Michael Claude Koch, an editor and lecturer at Cornell University noted for having returned the Cornell literary journal, EPOCH, to national prominence, died at home on May 27, 2022, after a brief illness. He was 75 years old and had planned to retire from Cornell on June 30.

Each year, EPOCH invites two former assistant editors to serve as guest editors in fiction and poetry. The Koch Editor in Fiction for Volume 70 is Lena Nguyen, and the Koch Editor in Poetry is Benjamin Garcia.