All Over Albany

Paul Grondahl is the next director of the NYS Writers Institute

Paul Grondahl is set to become the director of the New York State Writers Institute at UAlbany, the org announced Friday.

His last day at the Times Union is February 17 -- though he tells Amy Biancolli (in the TU) he'll continue to contribute columns as time allows. He's worked at the paper for more than three decades and for much of that time has been one of this area's premiere journalists. It's the end of an era. A lot of people are going to miss regularly reading his work.

From a NYS Writers Institute press release:

William Kennedy, Founder and Executive Director of the Writers Institute said "Paul is a great choice for director of the Writers Institute for a lot of reasons. Above all, he's a serious writer. He's very savvy about literature and writers, and as a journalist, he's nonpareil - maybe the best we've had in this town in 30 years or more. He's written two well-received biographies of major political figures on our local stage - Teddy Roosevelt, and Erastus Corning, the singular mayor of Albany for 42 years. Paul also got his masters in English at UAlbany and he's covered many of the major writers who have visited the Institute."

It's hard to imagine finding someone better for the job.

The only downside is that Paul Grondahl can't write a profile of Paul Grondahl as leaves the TU.

Earlier: NYS Writers Institute visiting writers spring 2017

photo via Paul Grondahl Twitter