Rich Levy Announces Retirement, Inprint Names Giuseppe Taurino Incoming Executive Director
After more than 30 years of service, Rich Levy, Executive Director of Inprint, Houston’s premier literary arts nonprofit organization, announces his retirement at the end of the 2025/2026 season. Houston arts leader, educator, and writer Giuseppe Taurino has been appointed new Inprint Executive Director, following a national search.
When Levy started at Inprint, he was the only full-time staff member, and the organization’s focus was very local. During his tenure, Levy led Inprint’s significant growth, expanding to 7 staff members and increasing revenue by 342%. Inprint’s endowment, which is dedicated to supporting University of Houston Creative Writing Program students, has expanded to $7 million and provided more than $5 million in fellowships and prizes. His legacy also includes a wealth of community programs—including the Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series, which over the decades has featured winners of 13 Nobel Prizes, 74 Pulitzer Prizes, 68 National Book Awards, 57 National Book Critics Circle Awards, and 18 Booker Prizes, as well as 23 U.S. Poets Laureate.
“It has been a great privilege to serve as Inprint’s Executive Director since August 1995,” said Levy. “I am very proud of the progress we’ve made over the years, growing programs that existed when I arrived like the Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series and launching many new programs—including the Inprint Cool Brains! Series, Inprint Poetry Buskers, Inprint Escritores en la casa Series, and community workshops serving aspiring writers, senior citizens, teachers, healthcare providers, veterans, and the incarcerated—all of which now feel like part of the city’s cultural fabric.”
This spring, Levy will support Taurino’s leadership transition to ensure that Inprint has the knowledge transfer and structure in place to carry on successfully for years to come. Taurino brings nearly two decades of experience advancing literary and arts organizations through strategic vision and community leadership.
“I’m excited to work alongside Inprint’s staff, board, and supporters to build on an extraordinary foundation and thoughtfully guide the organization into its next chapter,” said Taurino. “There’s a real opportunity to deepen connection, invite more people into the work, and make sure Inprint remains known for literary excellence while staying grounded in community.”
Taurino, who will begin as Executive Director on April 1, currently serves in that role at Writers in the Schools (WITS) Houston. He earned his MFA from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program and previously served as Associate Director of the UH Creative Writing Program. He has also led capacity-building initiatives for the Houston Arts Alliance, served as Executive Director of Badgerdog Literary Publishing in Austin, and worked as a WITS writer-in-residence. His fiction and essays have appeared in American Short Fiction (online), B O D Y, Bridge Eight, Epoch, Green Mountains Review, New South, The Potomac Review, and elsewhere. He is a contributing editor at American Short Fiction, a founding Advisory Board member for the Houston Flood Museum, and a past co-curator of the Poison Pen Reading Series.
“Stories have shaped my life for as long as I can remember, and Inprint has spent decades creating the conditions for literature—in all its forms—to be shared and taken seriously,” Taurino said. “Accepting this role feels both deeply personal and genuinely meaningful to me. Inprint is a cornerstone of Houston’s literary community, and stepping into this work is an honor and a responsibility I take seriously.”
A recipient of an Inprint Brown Foundation Fellowship and winner of an Inprint Donald Barthelme Prize in Fiction during his graduate studies, Taurino has experienced first-hand the impact of Inprint’s support of emerging writers. His well-established relationships with local writers, educational institutions, and arts partners throughout his career will serve as a major strength as he charts Inprint’s continued path toward inspiring and serving readers and writers in Houston, the Gulf Coast, and beyond.
“We are thrilled to welcome Giuseppe Taurino to Inprint,” said Chinhui Juhn, Inprint Board President. “Our board, guided by a search firm and supported by the Inprint staff, has worked tirelessly to identify a candidate who can shape Inprint’s future while building on the legacy of Rich Levy, our retiring Executive Director. We are confident that Giuseppe’s vision and track record of dedication, cultural engagement, and educational enrichment within the community make him the right person for this leadership position. With his own success story as a former Inprint Prize winner and Fellowship recipient, this is a kind of coming home for him, which makes us proud.”
ABOUT INPRINT
A nonprofit organization founded in 1983, Inprint’s mission is to inspire readers and writers in Houston and beyond. Serving more than 15,000 people annually, Inprint has helped to transform Houston into a diverse and thriving literary metropolis where creativity is celebrated and Houstonians come together to engage with the written word, in English and Spanish. Through the Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series, the Inprint Cool Brains! Series the Inprint Escritores en la casa Series, and other community collaborations, individuals of all ages meet and hear from the world’s most accomplished writers and thinkers. Inprint Writers Workshops for the general public help aspiring authors master their craft and prepare work for publication. Community workshops for teachers, senior citizens, healthcare providers, veterans, and the incarcerated help individuals of all backgrounds to become better writers and share their stories. The Inprint Poetry Buskers, with typewriters in hand, demystify and increase appreciation for poetry at programs and events throughout the city. Ink Well, a podcast presented in collaboration with Tintero Projects, showcases emerging and established Latinx writers. Inprint’s support for some of the world’s top emerging writers at the University of Houston Creative Writing Program—more than $5 million in fellowships, prizes, and employment—has enabled 600+ graduates to impact their communities through writing, teaching, and more. For more information, visit inprint.org.
