Reagan Arthur, Lisa Lucas Depart KDPG in Another ‘Restructure’

Alfred A. Knopf publisher Reagan Arthur and Pantheon Schocken publisher Lisa Lucas will both depart Penguin Random House’s Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group in what KDPG president and publisher Maya Mavjee described in a memo to staff as a “restructure.”

Jordan Pavlin has been promoted to executive VP and publisher at Knopf, in addition to her role as editor-in-chief, newly reporting to Mavjee and managing both the Knopf and Schocken editorial departments. No publisher will replace Lucas at Pantheon, and editorial now reports to VP and editorial director Denise Oswald, who will newly report to Doubleday EVP, publisher, and editor-in-chief Bill Thomas. The search for a new editorial director at Shocken continues, and the role’s eventual occupant will report to Pavlin. A PRH representative told PW that no further restructuring at the group or changes to its imprints are planned at this time.

Arthur was named executive VP and publisher of Knopf, Pantheon, and Schocken in early 2020, just weeks after the death of longtime Knopf editor-in-chief and KDPG chairman Sonny Mehta, who had “identified Reagan Arthur as his first choice” to lead Knopf prior to his passing, per a memo from then PRH US CEO Madeline McIntosh. Prior to joining Knopf, Arthur had been publisher of Little, Brown since 2013. Arthur oversaw the publication of such books as Cormac McCarthy’s last two novels, The Passenger and Stella Maris, Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Jayne Anne Phillips’s Night Watch. She also edited such bestsellers as Bono’s Surrender and Ian McEwan’s Lessons.

Jordan Pavlin, who joined Knopf in 1996, was named senior VP and editor-in-chief in the summer of 2021, filling a vacancy that had been open since Mehta’s death. Pavlin had worked for Mehta for 23 years. Over the course of her career, she has edited such authors as Kaveh Akbar, Nathan Englander, Yaa Gyasi, Ayana Mathis, Maggie O’Farrell, Tommy Orange, Karen Russell, Maggie Shipstead, and Michelle Zauner.

In her role as publisher, Arthur reported to Mavjee, who was brought back to PRH at the same time Arthur was appointed by McIntosh. Mavjee had been president and publisher of the Crown Publishing Group until leaving the company in 2018 as part of a restructuring, and subsequently joining Macmillan as president of publishing strategy.

In the summer of 2020, Lucas was appointed by Arthur as senior VP and publisher of Pantheon and Schocken Books and started her duties in early 2021. A high-profile figure in the book world but a newcomer to the publishing industry, Lucas had served as executive director of the National Book Foundation since 2016.

Lucas’s appointment came during a moment of racial reckoning for the industry, prompted by the murder of George Floyd, and was announced just weeks after Pulitzer Prize administrator Dana Canedy, also a Black woman, was tapped to lead Simon & Schuster’s flagship imprint. (Canedy stepped down in July 2022.) During her tenure as the imprint’s first Black publisher, Lucas oversaw the publication of such books as Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s Chain-Gang All Stars, Keith O’Brien’s Charlie Hustle, Laura Warrell’s Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm, and several of Helen Garners works, including The Children’s Bach and Monkey Grip.

In the fall of 2021, Mavjee announced that Pantheon and Schocken would no longer be a division of Alfred A. Knopf, instead operating as an independent imprint alongside Knopf, Doubleday and Vintage/Anchor. The move, Mavjee said, was part of an “expansion plan” meant to ensure Pantheon and Schocken “stand as an equal and fourth pillar in the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.” The previous spring, Oswald had been brought on as editorial director for the imprint; Lucas began reporting to Mavjee, instead of Arthur, that summer. Last fall, Mavjee announced that the group would begin phasing out Anchor, and that Suzanne Herz, then EVP and publisher of Vintage/Anchor Books, was the latest of many fixtures at the company last year to take a buyout.

“I realize this is a lot of news to absorb,” Mavjee told staff in the memo announcing the departures. “This realignment of KDPG is necessary for our future growth. Our new structure—consisting of a nimble, concentrated leadership team —will enable us to meet the trials of an ever-shifting marketplace, hone the shape and focus of our imprints, and continue to allow us to do what we do best: publish great books.”

This article has been updated with further information.