Duane Swierczynski will be leaving this year's AAN convention-host paper later this month to focus on his other life as an author of crime novels and other books, the Philadelphia Daily News reports. The City Paper has confirmed that senior editor Brian Howard will replace Swierczynski as the alt-weekly's editor-in-chief.
Duane Swierczynski's new interactive mystery is told from the perspective of Sherlock Holmes' trusty sidekick, Dr. Watson. The Crimes of Dr. Watson is sort of like an adult version of a pop-up book, as the clues in the book -- including replica newspapers -- fold out and are three-dimensional. Swierczynski, who in addition to editing the City Paper is a best-selling crime writer, says the book is targeted to both adults and children and can be a communal mystery-solving experience.
Philadelphia City Paper editor and crime novelist Duane Swierczynski has teamed up with artist Jefte Paolo for "Moon Knight Annual" #1, which is set for release by Marvel this November. He tells Comic Book Resources that the book originated with fellow crime writer Ed Brubaker asking him if he ever wanted to get into writing comics. "That was like asking Lindsay Lohan, 'Hey would you ever want to get high and go driving?' Of course I wanted to write for comics," he says. "Consider me a silly happy bastard," Swierczynski writes on his blog. "It's not often a 25-year-old dream comes true."
In an interview discussing his sophomore effort, The Blonde, Duane Swierczynski says his journalism career has made him a better writer. "It has beaten some of the bad writing out of my system," he tells the Journals. "Journalism teaches you to be concise; space, after all, is precious." But fiction has also helped make him a better editor and journalist. "I think writing fiction has helped me realize that story is king, even in non-fiction. When I edit stories for the City Paper, I find myself mostly looking for structure flaws -- hiccups in the storytelling -- and craving strong narratives that unfold like a novel. After all, journalism is just storytelling with the truth."
The 160-page anniversary issue, published today, is "an idiosyncratic mashup of 25 years of city journalism," writes editor Duane Swierczynski. "We've selected 25 'memorable' stories, from investigative epics to little goofy items that made us smile." Co-founder Bruce Schimmel provides details of the paper's "ugly, lovely birth" as an offshoot of a local community radio station, and Publisher Paul Curci looks toward the alt-weekly's future: "As a reader, expect to have more access, to our writers and to the stories themselves. Expect more new voices and new features. As an advertiser, expect more innovative ways to reach new customers. Above all, expect the unexpected."
His fabrications in The Village Voice were "neither culturally significant nor journalistically shocking," Philadelphia City Paper founder and former owner Bruce Schimmel writes in his weekly column, and the disciplinary actions that resulted were "a shot across the bow of the mother ship of New Journalism." But Duane Swierczynski uses his editor's letter to disagree: "If we're not vigilant about separating truth from fiction, can you imagine what schoolkids will be saying about George W. Bush in 200 years?" Fabrications are too often rewarded, and editors who prod writers for amazing dialogue need to be equally passionate about checking accuracy, Swierczynski argues.
"The Wheelman" is not only Duane Swierczynski's second novel, it's his second novel this year. His first, "Secret Dead Men," was published in January. Reviewer David J. Montgomery called "The Wheelman" a "slim gem of a crime novel" in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Swierczynski is also the author of nonfiction books on the topics of crime, scams, and beer.
When Philadelphia City Paper publisher Paul Curci conducted a national search for a new editor, he spoke to "no less than three dozen candidates," according to his open letter in the paper's latest issue. With input from his staff, he handpicked Philly native Duane Swierczynski, who worked at Philadelphia magazine and Men's Health before moving on to New York and an associate editor position at Details. Curci says that Swierczynski "made good in Philly, elevated his game in New York and chose to return to the city he loves to do what he does best -- lead young writers to excellence."
Duane Swierczynski is the new editor of Philadelphia City Paper, filling the spot left vacant when Howard Altman was fired in June 2004. Adding an interesting twist to the hiring is that in 1999 the paper published a mildly scathing rebuke regarding the publication of a phony article Swierczynski wrote for Philadelphia magazine about a gay Mummer. (Mummers are blue-collar guys who paint themselves to look like super-mimes and march through Philly each Jan. 1.) Publisher Paul Curci tells Dan Gross of the Philadelphia Daily News that City Paper staffers deem the long-ago hoax "a nonissue."
