TCG Appoints Erin Salvi and Kathy Sova as Co-Publishers

Theatre Communications Group has promoted Kathy Sova and Erin Salvi to the positions of Co-Publisher of the TCG Books program. TCG Books has grown to become the largest independent trade publisher of dramatic literature in North America, with a catalog of nearly 500 titles, including 19 Pulitzer Prize-winning plays. In this collaborative model, the Co-Publishers will work together to oversee the editorial selection process, and Sova will oversee editorial decisions, book design, author relations, and contracting, while Salvi will oversee the finances and title distribution of TCG Books. The Co-Publishers will work with outgoing Publisher Terry Nemeth through January 2023 to manage the transition, with Nemeth staying on as Publisher Emeritus.

"After a robust search that included a consultative process with leaders in the publishing field, it became clear that successfully transitioning from Terry's leadership as founding publisher would require us to think differently," said Teresa Eyring, executive director and CEO, TCG. "Through this shared leadership model, the unique strengths and experiences that Erin and Kathy each bring to the work will build on Terry Nemeth's extraordinary legacy. TCG Books has always believed that plays are literature and worthy of the same resources, respect, and critical attention as any other literary form. Under Kathy and Erin's shared leadership, that legacy will surely grow to new heights."

"I'm thrilled to be stepping into this new role in partnership with my wonderful colleague Kathy," said Salvi. "Under the leadership of the inimitable Terry Nemeth, TCG Books has become an essential part of the theatre ecology, providing plays with their much-deserved place alongside other forms of literature. I look forward to building on this strong foundation and continuing to evolve as a publisher alongside the theatre field, making a wide breadth of work by extraordinary writers available to readers and theatre lovers everywhere."

"It has been the greatest gift in my life to work with our playwrights and the theatre field," said Sova. "I learned to love reading, through plays, in high school; I hadn't been a reader or had come from a family of readers. I became a theatre major in college because of this obsession with reading plays. So, to spend the majority of my life working with the country's greatest playwrights (near 30 years) is a continual pinch-me moment: How did I get so lucky? I think what you do is of the greatest importance to your life. I find complete passion in my work every day. And then to luckily parallel someone like Terry in this niche, but exquisite, genre of publishing-let's just say that I am forever changed about what dedication to writers and their voices means, and what it means to be a better human."

In addition, the Co-Publishers will oversee TCG's One Million Books Campaign, which will make one million TCG plays available to schools, university and public libraries, community centers, independent bookstores, and more. TCG Books commits to the life-long career of its playwrights, keeping all of their plays in print. TCG Books' authors include: Annie Baker, Nilo Cruz, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Larissa FastHorse, Athol Fugard, Quiara Alegría Hudes, David Henry Hwang, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Tony Kushner, Young Jean Lee, Lynn Nottage, Suzan-Lori Parks, Sarah Ruhl, Heidi Schreck, Stephen Sondheim, Paula Vogel, and August Wilson. TCG Books and the One Million Books Campaign are supported by The Mellon Foundation.

Kathy Sova

During her 28 years at TCG, Kathy Sova has managed the editorial and production work for TCG Books. She has edited plays and theatre reference books by Annie Baker, Anne Bogart, Eric Bogosian, Larissa FastHorse, Athol Fugard, Aleshea Harris, Jeremy O. Harris, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Adrienne Kennedy, Lisa Kron, Tony Kushner, Young Jean Lee, Donald Margulies, Lynn Nottage, Suzan-Lori Parks, Sarah Ruhl, Wallace Shawn, Paula Vogel, the Thornton Wilder estate and August Wilson, among others. She has a deep knowledge and understanding of theatre and contemporary playwrights, and she has been responsible for launching vital programs such as our playwrights' series with the Center for Fiction in Brooklyn. She is collaborating with Branden Jacobs-Jenkins on the development of the Illuminations series: a publishing initiative to bring renewed attention to overlooked plays by Black playwrights. Launching the series with Trouble in Mind by Alice Childress in early 2022, Illuminations' goal is to publish 10 plays in 5 years, each accompanied by an original essay by a contemporary Black playwright.

Erin Salvi

Erin Salvi has been in the publishing industry for over a decade. Prior to TCG, she was Publications Director at Playscripts, Inc. She joined TCG in 2015, where she has acted as liaison to both TCG Books' distributor, Consortium Book Sales & Distribution, and TCG's Partner Publishers. She has facilitated strategic planning for book marketing and events, overseen eBook conversions, handled subsidiary rights, and managed short run printing and print-on-demand for many TCG titles, among other responsibilities. She is incredibly passionate about dramatic literature and TCG Books' author-focused approach to publishing. Erin has a deep commitment to EDI in the workplace and in our larger society. For five years, she has served as co-chair of TCG's ED&I Workgroup, ensuring that there is accountability to TCG's mission and workplace culture goals.

Theatre Communications Group

Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, leads for a just and thriving theatre ecology. Since its founding in 1961, TCG's constituency has grown from a handful of groundbreaking theatres to over 700 Member Theatres and affiliate organizations and over 7,000 Individual Members. Through its programs and services, TCG reaches over one million students, audience members, and theatre professionals each year. TCG offers networking and knowledge-building opportunities through research, communications, and events, including the annual TCG National Conference, one of the largest nationwide gatherings of theatre people; awards grants and scholarships to theatre companies and individual artists; advocates on the federal level; and through the Global Theater Initiative, TCG's partnership with the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics, serves as the U.S. Center of the International Theatre Institute. TCG is North America's largest independent trade publisher of dramatic literature, with 19 Pulitzer Prizes for Drama on the TCG booklist. It also publishes the award-winning American Theatre magazine and ARTSEARCH®, the essential source for a career in the arts. TCG believes its vision of "a better world for theatre, and a better world because of theatre" can be achieved through individual and collective action, adaptive and responsive leadership, and equitable representation in all areas of practice. TCG is led by executive director and CEO Teresa Eyring. www.tcg.org.