Feminist Press Executive Director and Publisher Margot Atwell Stepping Down

With a combination of sadness and gratitude, the Board of Directors of the Feminist Press at CUNY announces that Margot Atwell will be stepping down as Executive Director and Publisher in February 2025. We thank her for the energetic leadership she has provided FP for three years and will begin a nationwide search for her replacement.

Photo: Tomasz Werner

As Executive Director and Publisher of FP, Margot Atwell modernized and strengthened the administrative foundations of the Press, improved staff benefits, and successfully led the Press’s first-ever crowdfunding campaigns. She focused the Press’s efforts to connect with its community in person following the lockdown phase of the COVID-19 pandemic by investing in new events and touchpoints with readers, booksellers, librarians, and other feminist community members. She also acquired and edited a dozen books, including None of the Above by Travis Alabanza, the Louise Meriwether Prize–winning debut short story collection I’ll Give You A Reason by Annell López, On Strike Against God by Joanna Russ (edited by Alec Pollak), and The Sapling Cage by Margaret Killjoy.

“Margot used her attention to detail and sharp organizational skills to oversee a major overhaul of a number of aspects of the Press,” said Linda Villarosa, chair of FP’s Board of Directors. “She modernized systems while also selecting and editing a number of well-received books. We wish her well on her future endeavors.”

Atwell will continue to edit select projects for FP. "It has been an incredible honor and privilege to lead Feminist Press for the past three years—working to build a more just future for everyone,” she said. “I’m truly excited to see what the next leader of Feminist Press will accomplish and will be cheering them on as they carry forward this work, which is more necessary than ever."