National Book Foundation Director Lisa Lucas Evangelizes at NYT

She's gotten two Uber drivers to purchase books while in the car, she's reached out to girlfriends who "aren't readers"—but what does Lisa Lucas's role as director of the National Book Foundation really look like on a day-to-day basis? Find out in Ana Marie Cox's interview with Lucas in the New York Times:

In February, you were named the director of the National Book Foundation. What does that mean on a day-to-day level?

Our mission is to enhance the cultural value of good writing in America. That’s a big job! But I can’t just think of it in terms of, say, a 10-year plan. It’s getting to work, and saying it out loud, and reminding every person I meet on a bus and every Uber driver and every girlfriend who isn’t “a reader” that they, too, will like these things that I work every day in support of.

Do you really bug Uber drivers about books?

I do. I’ve gotten two Uber drivers to purchase books in the car.

You’ve said in the past that race should be a part of the conversation when we talk about inclusivity in publishing, but that you are more concerned with inclusivity in general.

Absolutely. Look, I’m a black woman. I care a lot about racial inequity. But when I think about building a nation of readers, I don’t think it’s fair to leave anyone behind. If I say I’m going to focus only on racial inclusivity, and I don’t think about poverty or regional isolation, then I’m failing to connect people, which is what literature does. It’s not just about correcting the imbalance for a group of people to which I belong. It’s about improving the world we live in, and that means you have to look at everybody.

Learn more at NYT.