Atlanta playwright and ArtsATL Editor-at-Large Kelundra Smith has joined the editorial staff of American Theatre magazine, published by Theatre Communications Group, after serving the publication as a regular contributor. The magazine has been solely digital since May 2020 and is returning to print on a quarterly basis with Smith in the managing editor role.
American Theatre Editor-in-Chief Rob Weinert-Kendt said he was “proud and heartened” to welcome Smith.
“Her knowledge, taste and acuity as a writer and thought leader make her a natural editor, and she’ll be an ideal partner in envisioning and executing the magazine’s return to print after three years online only,” Weinert-Kendt said in a statement.
Smith’s new play, The Wash, based on the Atlanta washerwoman strike of 1881, will be staged as part of Synchronicity Theater’s 26th season in a co-production with Impact Theatre. Her freelance articles and essays have appeared in The New York Times, Food & Wine, Garden & Gun, The Bitter Southerner, Atlanta and ArtsATL. Smith intends to continue writing for various publications, including ArtsATL.
“American Theatre magazine has been required reading for me since high school, so I am very excited to be joining the staff as managing editor,” Smith told ArtsATL.
“As we move into quarterly print issues, I look forward to collaborating with the team to discover new stories around the country. When I was in high school and college, I remember thinking I had to go to New York to be any sort of journalist, but my career is proof that is untrue. I built my arts writing career in Atlanta and in the South and have had wonderful mentors in this region. I can’t wait to infuse more Southern flavor into the national scene.”
