Author A.M. Homes and photographer Susan Unterberg have been named co-chairs of the legendary Yaddo artists' community in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. They succeed Peter C. Gould, who is stepping down after 10 years as board chairman.
The transition marks a pair of firsts. The new co-chairs, who assumed their new positions September 7 during the annual meeting of the Corporation of Yaddo, are the first in Yaddo's history to share the chairmanship, and the first former guest artists to take the helm.
"Without Yaddo I wouldn't exist as a writer," said Homes, who worked on her short story collection The Safety of Objects when she was first invited to the retreat in 1989. "Yaddo gives artists the increasingly rare gift of a time and place to do one's work, suspended from the intrusive buzz of the every day. I am forever indebted."
