Yahdon Israel, Senior Editor

Yahdon has a passion for promoting literacy and connecting readers with books. He brings an entrepreneurial spirit to these pursuits as the founder of a popular book club, host of a literary podcast, event producer, magazine editor, and writer, as well as his work in support of several prestigious literary awards, including the NBCC, Aspen Words Literary Prize and the Young Lions Fiction Award.

Some of the books Yahdon has acquired and edited at Simon & Schuster include Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden by Camille T. Dungy, What Winners Won’t Tell You by 2x NFL Superbowl champion, Malcolm Jenkins, Growing Up Urkel by Jaleel White, Say Hello to the Bad Guys by Marc Raimondi, Loca by Alejandro Heredia, The Fantasies of Future Things by Doug Jones, Black Cherokee by Antonio Michael Downing, Boom Town by Nic Stone, Episodes by Gucci Mane, and Tenderheaded: A Memoir by Michaela Angela Davis.

As a senior editor Yahdon’s first acquisition, Aaliyah Bilal’s debut short story collection, Temple Folk was a finalist for the National Book Award in Fiction, the Aspen Words Literary Prize and won the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence.

At Simon & Schuster, Yahdon acquires literary fiction.