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Constable & Robinson expands fiction offering

05.07.09 | Benedicte Page

James Gurbutt, whose position as associate publisher at Harvill Secker was one of those recently made redundant at Random House, is to head a new fiction imprint at Constable & Robinson.
Gurbutt will join the publisher in September, with a remit to build a list of both literary and ­commercial fiction titles. The name of the imprint is yet to be announced.

Publisher Nick Robinson said: "We've been doing well with our crime fiction, handled by Krystyna Green, and we want to broaden our fiction offering and expand into other areas." He added: "Last year was strong and so was the first quarter of 2009. I feel this is a good environment for independent publishers."

Gurbutt said he was "really excited" to be given the new role, "especially in the current climate". He said he would be making use of his full range of editing experience at Harvill Secker, where he worked with authors including Henning Mankell, José Saramago and Nicholas Shakespeare, and would expect to publish the first titles in the new imprint in the second half of 2010.

Agent David Miller of Rogers, Coleridge and White, said: "It's terrific to see James back behind a desk so soon, with the potential to create a list that might one day rival the one he had to leave behind."

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