Dear Reader,
I am writing to share the tragic news that Electric Literature’s former Deputy Editor, Jo Lou, passed away on July 8, 2025, at the age of 33.
We are all shocked and devastated by this sudden loss. Jo started at Electric Literature in 2017 as an intern and held many roles; including Assistant Editor, Interviews Editor, Books Editor and Deputy Editor. Over the course of her seven years at EL she formed lasting bonds with dozens of colleagues and hundreds of writers, and went above and beyond for each and every one of them. She was a cherished member of our community and we are all heartbroken.
During her time at EL, Jo edited over 1,000 interviews and reading lists, including some of EL’s most popular and impactful articles. Through her editorial work, she fought for the vulnerable, the underdogs, and the overlooked. She was unafraid to tackle difficult subjects. At key moments in history, she edited literary guides to antifacism, decolonizing your bookshelf, and understanding Ukraine, and organized a roundtable of Palenstinian poets to discuss the role of art in fighting genocide. After the sudden closure of Small Press Distribution, she quickly put together a list of indie presses in need of support, and regularly compiled resources for writers, such as lists of helpful newsletters and low-cost residencies. She was also always looking for creative ways to engage new readers and knew how to make books fun, from spearheading widely popular book cover contests to “guess the book by the emoji” games.
Jo was passionate about supporting emerging writers and diverse voices, and began tracking the demographics of EL interviews to ensure EL featured the widest range of authors possible. She was a generous mentor and gave special effort to making sure every single one of EL’s many interns felt cared for and appreciated during their tenure, and kept in touch with them after they graduated from the program. One intern, Kristina Busch, noted, “After my time as an intern came to a close, she sent me a thoughtful handwritten note that I still have taped up on my fridge. I will not forget her kindness.”
Jo had an insatiable appetite for literature and read widely, with a particular affinity for work in translation. Some of her favorite books were Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino, Quicksand by Nella Larson, Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, Dispute Over a Very Italian Piglet by Amara Lakhous, and Beauty Is a Wound by Eka Kurniawan. Jo’s style as an editor was visible in every aspect of her daily life; she took pride in her rainbow bookshelf, where she color-coded her collection of hundreds of books, and she was always impeccably turned out for every literary event, from publicity luncheons to galas. (In an office full of women, we all had great fun when she announced she would be wearing the “Fleabag jumpsuit” to Electric Literature’s annual Masquerade.)
Before Covid, when EL still had an office, Jo spoiled the staff with delicious baked goods, which became increasingly complex as her talents grew. (To celebrate EL’s 15th birthday at the 2024 Masquerade, she schlepped a decadent buttercream cake all the way from Queens to Brooklyn.) Her adorable dog Billy was the office mascot, and spent many afternoons napping on the laps of editors.
It is impossible to quantify the impact Jo had on writers’ lives and careers; what she meant to our community cannot be measured. Below is a compilation of remembrances from EL staff and contributors. Her dedication, work ethic, and devotion to literature was unparalleled, and she will never be forgotten.
With deepest sympathy,
Halimah Marcus
Executive Director, Electric Literature
EL will hold a private, virtual memorial for Jo on August 7, 2025 at 11 am ET. Please email editors@electricliterature.com if you worked with Jo and would like to attend, or to add your tribute to this article. The memorial will be recorded.
I want to thank Jo for three things. First, Jo made our small Brooklyn office, a tetris of galleys and shared desks, feel more like a clubhouse I never wanted to leave—she transformed the galley stream into a library, brought baked goods she was always perfecting, and shared Billy, the dog who knew how good he had it with Jo, and rarely left her side. Second, Jo made me feel like I could be a writer and editor—she offered me opportunities to interview my favorite authors, cohost events with her, and edited my writing in a way that always encouraged me to keep going. And the third thing I want to thank Jo for, is that Jo did this confidence- and clubhouse-building thing for everyone she worked with. She showed up for writers in big and small ways, and she did this work every day. She made Electric Lit a place you never wanted to leave. What I am trying to say, without being too over the top, is that you made publishing better, Jo. Thank you.
– Erin Bartnett, former Senior Editor
I was very lucky to work with Jo remotely over the course of six months and in person one day last fall, volunteering at the Brooklyn Book Fair. From the beginning, Jo was incredibly kind, supportive, and encouraging toward me, and really made an effort to make interns feel included and supported. I will always remember what a kind and thoughtful person she was, her words of encouragement toward me and how excited she was to meet me in person, and everything she brought to Electric Lit. She was truly a special person who made my internship experience immeasurably better.
– Eliza Browning, former intern
Jo was someone who always had good gossip and a freshly baked treat whenever I saw her. Every time I talked to her, she made me feel so safe and less crazy when we regaled each other with accounts of microaggressions we experienced as Asian American women working in literature/publishing. It meant everything to me. It means everything to me.
It was always a delight to see her and get together for meals, including a truly delicious one that she cooked for me in her warm, wonderfully book-filled apartment on Long Island City. To say that Jo was supportive is an understatement. She was an extremely generous editor and I’m sorry that people who didn’t get the chance to work with her won’t get to experience that. All she did was uplift writers and met everyone, especially writers who came from “nontraditional” backgrounds, with so much consideration. She helped me with my first bylines, supported my reading series from the start, and always looked extremely glam and put together. She was such a good mom to Billy and Liam. I can’t believe that we didn’t get to say goodbye or see each other one last time. I’m so sad that I didn’t get to read more of her writing.
Looking at the photo of us at the EL Halloween Masquerade at Littlefield in 2019 brings me so much joy. I will miss you and think about you forever, Jo.
– Ruth Minah Buchwald, former intern
I worked with Jo often during my internship, and I quickly grew to admire her, her work ethic, and her invaluable insight. After my time as an intern came to a close, she sent me a thoughtful handwritten note that I still have taped up on my fridge. I will not forget her kindness.
– Kristina Busch, former intern
I had the pleasure and privilege of working with Jo during her time as Interviews Editor at Electric Literature. To say she shaped my literary path would be an understatement. Under her editorial guidance, I found and refined my voice as an interviewer.
Jo was warm, encouraging, and deeply committed to uplifting underrepresented literary voices. In our last conversation, as she prepared to step away from her role at EL, we promised to keep up with each other’s work. I imagined we’d reconnect every few months, trade stories from our literary lives—maybe even finally meet in person.
I’m heartbroken that her name will no longer appear in my inbox.
Rest in peace, Jo. You’ll remain in my prayers, and in the hearts of all those you inspired.
– Bareerah Ghani, writer
Jo made me feel so welcomed, comfortable, and excited to join Electric Lit when I started as an intern. Throughout the internship, I loved working with her. She was a thoughtful editor and a kind person. She treated every writer’s work with care, which inspired others to do the same. She will be greatly missed and dearly remembered.
– Vivienne Germain, former intern
Jo was as thoughtful an editor as she was a person. From finding opportunities she thought were aptly suited to me as an editorial intern at EL to following everything from my travels to my career in the years since, she was exceptionally kind, encouraging, and dedicated. I will miss her opening up about her days in London on rainy book fair days and comparing earrings while getting ready for masquerades – she was graceful and warm in every moment. A loss for the book world, and a loss for us all.
– Lauren Hutton, former intern
Jo immediately welcomed me into Electric Literature, and by extension the wider literary and publishing world, with an unforgettable warmth. Though incredibly excited when I started out as an intern, I was of course nervous to be working for such a renowned organization like Electric Literature. But Jo helped make EL feel like the home it remains to be for me now. She’d regularly send me notes of encouragement and gratitude, making sure that I knew my contributions to Electric Lit were appreciated. Her presence was kind and disarming — she had a knack for making meetings feel more comfortable. And she was incredibly dedicated to her work, always offering the most clear-eyed insight during our conversations and while editing. I feel honored to have known Jo, and to have been in her presence while she devoted herself to uplifting many budding writers like myself. Though our time together was brief, Jo will always be remembered so fondly. Thank you again and again, Jo. I miss you.
– Jalen Giovanni Jones, Social Media Editor
I was thrilled when Jo accepted my first pitch to Electric Lit, and loved working with her. The feeling must’ve been mutual because after we wrapped up edits together, she asked if I’d cover another book—and then again, after I’d turned in that assignment. I’d never had a publication ask me to write for them, and Jo’s enthusiasm and belief in my work meant so much to me and my writing career. I always loved working with her; she was so warm and friendly. I’m devastated to hear of her passing as it’s such a loss for the literary community: she was someone who truly championed literature and writers.
– Rachel León, writer
While I didn’t often work directly with Jo, we shared many years together on staff. I remember laughing over everyone’s outfits for the “Dress Like a Book” promotion she coordinated, one of many activities that boosted staff camaraderie. She was full of good ideas and helped problem-solve on a dime around important issues, like when a contributor, for their safety, needed to immediately change the name under which a piece was published. I recall several times she went to great lengths to find a translator for an important story or interview so that the ideas therein wouldn’t go unrecognized simply because they weren’t in English. And she made sure we credited the translator front and center upon publication. Jo was judicious about sending me material that might be of interest to TC, and her taste was spot-on. When she sent me something, it usually WAS of interest.
– Kelly Luce, Editor of The Commuter
In an industry full of gatekeepers, Jo astonished me with her generosity and openness the first time I reached out to ask if she’d be interested in publishing an interview I did with a Filipino-American author in 2021. She told me she was already running an interview of that particular author, and this could have been the end of our email exchange. But instead of letting it end there, she invited me to interview another Filipino-American author, setting into motion our years-long collaboration that spanned many articles and interviews. As a freelance writer who has pitched and written for various outlets in the past, I can say that editors like Jo are a rare breed: she was the kind of editor who looked to open doors for writers who would otherwise have little opportunity to write for outlets with as wide a reach as Electric Lit. As a writer based outside the US, it has been difficult for me to catch big breaks, but Jo was there to solicit another article from me for EL, even when it would have been easier for her to let me fall off the radar. She was the one who thought of asking me to create lists of artists’ residency programs after she learned that I was writing to her from Storyknife Writers Retreat in Alaska, and when she learned that I was putting out my first book, she was the one who invited me to write a reading list to help promote it, even if my book was being published by a small and fairly unknown press in Australia. For my second book that was published by a university press in the US, she generously invited me to do another interview and reading list for EL—never mind if my work wasn’t getting the backing of a Big 5 press.
She seemed to be the kind of person who valued her privacy, and our exchanges were strictly professional. Seeing now, in her obituary, that she was an immigrant to the US makes me understand why she was so generous to someone like me who was filing my articles from the Philippines. She is a great loss to the community and I hope people remember her for her life-changing kindness.
– Monica Macansantos, writer
I had the pleasure of working with Jo since 2019. At the time, I’d only been writing author interviews for about a year and didn’t have many clips to share, but I knew I wanted to write for such a staple outlet in the literary community. Her enthusiasm to work with me—even though I was still relatively new to the field—was unforgettable. As so many writers, especially freelancers, know, getting a response to a pitch—let alone an acceptance—is rare.
Jo was nurturing from the start. She always encouraged me to put my own spin on interviews, never asking me to hold back my voice. At the same time, she helped me learn how to balance that voice with the task of uplifting others—how to let the author shine, while casting that light in a shade of my own design.
I’ll forever be grateful for her guidance, her generosity, and her passion for literary citizenship. I know I’m not alone—anyone who had the joy of working with her, or even just crossing paths with her online or off, unequivocally feels the same.
Thank you for everything, Jo. You’ll always have a space in my heart, the same way you always made space for me.
– Greg Mania, writer
I will miss Jo. Even working with her remotely as a nervous intern, she had a unique way of making me feel welcomed, included, and valued. She helped me feel like I was part of EL from the moment I joined. Of course, I wanted to write an article and was scared and excited to do so. But it came as a huge surprise when, without my saying a word, she gave me my first assignment. I was flabbergasted by the casualness of it…but of course it wasn’t casual at all because she supported me the whole way through. She knew I could handle the piece, and giving me the assignment was her way of showing me that she trusted me. I could feel it and, in a lot of ways, that trust was what I needed then. I don’t know if she knew that, but it seemed like she did. I think confidence and trust are one of the greatest gifts an editor can give a writer and Jo had an unbelievable capacity to share that with so many. She taught me a lot, and I’ll miss her.
– Willem Marx, Assistant Editor
Working under Jo during my internship was a true pleasure. Her sharp editorial eye and generous spirit encouraged me to stretch myself and grow as a writer and editor during my internship. She always had a kind word and a smart piece of feedback for anyone who needed her. I know her memory will live on with myself and a whole generation of writers.
– Skylar Miklus, former intern
When I started at EL as an intern, I was excited and embarrassingly eager. I was, after participating in my first editorial meeting, also extremely intimidated by Jo. I would learn later that she had a preternaturally warm heart, but for the first 30 minutes of our relationship, what I registered was her poise and flawless self-presentation. Jo didn’t say much in that meeting—she didn’t say much in most meetings, an outgrowth of her innate interest in others and desire to listen rather than opine—but after the meeting, she immediately messaged me with an enthusiastic welcome and a burst of friendly questions about myself. Over the next several weeks, she used my answers to those questions to find me projects and assignments that fit my interests.
After we’d worked together for some time, Jo took a leave of absence for medical reasons. When I was invited to cover her responsibilities until she returned, I knew “filling her shoes” was not a possibility; however, I know I ended up doing a decent job because Jo spent her recovery time cheering me on instead of convalescing. Despite my pleas to relax and indulge in some bad television, Jo never stopped checking in or sending me helpful emails and words of encouragement, often from a doctor’s office or en route to an appointment. Jo made me feel special, but after years of working with her, I realized I wasn’t—she championed so many others tirelessly, especially writers and EL staff, and I was neither the first nor the last person to benefit from her thoughtful attention.
Jo was an unusual combination of characteristics. She was one of the most private people I’ve ever met but, during my first year at EL, when it became clear we didn’t have the organizational funds to cover both my airfare and my lodging for an annual event, Jo invited me to stay at her place. I’d known her only a few months, and we’d never met in person. She also sent me a birthday card every year, shared spot-on recommendations for books and movies, and regularly messaged me with invitations to attend events/meet people/work on something new. Jo was never the first to speak but I suspect she was regularly the most knowledgeable person in the room. Her knowledge of EL, especially, was encyclopedic. In my experience, it was always easier and faster to message Jo with a question—Have we ever published an article on X topic? Has Y writer written for us before? What month did we post Z in?—than to do an internet search. Jo was, quite simply, a powerhouse, and her exceptional work ethic was matched only by her immeasurable kindness. We are less without her.
– Wynter K Miller, Managing Editor
When I began working at Electric Literature, I realized very quickly that I was going to have to earn Jo’s trust in my leadership. In the world of EL, she was a true elder states(wo)man, and had played an integral part in helping the journal become the literary juggernaut that it is. She loved EL in the way that a leader, or a founder, always hopes someone will love their workplace, which so rarely comes to fruition—she loved EL as though it were her own. It became a real pleasure to work alongside someone with whom I felt I could trust the wellbeing of both the site, and staff, so implicitly. Jo had a strong moral compass, and she brought that to work every single day. It greatly influenced our editorial meetings, especially in the face of controversial articles or topics we sometimes had to address, and even in decisions around staffing, where I relied heavily on her council. Her institutional knowledge of EL’s history was extraordinary and frequently came in handy, and her deep understanding of our audience and readership was an enormous influence on my own. Which is to say that Jo deeply influenced the way I work at EL, arguably more so than anyone else.
I also want to give a quick shout out to her love for her dogs, and all dogs. Jo’s love for Billy was enormously influential to my my decision to adopt my dog, Hughes, and soon after I did, Jo spoiled him with treats and pets for hours on end when we were tabling at Brooklyn Book Festival, and she even sent me extra treats and toys, and gave me key advice on helping me navigate his anxiety. Some of my fondest memories of her are not work related, but rather are times we sent Slack messages back and forth about our fur babies, sharing tips and recommendations for food, toys, training, and even, when she was ready to adopt her second dog, Liam, the agency she rescued him through—Hearts and Bones rescue, from where I’d adopted Hughes. Jo is, and will continue to be deeply missed by myself, and by our entire staff. I’m grateful to have known her, and worked with her. I’m sending my deepest condolences to her family, friends, loved ones, and Fredrik, Billy, and Liam.
– Denne Michele Norris, Editor-in-Chief
Jo was incredibly supportive, thoughtful, and generous with her time. I was able to take risks, gain confidence, and stretch the form of my work in new ways because of her encourage. She has had a profound impact on my life as an artist and writer as a result. I will miss her very much!
– Coco Piccard, writer
Jo had one of the best literary minds I’ve ever met. When I first started as EL’s social media editor, Jo’s encyclopedic brain for all things EL and literary was invaluable to me. I would’ve been lost without her popping into my messages to tell me it was Shakespeare’s birthday and also somehow knowing everything we’d ever posted about Shakespeare. She helped me build out my own knowledge through collaborating with her, and bouncing ideas off of one another sharpened my eye and truly helped me find my stride. Her encouragement, advice, and belief in the value of my ideas and my voice pushed me to grow ever-more confident in my role and beyond it.
Jo was someone who was never without a fresh idea and had endless energy when it came to the things she cared about, especially pulling together important, exciting, timely pieces when she felt it would be valuable to EL’s readers. She genuinely loved championing authors, and especially valued shining a light on small press titles that would most benefit from being highlighted. As an editor, she was someone who always made time for her writers and colleagues: to send them notes of encouragement, to think up articles that might be a good fit for them to work on, to make space in her extraordinarily busy calendar to lend her mind and heart to the writers she cared about so deeply. She paved a path for me to learn how I might do the same. The impact she had on the literary world is incalculable—but it is deeply felt. It will continue to radiate outward through the work she brought into this world and the people she made better through it.
– Katie Henken Robinson, Senior Editor, Electric Literature
I know Jo was an integral part of EL and I always admired her intelligence, poise, work ethic, and kindness. When I moved to NYC, she was such a warm presence, thinking of me for comp tickets to literary events and inviting me to volunteer at EL events like the Brooklyn Book Fest and the Masquerade. When we worked the Brooklyn Book Fest together last year, it was raining and freezing cold, a real bummer. But even so, she was out there all day, offering up EL stickers and Masquerade fliers. She told me to go enjoy panels when it was slow. Her dedication to her work was clear as day as something I really admired.
She was a connector too, introducing me to other interns and always genuinely building relationships. She told me about reading series and bookstores and I felt like I could talk to her about the realities of publishing, good and bad. I loved talking to her about books, it felt like she’d read everything and knew all the writers to know, and she was someone who seemed so authentically invested in the careers of interns. I still remember how she gave me a thorough walkthrough of WordPress during my internship, and I was so appreciative of her attention to detail and how I knew I could go to her with any questions, without judgment. After I left EL, she carried on the Indie Booksellers Recommend list, and I know so many people appreciated that list and also so many of the other creative, smart ideas she had.
I am shocked by this news. I hope her friends and family know how beloved she was and is by the literary community. I hope the EL team feels this love too.
– Laura Schmitt, former intern
When Jo Lou started as an intern, her creativity and brilliant literary mind were immediately apparent–intimidating, even! She read and thought deeply, and really listened to people, whether she was interviewing an author or propelling the office discussion. Her ideas were always full of life and vitality. Jo was a wonderful shepherd of literature; as both writer and editor, Jo worked with sincerity and patience, generosity and openness. Her lovely dog Billy sometimes came to work and his gentle, contented nature told you everything you needed to know about how Jo Lou approached the world. Joyce Yijia Lou, thank you for your work and your humanity. You will be greatly missed.
– Lucie Shelly, former Senior Editor
It would be difficult to overstate the quiet yet profound impacts Jo Lou had on my entry into a literary world career. Her enthusiastic feedback on the first few interviews I did for her as an intern gave me the confidence, that I don’t know how I would have found otherwise, to pursue a range of high profile interview opportunities in other contexts over the years to come, which in turn has had an enormous influence on my understanding of how storytelling works. When I traveled to New York to meet the Electric Lit team in person for the first time, after a year of working together remotely, Jo warmly opened up her home to me—inviting me to stay with her, her partner, her dog Billy, and her iconic rainbow bookshelves filled with color-coded ARCs she’d collected over the years, which I realized were sometimes at least two shelves deep against the wall. Whether or not I was at EL, Jo regularly reached out to offer opportunities she thought I would find exciting. But what I most admired about her was the deeply principled and rigorous ethical sensibility she brought to the literary world. She was the rarest of guiding lights through some of the most morally complex and emotionally fraught situations I have ever had to navigate. I will be forever grateful that I had her light to follow, for a time.
– Pretty Sidhu, Associate Editor
I worked with Jo on the very first author interview I published, a conversation with Rachel Heng. Jo was the sort of editor I most admire: kind, organized, seemingly unflappable, and deeply thoughtful about who she was making space for. She was graceful in rejecting my pitches she couldn’t give a home to and a pleasure to be edited by on those she accepted. Her passing is a loss for the literary community.
– Marisa Siegel, writer
Jo Lou was a caring and thoughtful coworker, a sharp and thorough editor, and one of the best bakers I have ever met. She made it actually fun to table at book festivals, and I still think about the hojicha cake she baked and brought to keep up our spirits and blood sugar levels. I was constantly inspired by her dedication to literature and the true joy she found in helping writers. She really showed me what it meant to care about the literary world and how to change it for the better.
– Alyssa Songsiridej, former Managing Editor
Jo was a lifeline for me. It’s hard, being a writer from the South, disconnected from the literary scene, especially since, like Jo, I don’t enjoy living online. Over the 27 plus interviews we worked on, Jo connected me to so many thinkers whose work helped broaden my mind, like Ibram X Kendi, David Mura, and Mona Eltahawy. She encouraged me to interview Amanda Oliver about her library polemic, Overdue, a piece Jo titled “America’s Public Libraries Reflect the Systematic Failures and Social Inequality of Our Country,” where, for the first time, I began addressing why I left the public school library. Jo assigned needed conversations with Seyward Darby (“How Women Prop Up the White Nationalist Movement”) and Mychal Denzel Smith (“The American Dream Is Dead, What Do We Do?”) in the darkest days of the pandemic. She proposed interviews with fellow Southerners Lee Cole and Wright Thompson, and with novelists Dana Spiotta, Cleyvis Natera, and more. Jo also assigned my first book list, about librarians who are also writers.
I tried via email over the years to explain to Jo how much I appreciated her. How she helped me through my recovery, during the pandemic, and later, when I was helping care for my beloved father-in-law. When I was about to lose my mind trying to get my memoir published, she gave me a reality check, reminding me that almost every writer she knew was struggling to publish in this climate.
Jo was the consummate editor, causing me to believe in myself, making me realize what I had to offer. Multiply that gift times hundreds of writers, many of whom were tackling controversial subjects. I tried to tell her so many times how much I appreciated her, but I don’t think she ever knew how much she meant to me, to us all.
– Deirdre Sugiuchi, writer
Jo was so warm and so kind and so patient, and I’m grateful to have known and learned from her. She made such an impact in the short time that we worked together, and I know that this is true, too, for a myriad of writers and editors who crossed paths with her at Electric Lit.
– Chris Vanjonack, former intern
Though I never met Jo in person, she was an integral part of my life without really knowing so. She was the editor I worked with the most when I started covering writers and books. She was always kind, smart, and generous with her time. Without her, I would not have grown into the interviewer I am today, and my current path in life wouldn’t exist. In a way, I owe her everything.
– Adam Vitcavage
Jo will be so missed. She was an incredible mentor to me when I was an intern at EL. Jo always made a point to ask for my feedback or to invite me to interview authors, always making me feel included and valued. I remember being awed by her voracious reading habits and careful attention to literature, I feel like Jo had an opinion on almost any book! She was an incredible person, editor, and community member.
– Bekah Waalkes, former intern
Jo was a role model and a true inspiration to me at Electric Literature. She was the first editor I ever worked with, and I couldn’t have asked for a more incredible, open, and considerate person to introduce me to the world of writing and publishing. She was a great reader and writer with an impeccable eye. But more than this, she had a kind and caring soul. Outside of work hours, she would often forward me emails about new books she thought I might be interested in. She was always right. I took Jo’s words and recommendations as gospel. She was amazingly intuitive and, as an editor, knew how to help all of us convey what we wanted to say better and more concisely than we knew how to express it. She showed me how to find a voice and how to carve out real meaning behind a wall of language. Extremely gifted, she shared her talents with us selflessly and consistently. After working on an article together, she would often generously send me screenshots of kind comments or messages she received about the piece we’d published. It was heartwarming and unique for an editor to go so above and beyond in her encouragement. Jo was supportive and instrumental in motivating me, as a young intern, to keep writing and diving deeper into stories. She was a guide and a mentor, and I will remember her always as the giving, loving, and wonderful person she was. She will truly be missed.
– Kyla Walker, former intern
Jo was the first person I worked closely with as an intern at EL. She was everything you could want in an editor—intelligent, interested, enthusiastic, kind. She knew how much your work mattered to you. It mattered to her too. Every word choice was mulled over, each picture scrutinized. When we were not working, we talked about our favorite books and our shared fear of wisdom teeth surgery. Long after my internship ended, she sent along publication opportunities and tickets to literary fairs. We talked about getting drinks together someday, if I ever found my way to New York. In the meantime, she asked, had I ever tried sweet corn pizza? She was kind and real. I will miss her.
– Lisa Zhuang, former intern
Writers are supposed to avoid cliches, but in sad times everyone reaches for the comfort of familiarity. So my first thought, when trying to talk about Jo, is “still waters run deep.” She was when I knew her, and I assume remained, very quiet and reserved. But when you got to know her, as I was lucky enough to do during her very early tenure at Electric Lit, she was determined, principled, perceptive, curious, generous, and genuinely funny.
Jo started at EL as an intern, and I wasn’t at all surprised to hear that she ascended to deputy editor—the challenge was always getting her to work less, to rest, to let things be good enough. She just held so much brain, heart, and conscience in that quiet package. This is a profound loss to the literary community and the world at large.
– Jess Zimmerman, former Editor-in-Chief
