Ruth Franklin started at The New Republic as assistant managing editor in July 1999, became associate literary editor in February 2001, and a senior editor in October 2003. A Baltimore native, she received a B.A. in English from Columbia University in 1995 and an M.A. in comparative literature from Harvard University in 1998. She has also studied at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. Before joining TNR, she worked in The New York Times' Warsaw bureau and was a writer and editor for the Let's Go travel guide series. Her writing has also appeared in The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post Book World, and the London Review of Books.