Curr-tain Call

HarperOne Group president and publisher Judith Curr will retire at the end of May after eight years at HarperCollins, CEO Brian Murray announced. The European and International Booksellers Federation held its annual RISE conference in Verona April 19–20, where discussions touched on the barriers to in-person bookselling and the threats AI poses to the profession. We sat down with Veronica Roth ahead of the 15th anniversary of Divergent to chat about her journey to YA stardom and her forthcoming adult novel, Seek the Traitor’s Son. Meanwhile, we talked with the editors behind a recent spate of New Adult imprints at Big Five publishers about the industry’s overdue embrace of the YA/adult crossover category. Utah Valley University, where Charlie Kirk was killed in September, has canceled its plans to feature author Susan McMahon as its commencement speaker over social media posts she previously made about Kirk, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. William Morrow will publish lifestyle influencer Nara Smith’s debut cookbook Homemade this fall, reports People. A group of writers and artists has launched a formal boycott of Manhattan’s 92NY, alleging that the cultural institution has silenced pro-Palestine speakers in recent years, per Lit Hub. Variety looks at how audio erotica app Quinn recruits Hollywood’s hottest stars, including Heated Rivalry’s Hudson Williams and Conner Storrie, to voice its original series. And Vox breaks down Anthropic’s new cybersecurity product Mythos, which is sending shockwaves through the tech industry.