Penelope Bass is a writer and editor based in Brooklyn.

With a penchant for storytelling and a tendency toward snark, I have been working as a journalist and editor for more than a decade, from community newspapers to national magazines. I’m fascinated by the intersections of news and culture, the stories told by what we eat, the theatrics of politics, and the lived experiences of women.

Imbibe Magazine

2015 – Current

Imbibe is a James Beard Award–winning national magazine celebrating the culture, stories and trends of the drinks world. As the managing editor, I work with our editorial staff and a stable of contributing writers to shape the content, direction, and theme of each issue, both in print and on imbibemagazine.com. I regularly contribute to departments and write long-form features, participate in events and panel discussions, and on occasion I’m lucky enough to drink my way through a new city in the name of research. It is a job both endlessly fascinating and delicious.

 

Willamette Week

2011 – 2018

A pillar of independent news and culture reporting for the city, the Willamette Week was my introduction to Portland. As the former books editor and a longtime contributor, I had the opportunity to explore the bars, bookstores, theaters, restaurants and strip clubs that make Portland the envy of the East Coast, all the while telling stories and eating way too much.

 

Flagstaff Live and Mountain Living Magazine

2007–2011

In a dual role, I served as the assistant editor for a weekly arts and entertainment newspaper and a monthly lifestyle magazine in Flagstaff, Arizona. Alternating between two very different editorial approaches offered my Virgo brain an appealing logistical challenge—as well as a rewarding perspective on the community—and offered the opportunity to have a hand in nearly every element of production.

Although my work enjoyably overlaps much of my life, when I’m not behind a computer I try to explore as much as possible, from new neighborhoods to new continents. I’m a hedonistic baker, an NPR addict, a perpetual list maker, and most days my general outlook hovers in the realm of optimistic nihilism. I am easily fired up by feminist issues, willful ignorance and predictable plot lines.