Christian Wiman announced Monday that he would step down as editor of Poetry magazine on June 30 of this year. Mr. Wiman, who has written three books of poetry himself, served as the magazine's editor for a decade. Under his leadership, Poetry won two prestigious National Magazine Awards in 2011, including the one for general excellence. It was the first time the magazine had received the honor.
Mr. Wiman, who described himself as a devout Christian in a 2009 interview, said he was leaving to join the faculty of the Yale Institute of Sacred Music and Yale Divinity School.
Poetry was founded in 1912 and calls itself “the oldest monthly devoted to verse in the English-speaking world.†In 2003, shortly after Mr. Wiman was named, the magazine received a gift of nearly $200 million from the philanthropist Ruth Lilly. Mr. Wiman used the money to enact a good deal of change at the magazine.
Circulation more than doubled, in part due to a direct mail campaig n. He also redesigned the magazine's physical look and commissioned long-form journalism from established poets. For example, in the January 2011 issue, Eliza Griswold reported from Lampedusa, an island off Italy that has taken in immigrants from Africa trying to enter Europe.
A national search will be conducted for his successor.
