Staff Directory
Anitra Budd, Managing Editor
Anitra oversees the editorial schedule, assists with foreign rights management, and acquires new titles. Prior to working at Coffee House, Budd was a writer and editor at the University of Minnesota and an associate editor at Search Institute, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit organization.
Sarah Caflisch, Development Manager
Sarah earned a Master of Arts in Nonprofit Management from Hamline University, and worked for close to a decade in Community Relations and Individual Giving for The Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis. She is the vice president of the University Grove Neighborhood Association and serves on the board of the David & Mary Anderson Family Foundation. Sarah resides in Saint Paul with her husband Matt and daughters Anna and Norah.
Caroline Casey, Marketing and Sales Director
Caroline joined Coffee House Press as Marketing and Sales Director after 15 years in book and magazine publishing, including stints at Sarabande Books and Stanford University Press. She serves on the board of Unstuck and holds an MFA from the Nonfiction Writing Program at the University of Iowa, where she coordinated NonfictioNow and was the personal assistant to Marilynne Robinson.
Chris Fischbach, Publisher
fish@coffeehousepress.org
Chris became publisher of Coffee House Press in July 2011, after sixteen years in various editorial roles. He has served as co-chair of the Minneapolis Arts Commission and as assistant director of the Twin Cities Book Festival, and currently sits on the board of directors of the Friends of the Hennepin County Library.
Allan Kornblum, Senior Editor and Founder
allan@coffeehousepress.org
Allan studied poetry at the St. Mark’s Poetry Project and the University of Iowa Writer’s Workshop, and published poems in a wide variety of little magazines in the 1970s and early 1980s. During that period he served as the editor, designer, printer, and publisher for Toothpaste Press. From 1984 – 2011 he served as editor and publisher at Coffee House Press. In recognition of his work at these two presses, Kornblum received an American Book Award for Special Achievement as an Editor and Publisher in 1997.
Linda Koutsky, Design and Production Manager
Designing book covers is Linda Koutsky’s favorite responsibility at Coffee House Press. Combining an author’s vision with marketing ideas and editorial insights can sometimes prove a challenge, but with enough thought and creativity, usually everybody ends up happy. Linda’s other responsibilities at the press include designing book interiors, catalogs, ads, posters, web site graphics, and communicating with printers throughout North America.
In her spare time, Linda makes handmade books, sterling silver jewelry, and crop art for the Minnesota State Fair. Along with her mother, she’s co-authored (and designed) three illustrated coffee table books on Minnesota history. Linda also writes a column about art, architecture, and cultural diversions for two Minneapolis newspapers. Follow her on Twitter @WeekendTourist.
Kelsey Shanesy, Publicist
kelsey@coffeehousepress.org
Kelsey joined the staff of Coffee House Press in 2011, and is excited to be combining her passion for literature with her non-profit experience. Kelsey’s transition from casual reader to full-on voracious book-consumer came in the form of an eight-year-old girl named Cam Jansen, who solved mysteries with the help of her photographic memory (Cam Jansen by David Adler). When not at Coffee House, Kelsey can be found putting painted pianos on street corners, writing book reviews, and of course, reading. She still wishes she had a photographic memory.
Contact Kelsey for review copy requests, info on our authors, general publicity inquiries, and info on our internship program.
Erika Stevens, Poetry Editor at Large
Erika Stevens comes to Coffee House Press with a wealth of experience in academic publishing, including at the University of North Carolina Press and at Duke University Press. A former acquisitions editor at the University of Georgia Press, Erika worked with both creative writing (creative nonfiction, fiction, memoir, and poetry) and a variety of academic titles in the social sciences and humanities, including books related to African American studies, gender studies, and ecocriticism. Erika also runs Quick Bread Editorial, a full-service freelance editorial business.
Anna Waggener, Administrative & Development Assistant
Anna joined Coffee House as an intern in the fall of her senior year at Macalester College, and officially became a staff member upon graduation. Anna provides administrative support while also working closely with the development, marketing, and publicity teams in her role as development assistant. In her spare time, Anna dabbles in photography, writing, and painting.
