March 28, 2025, 1:24pm

Beloved indie magazine The Rumpus will be getting new owners on May 1st. Roxane Gay and Debbie Millman are set to take over from Alyson Sinclair, who has been running The Rumpus since 2022.

Roxanne Gay has been working with the publication for years — she was the magazine’s founding essays editor — and is the author of multiple best-sellers, including Bad Feminist and Difficult Women. Coming back to the magazine is “a truly full-circle moment,” Gay said: “The Rumpus was one of the first places where my writing found a significant audience, and it helped shape me into the writer I am today.”

Debbie Millman is a designer, writer, and the host of the podcast Design Matters. Millman is planning to “bring renewed attention to the way visual artists are represented in the magazine.”

The pair will take over from Alyson Sinclair, who helmed the magazine for the last three years, where she worked at “stabilizing and improving the magazine, including redesigning the website, launching a membership program, and increasing contributor pay.”

The Rumpus has thrived as an independent outlet for exciting and creative work — we’re looking forward to more under this new leadership!