Annik LaFarge is a writer, photographer, editor, and lecturer. She’s the author of the much-praised Chasing Chopin: A Musical Journey Across Three Centuries, Four Countries, and a Half-Dozen Revolutions,published by Simon & Schuster in 2020 (and in paperback in 2021), a New York Times Book Review “Editors’ Choice” and longlisted for the PEN America Award for Biography and shortlisted for the William Saroyan International Prize. She has been writing about the High Line and other innovative urban and rural landscapes since 2009 on the blog LivinTheHighLine.com.
Her first book, On the High Line, was published in a full-color edition in 2012 by Thames & Hudson; they published a second edition in 2014. The third edition, fully revised & updated, was published by Fordham University Press / Empire State Editions in May 2024.
In 2019 Columbia University Libraries selected LaFarge’s blog for inclusion in the Avery Library Historic Preservation and Urban Planning web archive, to ensure its continuing availability to researchers.
She has published articles in a variety of publications including the New York Times, Huffington Post, Publishers Weekly, Bark magazine, the websites of the Olana Partnership and the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry. LaFarge is a longtime trustee of the Waterfront Museum in Red Hook, Brooklyn, currently serving as Chair. She is also an antenna operator for Marine Traffic, providing a 4-mile range of coverage on the Hudson River as part of the AIS system.
Before settling into her career as a writer LaFarge spent 25 years in the book business, working at Random House, Simon & Schuster, and Bloomsbury USA in editorial and executive positions. In the late 1990s, at the height of the dot-com boom, she took a year away from publishing to join entrepreneur/journalist Steven Brill in the development and launch of Contentville.com, where she published a series of original eBooks and oversaw the website’s bookstore. She started her own consultancy, TitleTK Projects, in 2008, working as a non-fiction editor and writing collaborator and doing project management for author websites, e-commerce sites, blogs and enhanced eBooks. See here for a full professional biography.
Contact Annik here (or at anniklafarge@hotmail.com if you’re unable to access link.)
Praise for Chasing Chopin
“A luminous book, rich with reporting and reflection and marvelously animated by LaFarge’s passion for the subject. Whether you love Chopin doesn’t matter: This is an irresistible journey into history and the nature of genius.”
— Susan Orlean, author of The Library Book
A New York Times Book Review “Editors’ Choice”
Longlisted for the PEN America Award for Biography
Shortlisted for the William Saroyan International Prize
“[Annik LaFarge’s companion] website raises the bar on how music-themed books will be expected to incorporate multimedia henceforth.” — Chronogram Magazine
Visit whychopin.com, the musical companion site to Chasing Chopin, to learn more.
Praise for On the High Line
“With hundreds of photos spanning the years before, during and after the site’s construction, the book lends context to the reclaimed urban space that has become one of the city’s most popular attractions.”
― The Wall Street Journal
“A must for anyone who plans to visit the High Line.”
― Chicago Tribune
“Engrossing. . . . Bursting with insights on history, botany, geography, architecture, and the arts. . . . Gorgeous full-color photographs enhance the view on nearly every page. A marvelous guidebook for visitors and readers interested in New York City history or urban planning.”
— Publishers Weekly
Visit highlinebook.com, the photography companion site to On the High Line, to learn more.