migrants and the Making of an American Life, the California Book Award shortlisted A Map of Future Ruins: On Borders and Belonging (2024) and the recently-released Immemorial.
Isvett Verde is a staff editor in the Opinion section of The New York Times, where she helps shape conversations on immigration, culture and identity. She is also an adjunct professor of Latinx Media studies at The City College of New York. She earned a B.A. in French from Florida International University, and an M.A. in Spanish-language Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. Her writing has been featured in the anthology titled, “Home in Florida: Latinx Writers and the Literature of Uprootedness.”
Honor Jones is a senior editor at The Atlantic, and previously at The New York Times Opinion section, where she edited cover stories and special issues for the Sunday Review. She is also the author of a novel, Sleep.
Paul Reyes is the editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review, where he develops a variety of content, including investigative reporting, essays, photography portfolios, poetry, criticism, and fiction. Before joining VQR, he was a senior editor with The Oxford American. His work as an editor has led to two National Magazine Awards (as well as several nominations), the Overseas Press Club Award, inclusion in the Pushcart Prize anthology along with regular appearances in the Best American anthologies. His book, Exiles in Eden, an investigative narrative of the 2008 housing crisis, was praised as “a wrenching chronicle of our new hard times” (Publishers Weekly) and “an engrossing memoir of American dreaming and financial devastation” (Mother Jones). His essays and reporting have appeared in VQR, The Oxford American, Harper’s, The New York Times, Literary Hub, Mother Jones, and elsewhere. His writing has earned him a Literature Fellowship in Nonfiction from the National Endowment for the Arts, a nomination for the Harry Chapin Media Award, and a nomination for the National Magazine Award in Feature Writing.
Cosponsored by:
Center for the Study of Women|Streisand Center, Division of Social Sciences, Division of Humanities, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Creative Activities, School of Music, School of Arts and Architecture, and School of Theater, Film, and Television.