Elaine Szewczyk was born in Kraków, Poland. She writes about books and authors for Publishers Weekly. Prior to that she served as the fiction editor of Kirkus Reviews for ten years. Elaine has written profiles of Nobel Prize winner and Academy Award nominee Kazuo Ishiguro; novelist and screenwriter Dennis Lehane; Nobel Peace Prize nominee Stacey Abrams; Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jane Smiley; Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Héctor Tobar; Watergate legend Carl Bernstein; Irish Fiction Laureate Sebastian Barry; and many other bestselling authors including Lisa Jewell, Scott Turow, Michael Connelly, Louise Penny, Janet Evanovich, Jamie Ford, Jessie Burton, Ruth Ware, Debbie Macomber, Bret Easton Ellis, Clare Mackintosh, Pam Jenoff, and Anna Quindlen.
Elaine’s work has appeared in McSweeney’s, Publishers Weekly, The Millions, Kirkus Reviews, the Chicago Tribune, NAD NOW (the journal of the National Academy of Design), the Financial Times, People, Time Out New York, among other publications. Elaine is the author of the novel I'm with Stupid, which was optioned by ABC Studios/Disney. Her latest work of fiction, a short story entitled “The Death of Heartsick Rick,” was published by Emrys Journal. She has served as a script reader for Made in NY Writers Room, a diversity-focused program that provides fellowships to emerging television writers, and as a manuscript copy editor at Rocky Nook, a California-based photography book publisher. Elaine is a member of the Writers Guild of America, the Authors Guild, the National Book Critics Circle, and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.
Elaine has moderated author and industry panels, conducted Q&As, and reviewed hundreds of books. Some links here: humorist John Hodgman; TV writer Bess Kalb; actor Diane Keaton; fashion designer Betsey Johnson. She interviewed Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea on stage at Powerhouse Arena in Brooklyn, NY, in front of a sold out crowd to mark the U.S. launch of his bestselling memoir. See pictures here. There’s more stuff, but you get the point.
Contact: elaineszewczyk@gmail.com