Our Mission
The LARB Publishing Workshop exists to revolutionize the publishing industry from the ground up by increasing access, facilitating change, and inspiring invention through the recruitment, training, and mentorship of early career talent from diverse backgrounds.
Recent studies on the lack of diversity in publishing highlight concerns not only about the industry’s hiring practices but also about the scope of perspectives and experiences it presents to the public. In response, the Los Angeles Review of Books in 2016 created a summer publishing workshop intent on transforming the industry. The LARB Publishing Workshop is committed to recruiting, training, and supporting underrepresented students looking to start careers in publishing, and dedicated to increasing access to an industry centered largely in New York City and built in part on unpaid internships, legacy connections, and workshops that offer little to no financial aid. The Publishing Workshop works to ensure that all qualified participants can participate regardless of their finances or location.
The Publishing Workshop is dedicated to establishing a learning environment that celebrates and respects varied perspectives; to offering participants a thorough overview of the publishing industry and clarifying insight into how and where they may fit within it; to recruiting underrepresented populations; to meeting accepted applicants’ demonstrated financial need; and to fostering entrepreneurial and cutting-edge interventions within the publishing scene. Successful Publishing Workshop students, in turn, are open-minded and curious; eager to learn and to listen to one another; and committed to uplifting stories and platforms that represent diverse experiences and inspire positive change.
The program is open to graduating college seniors, those who have recently graduated (alumni of any college or university), current graduate students, and people with relevant work experience and interest in entering the publishing industry.
The Los Angeles Review of Books (LARB) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that publishes vanguard literary and cultural arts reviews in the great tradition of independent magazine publishing. LARB publishes both in print and online, with readers in over 150 countries and all 50 states. These include our flagship online magazine, LAReviewofBooks.org, our signature print issue, the LARB Quarterly Journal; and the LARB Channel sites. Our community of writers, artists, journalists, and filmmakers are dedicated to publishing the best in cultural critique and review, utilizing the tools of a multimedia generation, including our digital and online magazine, video and audio podcasts, community events, social media, and more.