Sally Jenkins to Join The Atlantic as a Staff Writer in September
In a staff announcement, shared below, editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg writes: 'Sally is quite possibly America's greatest living sportswriter – and more generally one of the best feature writers working today. Sally is joining us from The Washington Post, where she has published years of history-making stories. The Jenkins completists among us—and I know there are many here at The Atlantic —will remember well her fantastic work for Sports Illustrated in its heyday. Anyone who takes a trip through the past three decades of her writing will receive a masterclass in the arts of lede writing, deep reporting, and narrative structure.'
Recently announced editorial hires at The Atlantic include staff writers Tom Bartlett, Idrees Kahloon, Tyler Austin Harper, Quinta Jurecic, Jake Lundberg, Toluse Olorunnipa, Alexandra Petri, Vivian Salama, Josh Tyrangiel, Caity Weaver, and Nancy Youssef; and senior editor Drew Goins.
Dear everyone,
I'm writing today to share the tremendous news that one of the legends of American journalism, Sally Jenkins, is joining The Atlantic as a staff writer. Sally is quite possibly America's greatest living sportswriter – and more generally one of the best feature writers working today. Sally is joining us from The Washington Post, where she has published years of history-making stories.
The Jenkins completists among us – and I know there are many here at The Atlantic – will remember well her fantastic work for Sports Illustrated in its heyday. Anyone who takes a trip through the past three decades of her writing will receive a masterclass in the arts of lede writing, deep reporting, and narrative structure.
Her remarkable story about the relationship between Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova is one such example – though Sally's interests are not limited to sports. She has written stop-everything-and-read pieces about a huge range of subjects, including this close study of Hillary Clinton's father, and a beautiful, memorable story about how the rubble at Ground Zero went from wreckage to relic, as well as this moving obituary of Sandra Day O'Connor. She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in commentary in 2020 for her writing at the Post, making her the first sportswriter to achieve this distinction in thirty years. Sally has also written more than a dozen books, and is the first woman ever to be inducted into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame.
Sally starts with us on September 15 and you'll see her frequently in our New York office. We cannot wait for her to get here – and we especially cannot wait to read her in our pages.
Please join me in welcoming her to The Atlantic.
Best wishes,
Jeff
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