Kathleen Fitzpatrick is Director of Scholarly Communication of the Modern Language Association, where she is spearheading digital initiatives including MLA Commons. Her recent book, Planned Obsolescence: Publishing, Technology, and the Future of the Academy (NYU Press, 2011), was released in draft form for open peer review in fall 2009. She is also author of The Anxiety of Obsolescence: The American Novel in the Age of Television (Vanderbilt University Press, 2006) and co-founder of the digital scholarly network MediaCommons. She has published articles and notes on American literature, media studies, and digital culture in journals such as the Journal of Electronic Publishing, PMLA, and Contemporary Literature.

In June-July 2014 she will be a visiting fellow at John-F.-Kennedy-Institut für Nordamerikastudien, Freie Universität Berlin.