About Me

RESUME

(http://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesmcgirk)

Summary

Eight years of editorial experience and a growing pile of clips from publications ranging from TIME Asia to The L Magazine. Currently fiction editor for the venerable Columbia: A Journal of Art and Literature.

Open source intelligence gathering and analysis expert, experienced in new media reporting and multimedia platforms of all kinds. Wrote and gathered visual evidence to articulate investment theses for two $100mm geopolitical hedge funds. Have also developed theses and extracted themes from intelligence feeds for clients like BP, U.S. Coast Guard, and the United Nations.

Safely ensconced in an MFA program for now, but willing to consider freelance opportunities.

Am also seeking representation for my first and second novels, INDIAN MADE FOREIGN LIQUOR, about crumbling California dynasties and crooked NGOs in pre-millennial New Delhi; and FERAL CITY, about growing up in an island city as it degenerates into anarchy, and the temptations of horror for a hateful youngster.

Specialties:
Writing (journalism, copywriting, creative and academic), non-linear storytelling, editing, research, Spanish, French, HTML, some video editing, photo-editing and manipulation, InCopy, Quark, Final Cut Pro, Adobe CS suite, cat husbandry, MS Office suite and most Content Management Systems (CMS) – both back-end and front.

Specialties

Writing (journalism, copywriting, creative and academic), non-linear storytelling, editing, research, Spanish, French, HTML, some video editing, photo-editing and manipulation, InCopy, Quark, Adobe CS suite, cat husbandry, MS Office suite and most Content Management Systems (CMS) – both back-end and front.

Experience

Fiction Editor
Columbia Journal
Nov. 2009 – Present
*Choosing and editing authors for Columbia Journal Issue 49

Writer / Editor
ImpactGames
March 2008 – Sept. 2009
*Pitching, researching and writing a game a day for playthenewsgame.com

Freelance Journalist/Analyst
James McGirk (Self-employed)
September 2001 – Present

*My bylines include The Economist, Foreign Policy, TIME Asia, The L Magazine, Ad Busters, Scribner’s Encyclopedia of Modern Asia, Long Island City Magazine, The Columbia Daily Spectator, CBS’ The Osgood Files, Columbia Journal of Literary Criticism.

* Copywriting/Analysis: Slifka Asset Management, Health Care Subrogration Group, Yale University, eNR Reports (editing), others.

Project Coordinator/Staff Writer
Yale University
September 2007 – December 2007
*Wrote confidential briefings for Yale’s president and correspondence for ‘principal’ ($5million+) donors.

Associate Web Editor
National Law Journal
August 2005 – August 2007
*Edited the associates web-only column; assembled the website, cropped photos, wrote abstracts, and other web-related bric-a-brac

Online Editor
Broadcast Interactive Media
August 2003 – July 2004
*While BIMedia was in NYC, I worked as their night-shift online editor for several months. The bulk of the position consisted of editing closed captioning feed from midwestern TV stations into news stories and adding photos, headlines and captions. Other duties included creating HTML teasers, polls and upkeep through the company’s CMS server.

Intern (at Time Asia)
Time Magazine
May 2001 – August 2001
Reporter-Researcher Intern

Education

Columbia University in the City of New York
MFA, Writing – Fiction
2009 – 2011 (expected)

Columbia University in the City of New York
BA, Literature-Writing, Cum Laude, GPA: 3.58
2004 – 2007
-Columbia Daily Spectator
-Activities and Societies: Cum Laude, GS Leadership Award, Merit -Scholarships 2005-2007

Honors and Awards

-Knight Foundation Best News Game, 2009
-Leadership Award, Columbia U. GS, 2007

See also:
Contact:jbm2110@columbia.edu

MFA Statement

Security Clearance (US/UK/UN)

TBD