
Alessandra Bastagli has left her post as digital features editor at Al Jazeera America for the Nation’s book imprint, where she has been named editorial director.
“I’ve admired Alessandra’s accomplishments and ingenuity throughout her career, and I’m excited by the energy I know she will bring to the Nation list,” said publisher Clive Priddle in a press release.
This marks a return to the book world for Ms. Bastagli, who spent 15 years as a book editor. Prior to her stint in online journalism at Al Jazeera America, Ms. Bastagli was an editor at Simon & Schuster imprint Free Press until she was laid off as part of a 2012 reshuffling at the company.
“Combined with the strong relationships I have forged in the industry over the years, and the warm welcome from agents and my editorial peers, this feels very much like a homecoming,” Ms. Bastagli said. “I’m eager to get started, shepherding the titles already on the list with care and growing the program aggressively with new, strong voices in journalism and scholarship, publishing great works of narrative and idea-driven nonfiction that have the power to make news and also to backlist for the ages.”