# Celina "Cindy" Spiegel

> Celina "Cindy" Spiegel is the co-founder and co-CEO of Spiegel & Grau, the independent New York publishing house she runs with her longtime partner Julie Grau. Over a 30-plus year editing career she helped launch the literary careers of James McBride, Khaled Hosseini, Bryan Stevenson, Chang-rae Lee and Gary Shteyngart, and edited bestsellers by Yuval Noah Harari, Yann Martel and Dan Pink. After Penguin Random House shut down their acclaimed imprint in 2019, Spiegel and Grau rebuilt it from scratch in 2020 as an independent house publishing 15 to 20 books a year alongside original audiobooks and podcasts.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & Co-CEO at Spiegel & Grau
- **Organizations:** Spiegel & Grau, Riverhead Books, Penguin Random House, Archangel Ancient Tree Archive, Columbia Global Reports
- **Nationality:** American
- **Known for:** Co-founded Spiegel & Grau twice - as a major-house imprint in 2005 and as an independent publisher in 2020, Launched the literary careers of James McBride, Khaled Hosseini, Bryan Stevenson, Chang-rae Lee, Gary Shteyngart, Alex Garland, Sana Krasikov, Philipp Meyer, Kathleen Norris, ZZ Packer, Domenica Ruta and Danzy Senna, Edited bestsellers by Yuval Noah Harari, Yann Martel, Dan Pink, Harold Bloom, Steven Rinella, Sara Gruen and Anne Lamott

## Career timeline

- **1990s** — Founding editor of Riverhead Books, where she acquired and edited James McBride's The Color of Water
- **2005** — Co-founded the Spiegel & Grau imprint at Random House with Julie Grau
- **2019** — Penguin Random House shut down the Spiegel & Grau imprint; Spiegel and Grau departed
- **2020** — Relaunched Spiegel & Grau as an independent publisher, co-CEO
- **2021** — Published first independent title, Catherine Raven's Fox and I, a New York Times bestseller
- **2022** — Spiegel & Grau podcast Believe Her (with Lemonada Media) won a Gracie Award
- **2026** — Kathryn Stockett's second novel set to publish through Spiegel & Grau

## Achievements

- Co-founded Spiegel & Grau twice - as a major-house imprint in 2005 and as an independent publisher in 2020
- Launched the literary careers of James McBride, Khaled Hosseini, Bryan Stevenson, Chang-rae Lee, Gary Shteyngart, Alex Garland, Sana Krasikov, Philipp Meyer, Kathleen Norris, ZZ Packer, Domenica Ruta and Danzy Senna
- Edited bestsellers by Yuval Noah Harari, Yann Martel, Dan Pink, Harold Bloom, Steven Rinella, Sara Gruen and Anne Lamott
- Acquired and edited James McBride's The Color of Water at Riverhead Books
- Co-edited the anthology Out of the Garden: Women Writers on the Bible
- Published New York Times bestsellers including Catherine Raven's Fox and I and Shelley Read's Go As a River
- Secured a first-look film deal with Amazon Studios and won a 2022 Gracie Award for the podcast Believe Her

## Latest updates

- **2026** — Spiegel & Grau set to publish Kathryn Stockett's first novel since The Help
- **2025** — Spiegel & Grau in its fifth year as an independent publisher, continuing 15-20 titles a year plus audio and podcasts

## Links

- Website: https://spiegelandgrau.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/celina-spiegel-5096b6181/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/spiegelandgrau
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spiegelandgrau/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/celina-spiegel
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-25