Robert B. Silvers

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Robert B. Silvers (b. December 31, 1929 in Mineola, New York) is editor of The New York Review of Books, the leading liberal publisher in the United States. He was co-editor with Barbara Epstein until her death in June 2006. He also serves on the editorial committee of La Rivista dei Libri, the Italian language edition of the Review.[1] Silvers has edited anthologies of articles from the Review, including Thirty Years in the New York Review, Hidden Histories of Science, and The Company they Kept: Writers on Unforgettable Friendships.[2][3] He has also edited a number of other books published by the Review.[4]

Prior to joining the Review, Silvers was, from 1959 to 1963, associate editor of Harper's magazine, editor of the book Writing in America and translator of La Gangrene. Before that, he lived in Paris for six years (1952 to 1958), where he served with the U.S. Army at SHAPE Headquarters and attended the Sorbonne and Paris Institute of Political Studies (best known as Sciences Po). He joined the editorial board of The Paris Review in 1954 and became Paris editor in 1956. He also worked as press secretary to Governor Chester Bowles in 1950. He is a 1947 graduate of the University of Chicago.

[edit] Honors and awards

The annual Robert B. Silvers lectures at the New York Public Library were established by Max Palevsky in 2002. On November 15, 2006, Silvers received the National Book Foundation Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community. Among other honors, Silvers has been a member of the executive board of the Pen American Center, trustee of the New York Public Library and the American Academy in Rome, and a member of the Century Club and the Council of Foreign Relations.