Jennifer 8. Lee
Co-Founder and CEO
A former New York Times reporter, Jennifer 8. Lee is an author, journalist and force in digital media. She is also the author of the New York Times-bestselling book, “The Fortune Cookie Chronicles” (Twelve, 2008). Jenny has been called a “conceptual scoop artist” by NPR, featured by Esquire as a “Woman We Love,” and noted by Columbia Journalism Review as one of “20 Women to Watch in Media.” She was one of the youngest full reporters ever hired at the Times. Her next book will be published by Simon & Schuster. Jenny has served as the lead judge for the Knight News Challenge, a $25-million grant program to spur news innovation. She also serves on the boards of the Nieman Foundation, the Center for Public Integrity, the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, Hacks/Hackers, Awesome Foundation and the Robert F. Kennedy journalism awards. She is a member of the New York Public Library Young Lions Committee. Jenny graduated with a degree in Applied Math and Economics from Harvard, where she was vice president of The Harvard Crimson. She also studied International Relations at Beijing University and has a worldly hippo named Hubba Bubba.
Heidi Pitlor
Editorial Director
Heidi Pitlor is the author of the novels The Birthdays, The Daylight Marriage, which was optioned for film, and Impersonation. A former senior editor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, she has been the series editor of The Best American Short Stories since 2007. She is the director of Heidi Pitlor Editorial, and the editorial director of the literary studio, Plympton. Her writing has been published in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Lit Hub, Ploughshares, The Huffington Post, and elsewhere. She lives outside Boston.
Shirley Wang
Assistant Editor
Shirley Wang is a writer and journalist based in Iowa City, Iowa who helps oversee Plympton’s literary projects.
Christine Utz
Assistant Editor
Christine Utz is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop with over a decade of teaching and editing experience. Her short fiction has appeared in Saw Palm, Turbine | Kapohau, MARY, Joyland, BorderSenses, and Flock. She's also a contributing author to Occupying Wall Street: The Inside Story of an Action that Changed America. When she isn't writing or editing, Christine loves to be outdoors hiking or working with animals, especially birds and horses. She helps oversee Plympton's literary projects.
Kiara Gomez
Assistant Editor
Kiara Gomez is a recent Harvard College graduate with a degree in Social Anthropology and Government. When she’s not reading, writing, or watching stories, she can be found admiring multimillion-dollar homes on Zillow or enjoying Southern California’s perennial good weather at the beach. She helps oversee Plympton's literary projects.
Sara Komatsu Assistant Editor
Sara is a writer and recent graduate from Harvard, where she studied English and Film Studies. She is currently based in Orlando but is soon to be in Japan for a fellowship. In her free time, Sara can be found dancing, reading, or watching cooking videos. She’s written for Pointe Magazine and the Crimson, and helps Jenny with all things Jennyverse, including helping oversee Plympton’s literary projects.
Eric Zhou
Data Steward
Eric is a data steward and software developer for Plympton and Writing Atlas. His day job is working as a software engineer at Facebook (Meta). He is tall and skinny like a string bean. He likes sonnets, badminton, and banana almond milk. He dreams of being Librarian of Congress one day.