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David B. Olsen

Associate Editor

Beginning with The Chicago Manual of Style, the University of Chicago Press’s rich history of reference books and writing guides has aided generations of authors, researchers, and students. I acquire books and guides that extend the scope of this list and encourage new voices both within the academy and beyond. 

I seek to work with writers who are knowledgeable, ambitious, and attuned to the elastic nature of written and visual communication. I encourage proposals for books that offer contemporary takes on subjects of perennial interest as well as new works that aspire to become the authority on topics as yet unreferenced. My forthcoming projects include a writing guide for artists and designers, a collection of essays on writing and ADHD, and a book about comedy by the Emmy, Peabody, and Writers Guild Award–winning writer Elliott Kalan.

In addition to acquiring new books, collections, and guides, I am also the sponsoring editor of the Press’s Phoenix Poets series.

Before joining the Press in 2017, I was the managing editor of the Pulitzer Arts Foundation in St. Louis, Missouri, and I have worked extensively as a freelance copyeditor with an emphasis on art and architecture. For several years I taught courses in writing, literature, and graphic novels at Saint Louis University, where I earned an undergraduate degree in Communications and graduate degrees in English.

I share Chicago’s reference list with executive editor Mary E. Laur, the architect of our Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing series and editor for The Chicago Manual of Style.

I benefit greatly from the assistance of editorial associate Matt Lang.

Prospective authors are encouraged to consult our submission guidelines. We also provide an overview about publishing with Chicago here.

David B. Olsen

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