Skip to Content

    James Beard Award winner

    Sarah Karnasiewicz

    Discipline
    James Beard Award winner
    Portrait of Sarah Karnasiewicz

    Portrait of Sarah Karnasiewicz

    i. Biography

    The Climb

    Sarah Karnasiewicz trained at Yale University and New York University, a course of study that fed the editorial rigor and literary control she later brought to food and media writing. From the start, the work moved by accumulation: each role adding range, discipline, and a finer sense of how to shape information for readers who know the difference between ornament and precision. The editorial floor sharpened that approach.

    At Salon.com, as deputy editor, the pace of digital publishing required clear decisions and tight handling. At Saveur, as senior editor, food writing could hold more room and texture. At Real Simple, as deputy food director, Sarah Karnasiewicz brought a lifestyle editor's view to the table. Later, as a columnist and contributor at The Wall Street Journal, Off Duty (until 2022), she carried the same combination of reporting acuity and restraint into a broader audience.

    Across those positions, the throughline is steadiness rather than reinvention. The work shows a close ear for tone, a practical sense of structure, and attention to the human rituals that make a story hold. That is what gives Sarah Karnasiewicz's career its shape: movement across editorial rooms, but with a consistent hand.

    The Sunday email

    Get new Made By stories every Sunday.

    Every Sunday we send a lead story and up to four more about the chefs, winemakers, sommeliers and hoteliers behind the restaurants, bars, wineries and hotels we cover.

    See a sample of the Sunday email

    Free. One email a week, and you can unsubscribe from any issue.

    Today

    Since 2022, Sarah Karnasiewicz has been features editor at The Wall Street Journal in New York, where feature-making sits at the intersection of narrative craft, editorial judgment, and cultural curiosity. Having worked there earlier as both a contributor and a columnist, she brings institutional memory to the role as well as a practical understanding of how the publication works from several angles. The job asks for range, but also for taste: knowing what deserves space, what can carry more weight, and where a lighter touch serves the piece better.

    For Sarah Karnasiewicz, that instinct connects naturally to a sensibility shaped by family ritual, careful observation, and an ear for how everyday life becomes readable on the page.

    ii

    FAQ

    Asked of Sarah

    • What is Sarah Karnasiewicz's current role?

      As of 2026, Sarah Karnasiewicz is Features editor.

    • Where did Sarah Karnasiewicz train or study?

      Sarah Karnasiewicz trained at Yale University and New York University.

    • What recognition has Sarah Karnasiewicz received?

      James Beard Journalism Award (2012).

    The Sunday email

    Get new Made By stories every Sunday.

    Every Sunday we send a lead story and up to four more about the chefs, winemakers, sommeliers and hoteliers behind the restaurants, bars, wineries and hotels we cover.

    See a sample of the Sunday email

    Free. One email a week, and you can unsubscribe from any issue.