Following graduation, Levi received a Mellon Fellowship to study at Cambridge University, where he directed fellow American Bill Buford in productions of "A Long Day’s Journey Into Night" and "Sexual Perversity in Chicago," while producing the first issue (along with Buford and the Englishman Pete de Bolla) of the literary magazine Granta. On his return to the United States, Levi opened Granta’s New York office and, through 1987, served as U.S. Editor for "quite simply, the most impressive magazine of its time." (Daily Telegraph)

Since leaving Granta, Levi has divided his time between writing and producing. His 1992 novel "A Guide for the Perplexed" has been called "a fable of fantastical lushness, reminiscent of the best fairy tales" (The New York Times Book Review) and compared to "the outrageous satire of Monty Python, and the globetrotting of Vanity Fair" (Washington Post), "while also bearing the mark of such fabulists as Günter Grass and Gabriel García Márquez." (Newsday)

In 1993, as Director of New Opera for New Ears, a joint program of The Metropolitan Opera Guild and The Kennedy Center, he produced Carly Simon's first opera, "Romulus Hunt," directed by Francesca Zambell

Most recently, as Director of the National Literary Audience Development Project of the 92nd Street Y's Unterberg Poetry Center, Levi produced a stage version of Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky’s translation of Dante’s "Inferno," adapted and staged by Robert Scanlan with music composed by Bruce Saylor for violinist Gil Morgenstern. Hailed as a "remarkably theatrical staged version of the 14th century epic…an engrossing adaptation of a poem few would have imagined could work quite so well on stage," (The New York Times), the Inferno followed its New York premiere with performances in Boston, Miami, Kansas City, Seattle, Los Angeles’ Getty Center, and Montgomery, Alabama’s Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church (where the interracial cast of five performed to an integrated audience that overflowed the capacity of the church where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. first preached). A televised version of the production aired on PBS in February, and a radio incarnation was broadcast on NPR as a special this past Halloween. Following the success of the Inferno, Levi created 9 Circles Chamber Theater with Gil Morgenstern to continue the exploration of the collaborative method of working with composers, directors, actors and instrumentalists.

Levi’s short stories and articles have appeared in many magazines including Granta, GQ, Terra Nova, and The Village Voice. Since 1997, Levi has served as a Contributing Writer for The Los Angeles Times Book Review. He is currently working on a historical film project, "Bread Into Roses," with the Dutch writer and director Irma Achten, and a novel titled "Septimania."

In January 2000, Harold O. Levy, the new New York City Schools Chancellor, asked Levi to join his staff to oversee Arts and Cultural Affairs, where he then served for 18 months.

Recently, Levi adapted his short story "The Scrimshaw Violin" (which first appeared in Granta) into an opera. It had its world premiere in New York City on December 3 & 4, 2001.

Jonathan Levi lives in New York City with his wife and three children.

FEATURE:
"The Scrimshaw Violin" premiered in New York in December, 2001.

click here to read more (including an excerpt from the review in the New York Times)