A sudden death in Tennessee last month was the spark for another round of upheaval at the Washington City Paper, with top editor Steve Cavendish announcing his departure on Monday to edit the Nashville Scene. SouthComm, which owns both papers, moved quickly to replace him with Liz Garrigan.

A former top editor for the Scene, and more recently a senior editor for Paris-based Worldcrunch, Garrigan will be the first woman to hold the position. “I’m a post feminist. It is not at all surprising for a woman to be an editor of a paper,” she told DCist, noting it isn’t even the first time she’s held the top job at an alt-weekly. “Maybe it is notable, but I’m probably the wrong person to ask.”

Garrigan is more focused on the logistics of moving her family across the Atlantic—and on learning the District. “I don’t know it well. I’m not going to claim to know it well,” she said. Her previous experiences here have included covering Tennessee’s Congressional delegation and getting beaten by Al Gore in the Marine Corps Marathon. “I’m going to have a learning curve. But if I can navigate Paris, I can probably figure out D.C.”

In a statement announcing the hire, publisher Eric Norwood expressed confidence that she’d be able to do just that. “I can speak from firsthand experience about Liz’s journalistic talent and leadership skills … The readers of Washington City Paper and the residents of the District will be well served with her at our helm.”

In the City Paper, Garrigan will find a history of deep stories about the District and a staff undergoing another major staff transition in quick succession.

Editor-in-chief Mike Madden, managing editor Jon Fischer, and assistant managing editor Jenny Rogers left within months of each other at the end of 2014 and early 2015. Madden was replaced by Cavendish and the managing editor role was co-filled by Emily Hazzard and former DCist editor-in-chief Sarah Anne Hughes.

Garrigan had nothing but praise for the paper under their leadership, “I’ve heard extraordinarily good things about the staff. I have no plans to change [it],” she said, adding that Cavendish is leaving to be in a place where he’s needed.

Cavendish is heading back to Nashville after the former editor of the Scene, Jim Ridley, collapsed at his desk and died suddenly in March. “The staff knows [Cavendish], and his leadership is sorely needed there,” Garrigan said. “There’s a good reason for all this. It is not just coming out of nowhere.”

With her two boys getting older and the family already considering coming back to the U.S. after nearly six years abroad, the call from SouthComm came at a fortuitous time for Garrigan. Her tentative start date is July 18. Plus, she adds, “I’ve missed alt-weekly journalism. It’s a pretty fun gig.”