Other
Layla Schlack
James Beard Award winner
- Discipline
- Other
i. Biography
Layla Schlack has worked across food, drinks, and travel publishing, where the job is to handle details without losing the larger argument of a story. In that overlap, she has moved between magazine and book publishing with the steadiness of an editor and the reporting instincts of a writer, shaping coverage that sits at the point where taste, place, and culture meet. She is now a local food reporter at Hearst Connecticut Media and a senior editor at Clarkson Potter.
The Climb
The editorial path taken by Layla Schlack has been built role by role, each position adding another layer to a working knowledge of food media. She was editor at Hemispheres, then editor at Fine Cooking, where recipe editing and reporting sit close enough to require discipline on both sides. She later worked as editor at Wine Enthusiast, a post that kept her inside one of the field’s central subjects, before moving to editor at Whetstone, where ingredients, geography, and lived experience remain tightly linked to the work on the page. In parallel, she became a local food reporter at Hearst Connecticut Media, bringing that same editorial sensibility into direct contact with the day-to-day reality of regional eating and drinking. Across those titles, Layla Schlack developed a voice shaped by food, culture, and storytelling, then carried that experience into books. The move to Clarkson Potter, Penguin Random House (US), reads as a continuation of the same practice: editing for clarity, structure, and use.
Today
At Clarkson Potter, Layla Schlack works as senior editor, focusing on cookbooks with the same practical fluency that has marked her work across food, drinks, and travel publishing. She has said, “These days, I’m happy to be senior editor at Clarkson Potter, acquiring and editing cookbooks.” It is a straightforward description of the job, and it names the part of the work that matters most: acquiring, editing, and shaping books in a hands-on process.
In Their Words “These days, I’m happy to be senior editor at Clarkson Potter, acquiring and editing cookbooks.”
Recognition
“I have lived many lives across food, drinks, and travel publishing,” Layla Schlack has said, and the line gives a clean read on the breadth of the work without breaking from it. The list of roles spans different publications and formats, but the throughline stays fixed on food and publishing. The value of that range is not novelty; it is the accumulation of editorial judgment across related fields. She has also said, “I’m always happy to talk to aspiring or emerging writers and editors about my experience in the industry.” That willingness points to a working life built through exchange as much as through output. In publishing, that kind of openness is part of the trade: knowledge passes sideways, not just upward.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Layla
What is Layla Schlack's current role?
As of 2026, Layla Schlack is Senior editor.
Where did Layla Schlack work before?
Layla Schlack's earlier career included Hemispheres, Fine Cooking, and Wine Enthusiast.
