Amelia Lester named New Yorker managing editor

Amelia Lester ’05 is a former Ledecky Undergraduate Fellow at Harvard Magazine.

Amelia Lester ’05 has been named managing editor of the New Yorker, the New York Observer reported yesterday.

As a Berta Greenwald Ledecky Undergraduate Fellow at Harvard Magazine, Lester, a native of Sydney, Australia, wrote her first column for the magazine about adjusting to life in America. Subsequent columns explored the senior-year job search and the bittersweet transition into life after college.

Lester most recently worked as an editor at the Paris Review, according to the Observer; she had previously worked as a fact checker at the New Yorker. (See this biography from when she was named a Ledecky Fellow.)

You might also like

Radcliffe Institute Announces 2026-2027 Fellows

Scholars will tap Harvard’s intellectual resources during the coming academic year.

For This Poet, AI Is a Writing Partner

Sasha Stiles trained a chatbot on her manuscripts. Now, her poems rewrite themselves.

How Stories Help Us Cope with Climate Change

The growing genre of climate fiction offers a way to process reality—and our anxieties.

Most popular

Harvard Confers Five Honorary Degrees at 2026 Commencement

O’Brien joins journalists, a scholar of AI, and a Broadway star.

Ronny Chieng Tells Harvard to ‘Destroy AI’ as Graduates Cheer

The comedian and The Daily Show host gave the keynote address for Class Day 2026.

Meet Harvard’s 2026 Student Commencement Speakers

Two undergraduates and a Ph.D. candidate will address the graduating class on May 28.

Explore More From Current Issue

Three joyful graduates in caps and gowns celebrate together outdoors.

Your Harvard 2026 Commencement Week Guide

College reunions and Alumni Day will take place the following week

A dancer in a black leotard poses gracefully in a bright studio, with mirrors reflecting her movement.

A New Black Swan Musical Cranks Up the Tension

The creative team of the A.R.T.’s new show dish on adapting Darren Aronofsky’s thriller classic from screen to stage.