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British Book Awards Judges

2019 Judges

2019 Chairs

  • Philip Jones
    Chair of the Books of the Year, and Audiobook of the Year
    Editor Philip is editor of The Bookseller, a position he took up in August 2012. Before that he was deputy editor, having first joined the magazine in 1996. He was its web editor for 10 years, having helped launch thebookseller.com in 1998. He is a regular commentator on book trade matters on radio, TV and in the broadsheet newspapers.
  • Alice O'Keeffe
    Chair of the Books of the Year, and chair of Debut and Fiction Book of the Year
    Alice O’Keeffe is the Books Editor at The Bookseller and so is lucky enough to read books for a living. She interviews authors for The Bookseller’s weekly author profile slot and writes about all the wonderful new fiction published each month in an overview that covers all genres. Alice began her career in books as a buyer at Book Club Associates before moving to Amazon.co.uk and joined The Bookseller in 2008.
  • Benedicte Page
    Chair of the Trade Publishing categories
  • Tom Tivnan
    Chair of the Trade Retail categories
  • Alison Flood
    Chair of Fiction - Crime & Thriller
    Alison Flood is the Guardian's books reporter and the former news editor of the Bookseller.
  • Fiona Noble
    Chair of Children's Illustrated & Non-Fiction Book of the Year
    Fiona Noble is the Children's & YA Previews Editor for The Bookseller and a freelance children's books consultant. Fiona has over 20 years experience of the children's book world, starting out as a Saturday library assistant aged 16, and has gone on to work in a variety of bookselling and publishing roles, including Children's Books Manager for the Ottakar's book chain.
  • Caroline Sanderson
    Chair of Non Fiction - Lifestyle and Non Fiction - Narrative Book of the Year
    Caroline is Associate Editor and non-fiction previewer for The Bookseller. She is also the editor of ALCS News, the online magazine of the Authors Licensing & Collecting Society; and Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the University of Worcester. Caroline is the author of five non-fiction books, including ‘A Rambling Fancy: In the Footsteps of Jane Austen’; and ‘Someone Like Adele'. She is a regular broadcaster, and co-hosts a monthly book club on BBC Radio Gloucestershire. Caroline regularly chairs events at literary festivals, and is a judge for the Wales Book of the Year 2016.
  • Charlotte Eyre
    Chair of Children's Fiction Book of the Year
    Charlotte Eyre is the children’s editor of The Bookseller magazine, where she writes news and features about the children’s publishing industry. She programmes the annual The Bookseller Children’s Conference and launched The YA Book Prize in 2014, and is a regular guest on radio programmes such as Open Book
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2019 Books of the Year Judges

  • Stig Abell
    Times Literary Supplement
    Editor and Publisher
    Stig Abell is the editor and publisher of the Times Literary Supplement, which he thinks is the most important literary publication in the world. He also presents Front Row, an arts magazine show on Radio 4, and pops up as a commentator on Sky News, CNN and the BBC. He has written for almost every newspaper in Britain, and one or two in America as well. Stig's book How Britain Really Works was published in May 2018.
  • Anita Anand
    Journalist and Author
    Anita Anand is a political journalist who has presented television and radio programmes on the BBC for twenty years. She currently presents Any Answers on Radio 4. She is the critically acclaimed author of Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary and, with William Dalrymple, Koh-i-Noor: The History of the World's Most Infamous Diamond, Anita’s new book The Patient Assassin is published by Simon & Schuster on 4th April! She lives with her husband and two children in London. (Image credit to Sukhi Dhanda)
  • Gareth Armstrong
    Theatre Director, Writer and Audio Artist
    Gareth Armstrong has combined the careers of actor, director and writer over four decades in the theatre and his work has taken him to over fifty countries. Now specialising in the creation of solo theatre pieces, his instructional book ‘So You Want To Do A Solo Show’ is published by Nick Hern Books. As an audiobook narrator he has recorded over two hundred titles and is currently working on all seventy-five of George Simenon’s ‘Maigret’ novels.
  • Syima Aslam
    Bradford Literature Festival
    Director
    Syima Aslam is founder and Director of the Bradford Literature Festival (BLF). In just four years she has established BLF as one of the most innovative and inspirational festivals in the UK. Bringing together literature from around the world and across all genres, BLF promotes intercultural fluency and reflects the changing face of contemporary Britain. Before founding BLF, Syima had a successful career in both the public and the private sector, working variously in marketing, inward investment, and strategy building in the education sector. Syima’s ambition is to create a real and lasting change for the people and communities of the city in which she lives and works, through engagement with the written and spoken word. Her commitment to young people and her passionate belief that education has the ability to change lives, are the inspiration behind everything she has achieved with the festival.
  • Georgina Atwell
    Toppsta
    Founder
    Georgina has broad experience across the industry, having worked previously at the Penguin Group, launched and run the UK ebook store for iTunes and founded Children’s discovery website www.toppsta.com. Her vision of providing a peer-to-peer space for children to review books, has quickly grown to become the leading online community with over 35,000 children’s book reviews, connecting publishers, authors and illustrators with readers across the UK.
  • Sam Baker
    Journalist, Author and Presenter
    Journalist SAM BAKER grew up in Hampshire and studied politics at Birmingham University before embarking on a successful 20-year career in magazine journalism, during which she edited some of the UK's biggest magazines, including Just Seventeen, Cosmopolitan and Red. In 2015, she co-founded the award-winning digital platform The Pool, with broadcaster Lauren Laverne. A regular broadcaster and host, she has judged the Women's Prize for Fiction, the Costa Novel Award and the British Book Awards and is the author of five novels.
  • Hannah Beckerman
    Author and Journalist
    Hannah Beckerman is an author, journalist and broadcaster. She is a book critic and features writer for The Observer, The Guardian, the FT Weekend Magazine and The Sunday Express, and has been a regular book reviewer on the Sara Cox Show on BBC Radio 2. She chairs at literary festivals and publishing events across the UK. Her second novel, If Only I Could Tell You, is published by Orion.
  • Fanny Blake
    Journalist and writer
    Fanny Blake was a publisher for many years, editing both fiction and non-fiction before becoming a freelance journalist and writer. She has written various non-fiction titles, acted as ghost writer for a number of celebrities, and is a book reviewer and commissioning editor of Quick Reads. She has also written eight novels. Her latest, A Summer Reunion, will be published by Orion in June.
  • Karen Brindle
    Tesco
    Buyer
  • Francesca Brown
    Stylist and Emerald Street
    Books editor
    Francesca is a writer and editor who oversees books in all their glory across Stylist magazine, stylist.co.uk and its sister email, Emerald Street. From following in the footsteps of Tove Jansson in Helsinki and interviewing Marian Keyes, Eimear McBride, Marlon James, Yaa Gyasi and Nina Stibbe to commissioning amazing writers such as June Eric-Udorie and Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett, it’s her dream job
  • Kay Burley
    Sky News
    Presenter
    Kay Burley is a Sky News founding member and presenter since 1989. She has presented more live TV than anyone else in the world - more than a million minutes. Currently, Kay front her own daytime programme, the Kay Burley show, week days. Her impressive accolades include the London Press Club broadcast journalist of the year, as well as being a BAFTA winner – along with sky colleagues – for their coverage of 9/11. Kay is an animal lover, nervous flyer, cancer fund raiser and very proud mum.
  • Bea Carvalho
    Waterstones
    Fiction Buyer
    Bea Carvalho is the general fiction buyer at Waterstones. Based at the Piccadilly head-office, she is responsible for buying new fiction titles for the chain’s branches and website. She has been a part of the central buying team since 2011, initially working on non-fiction, and previously worked as a bookseller in Waterstones shops around London including Hampstead and Oxford Street.
  • Jo Clarke
    School Librarian, Blogger and Writer
    Jo is a primary school librarian based in Hampshire. She is passionate about promoting reading for pleasure and finding the right book for each child. An avid reader of children's books, she shares her recommendations on her blog, 'BookLoverJo.' She writes for children and is currently working on her first manuscript.
  • Reni Eddo-Lodge
    Author/Journalist/Activist
    Reni Eddo-Lodge is an award-winning journalist. She has written for the New York Times, Daily Telegraph, Guardian, Independent, Stylist, the Pool and Dazed and Confused. Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People about Race is her first book. It was named Non-Fiction Book of the Year by Foyles and Blackwell’s, longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize and the Orwell Prize. It won the Jhalak Prize and Non-Fiction Narrative Book of the Year at the British Book Awards. renieddolodge.co.uk / @renireni (Image credits to Amaal Said)
  • Harriet Evans
    Author
    Harriet Evans is the top ten bestselling author of eleven novels, most recently The Garden of Lost and Found, out in hardback in April 2019, and The Wildflowers, which was an e-book No.1 bestseller & a 2018 Richard and Judy selection. Before becoming a full-time writer she worked for Penguin and Headline as a publisher working with several no. 1 bestselling authors. (Image credits to Johnny Ring)
  • Jo Forshaw
    Audio Publishing Consultant
    Having previously tinkered with audio as an agent, a retailer and then programmer for a wee radio station, Jo ran the audio publishing team at Harpercollins until 2017. Taking it from 80 titles a year to audio editions of pretty much every print title across HC via the infamous Total Audio project, she's overseen thousands of audiobooks, created partnerships with retailers and publishers and driven revenue up massively. Now a freelance consultant, she advises on everything audio, from strategy and programme planning and to casting and recording. @AudioGuvnor mob 07879 49622
  • Natasha Harding
    The Sun
    Writer and Journalist
    Natasha Harding, journalist, yoga teacher and mother of twelve-year-old Zak and five-year-old Lexi has worked as a freelance journalist basis for over twelve years. Her specialisms are books, health, parenting, autism and travel. Natasha writes for the Sun, Glamour, Metro, Woman, Woman’s Own and the Kent Messenger. As well as writing and teaching yoga Natasha has written two books, From Bump to Baby and YogaMamma. Natasha lives West Malling, Kent.
  • David Headley
    Goldsboro Books
    Managing director
    David Headley studied theology in London and Durham before co-founding and becoming the Managing Director of Goldsboro Books, a much admired, leading independent bookseller, based in central London. He has gained a reputation for championing debut authors and he created the UK’s largest collectors’ book club. David has won awards for bookselling and in 2015 he was included in the Top 100 most influential people in publishing by The Bookseller.
  • Phil Henderson
    Asda
    Buying Manager, Books
    Having been with ASDA since graduating from the University of Glasgow, Phil has been responsible for the ASDA books offer for the last 5 years. With a remit encompassing adult, kids, new release, range and promotional offers, he looks at all aspects of the mass market bookselling business and is committed to developing new readers, making books accessible to all and delivering a great customer offer. An avid reader, he works at his dream job!
  • Caroline Hutton
    The Times and The Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival
    Chair
    Caroline Hutton is Chair of The Times and The Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival which celebrates its 70th anniversary in 2019. Previously she was involved with the festival as a member of the advisory board and then as Programme Consultant. She helped co-ordinate the inaugural Books Are My Bag campaign in 2013 and prior to that established the Althorp Literary Festival. She is a journalist and former teacher.
  • Adam Kay
    Writer and Comedian
    Adam Kay is a writer, comedian and former junior doctor. He is the author of the multi-award-winning, million-copy bestseller "This is Going to Hurt".
  • Charlotte Philby
    Author and Journalist
    After eight years as a columnist, reporter and editor at The Independent, where she was shortlisted for the Cudlipp Prize for investigative journalism at the 2013 Press Awards, Charlotte Philby founded the online magazine Motherland.net. She writes for The Guardian, Marie Claire, the ipaper, The Sunday Times, and regularly features on the BBC, from The One Show to Radio 4's Woman's Hour. Her debut novel The Most Difficult Thing is published on 11 July 2019 by The Borough Press.
  • Jess Phillips MP
    Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley
    Jess Phillips is a Labour Party politician who became the MP for the constituency of Birmingham Yardley at the 2015 general election. Jess has committed her life to improving the lives of others, especially the most vulnerable, and spent five years working for Women’s Aid supporting and defending women. She became a councillor in 2012 through the Labour Future Candidates Programme. In this role she worked tirelessly to support residents, with her work being recognised when she became Birmingham's first ever Victims Champion. Since becoming an MP, Jess has continued her fight to support those who need it the most and has been appointed to the Women and Equalities Committee, the Backbench Business Committee and Chair of the Women’s PLP. Jess has earned a reputation for plain speaking since being elected, unfazed by threats and calling out sexist attitudes as she promotes women’s rights.
  • Nina Pottell
    Prima Magazine
    Books Editor
    Nina Pottell is the Books Editor for Prima Magazine. She has been involved in the judging process for the Hearst Big Book campaign and has also been a judge in the First Novel Category for the Costa Book Awards.
  • Raifa Rafiq
    Mostly Lit
    Creator and Host
    Raifa Rafiq is the co-creator and co-host of the multi-award-winning literature and pop culture podcast, Mostly Lit. She is also a trainee solicitor at one of the leading international law firms in the UK. Raifa has appeared at Literature Festivals, BBC radio and interviewed authors for BBC Sunday Morning Live and Waterstones. She has written for the Guardian, iNews and Stylist Magazine amongst others.
  • Caroline Raphael
    Dora Productions
    Director
    Caroline worked for BBC radio as a Producer, Head of Radio Drama and Commissioning Editor for Drama, Comedy and Book at Bedtime on Radio 4. Following a short period with Penguin Random House Audio she is now back producing & consulting. Recent work includes the first drama for BBC 1x she won the 2018 BBC Audio Drama Best Single Drama. She also teaches audio drama at Central St. Martin’s on their MA Dramatic Writing course.
  • Jay Rayner
    The Observer
    Writer, Journalist, Broadcaster
    Jay Rayner is an award-winning writer, journalist, broadcaster and musician. He’s covered everything from crime and politics, through cinema to the visual arts, but is best known as restaurant critic for the Observer. He’s published four novels and six works of non-fiction. His next, My Last Supper, is out in September 2019. He chairs BBC Radio 4’s The Kitchen Cabinet, judges on Masterchef and performs live, both in one-man shows and with his jazz quartet. (Image credits to Arandhara-Blackwell)
  • Alex Reads
    Mostly Lit
    Creator and Host
    Alex Reads is a writer and podcaster, known for his two podcasts Mostly Lit and What Matters with Alex Reads. He curates a blog on mindfulness, wellbeing and personal development called The Space In Between on alexreads.co.uk.
  • Brigitte Ricou-Bellan
    Books at Amazon UK
    Director
    Brigitte Ricou-Bellan heads Books at Amazon UK. She has a Masters in Business Management from ESCP-EAP and an advanced diploma in Literature & Cinema from the Paris-Sorbonne University. Brigitte has launched, transformed and scaled digital businesses and marketplaces, and has built global teams in fast-moving organisations in the USA, UK and Europe. She loves stories, and is passionate about diversity and getting more women into leadership roles.
  • Mike Roberts
    W H Smith Travel UK
    Trading Controller - Books
    Mike joined WHSmith over 25 years ago and has been in the Books team for the last 18 years. He is now responsible for the Books Buying team at WHSmith Travel as Trading Controller, covering the stores in the airports and railway stations. Mike has been rated as one of the Top 1000 most influential Londoners in the Evening Standard
  • Axel Scheffler
    Illustrator
    Axel Scheffler is a star illustrator whose instantly recognisable, warm and witty illustrations have achieved worldwide acclaim and numerous awards including the inaugural Illustrator of the Year Award at the British Book Awards 2018. Axel is the illustrator of some of the world’s best-loved picture books, including modern classics The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child, which together have sold over 17 million copies worldwide. Born in Hamburg, Axel now lives with his family in London. (Image credits to Liam Jackson)
  • Anita Sethi
    Journalist, Writer and Critic
    Anita Sethi is a journalist, writer and critic and has written for publications including The Guardian, Observer, Granta, TLS, and appeared on BBC radio. She has been published in several anthologies including the Seasons nature writing anthology, Seaside Special, We Mark Your Memory and is forthcoming in Women on Nature and Common People. She was born and grew up in Manchester where her passion for books was nurtured at the local libraries. Twitter: @anitasethi. Website: @anitasethi
  • Dr Ranj Singh
    NHS Paediatric Doctor & TV Presenter
    Dr. Ranj Singh is a NHS clinician and TV presenter. He is resident doctor on ITV’s flagship daytime show This Morning and co-presenter of ITV prime-time show Save Money: Good Health. He is also co-creating presenter of BAFTA-award-winning CBeebies’ show Get Well Soon. In addition, he writes for Attitude magazine and has authored two internationally-distributed children’s books with Oxford University Press.
  • David Solomons
    Award-winning Children's Author
    David Solomons has been writing screenplays for many years. His first feature film was an adaptation of Five Children and It, starring Kenneth Branagh and Eddie Izzard. My Brother is a Superhero is his first novel for children. He was born in Glasgow and now lives in Dorset with his wife, the novelist Natasha Solomons, and their son, Luke, and daughter, Lara.
  • Jasper Sutcliffe
    Foyles
    Head of Buying
    Jasper has worked at Foyles for 19 years, starting on the shop floor in the Fiction Dept progressing through the business to the position of Head of Buying. Jasper has been a judge for a number of awards including the Costa Novel Award.
  • Sarah Walden
    The Book People
    Chief Operating Officer
    Sarah Walden has over twenty years’ experience in the publishing industry, having worked for both Scholastic and Penguin as a children’s book buyer. Having worked for the Book People under its original and current owners, she is now Chief Operating Officer whilst retaining full responsibility for buying and stock management.
  • Tina Gaisford-Waller
    Winstone's Hunting Raven
    Manager
    Tina Gaisford-Waller was appointed Manager of Winstone’s Hunting Raven Books in Frome in May 2018. Before becoming a bookseller, Tina trained as a professional actress working mainly in children’s theatre. After her theatre career, she moved into children’s publishing as a publicity and marketing consultant. Tina now has the enormous pleasure of reading to her own two tiny children who have very exacting standards when it comes to books!
  • Brett Wolstencroft
    Daunt Books
    Manager
    Upon graduating in 1985, Brett Wolstencroft was headed for the world of corporate law until a love of books diverted him to Daunt Books at its inception to play a part in its development from independent travel specialist to today’s thriving chain with 9 shops. He is the manager of the Marylebone shop.
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2019 Trade Judges

  • Nick Barley
    Edinburgh International Book Festival
    Director
    Nick Barley has been director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival since October 2009. Innovations during his directorship include Unbound, a free evening mini-festival of literary performances; the 2012 Edinburgh World Writers’ Conference which took place in 17 cities worldwide; and a Fringe First-winning promenade theatre production, Letters Home, co-produced with Grid Iron Theatre Company in 2014. Nick Barley was chair of the judging panel for the 2017 Man Booker International Prize and is President of the Word Alliance – an international network of the world’s leading literary festivals. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2018.
  • Alison Baverstock
    Kingston University
    Associate Professor
    Dr. Alison Baverstock is Associate Professor of Publishing at Kingston University where she co-founded MA Publishing in 2006. A former publisher, she is a regular commentator on the industry and champion of the value of profession-oriented disciplines within higher education. Alison is the author of several key books on publishing including How to market books (Routledge) and Is there a book in you? (Bloomsbury). A former winner of the Pandora Prize for Services to Publishing, she has been on the Board of Management of The Society of Authors and The Literary Consultancy.
  • Nick Brackenbury
    NearSt
    Co-Founder and CEO
    Nick is co-founder and CEO of NearSt, a retail technology startup getting people back into high street shops and previous winners of the LBF Innovation Award. Nick has been working with booksellers since 2015 to help build the future of book buying from real high street book shops.
  • Phillip Downer
    Calliope Gifts
    Managing Director
    Philip Downer is managing director of Calliope Gifts, a small chain of gift and stationery shops in the southern counties of England. He has previously held senior positions at Borders UK and Waterstones, as well as other retailers. He is also a director of the Dorking Town Partnership, and is committed to the reinvigoration of British high streets.
  • Kevin Duffy
    Blue Moose Books
    Publisher
    Kevin has worked in publishing for over 30 years starting at HEADLINE in 1987. Hetha and Kevin re-mortgaged their house to start Bluemoose in 2006 to find new writers and talent that traditional publishing were overlooking . He lives in Hebden Bridge with his wife, has two sons and a dog called Eric. Their next book LEONARD AND HUNGRY PAUL by Ronan Hession has been chosen for the BBC RADIO 2 Book Club.
  • Zoey Forbes
    Harbottle & Lewis
    Associate
    Zoey is an associate at Harbottle & Lewis, working across the media and entertainment industries with a particular focus on publishing and rights exploitation. Before qualifying as a lawyer, Zoey studied English Literature at the University of Oxford and worked in a number of bookshops, including Ottakar’s, Waterstones, Harrods’ bookstore and Heywood Hill.
  • Hannah Griffiths
    All3Media
    Head of Literary Acquisitions
    Hannah worked in book publishing for over 20 years; in publicity at Virago, then as an agent at Curtis Brown and then as an editor and publisher at Faber & Faber. In 2016, she moved across to the TV industry. Her role is to find books for adaptation for super indie TV company All3Media.
  • Kate Gunning
    Penguin Random House
    Independent Retailers Partnership Manager
    Kate worked for Waterstones for thirteen years. She managed the Covent Garden and High Street Kensington stores and spent a year on secondment at WH Smith Paris. She was the Books Buyer at Selfridges for four years, before moving to Foyles as their Head of Buying. She took up her current position in 2009 when she joined Random House, as it then was. In 2014, her remit was extended to cover all of PRH.
  • Daniel Hahn
    Writer
    Daniel Hahn is a writer, editor and translator with some sixty books to his name. His work has won him the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, the Blue Peter Book Award and the International Dublin Literary Award, among others. He is a past chair of the Society of Authors, and on the board of a number of organisations working with literature, translation and free expression. (Image credits to John Lawrence) Photo (c) John Lawrence
  • Anwen Hooson
    Bird Literary Agency
    Founder
    Anwen started her career in the press departments at Penguin and Waterstones. In 2009, she co-founded Riot Communications, an agency now regarded as one of the most respected and influential in the sector. Anwen stepped down as co-Managing Director in 2017, and in 2018 announced the launch of her own literary agency, Bird. Herself a Nibbie winner, this is Anwen’s second year as a judge.
  • Anna Jean Hughes
    Pigeonhole
    Co-Founder and Freelance Editor
    Anna Jean Hughes has worked in publishing for over fifteen years. There was a brief fling with the Erotic Review, a long and complicated relationship with Random House, and an affair with PFD. She then gave birth to award-winning social reading app, The Pigeonhole. More recently she was responsible for judging, editing and publishing the FutureBook’s first ever fiction competition. Anna was a Rising Star and was shortlisted for the Digital Achiever of the Year, 2015.
  • Helgard Krause
    Welsh Books Council
    Chief Executive Officer
    I am a senior multilingual executive with extensive experience in strategic and people management in international academic, professional and trade publishing as well as the culture sector in Wales. I previously worked for Routledge and Quarto in sales and rights roles which has given me first-hand knowledge of how global and local markets work. I was Managing Director of University of Wales Press for 7 years before joining the Books Council in 2017.
  • Joseph Knox
    Author
    Joseph Knox is a bestselling author and former bookseller. He occupied the role of Crime Fiction Buyer for Waterstones for five years, before leaving to pursue a full time writing career. He is the author of three novels, including the bestseller, Sirens. (Image credits to Jay Brooks)
  • Douglas McCabe
    Enders Analysis
    CEO
    Douglas McCabe is CEO of the independent tech and media research firm Enders Analysis. He is a former director of Fish4, the online advertising portal, and prior to that lead sales development and market insights at Waterstones.
  • Benedicte Page
    The Bookseller
    Deputy editor
  • Samantha Rayner
    UCL Centre for Publishing
    Director
    Samantha Rayner is Director of UCL’s Centre for Publishing, co-Director of the Bloomsbury CHAPTER (Communication History, Authorship, Publishing, Textual Editing and Reading), co-Editor of the Academic Book of the Future BOOC (Book as Open Online Content) with UCL Press, and General Editor for the Cambridge University Press Elements series on Publishing and Book Culture. Before her career in academia she spent several happy years in bookselling, and this has underpinned all work since!
  • Amanda Ridout
    Founder and CEO
    Boldwood Books
    Most recently CEO of Head of Zeus which was named Independent Publisher of the Year in 2017 – after just five years in existence. Previously MD of Phaidon, HarperCollins and Headline she has 35 years of experience in independent and corporate publishing.
  • Charlotte Robertson
    Robertson Murray Literary Agency
    Founder/MD/Literary Agent
    Charlotte has 25 years experience in publishing. In January 2019 she launched her own literary agency with Hilary Murray, MD of talent agency Arlington Management. Prior to this she was Sales & Marketing Director and Paperback Publisher, and Board Director at Faber and Faber. She was an agent for 5 years at Aitken Alexander and United Agents, and has held senior Sales and Marketing Director roles at S&S, Penguin, Macmillan and Headline. She started her career at Reed Books in Editorial.
  • Chris Sands
    The Good Company
    Chris Sands, a multi-award winning brand specialist, based in West Yorkshire in the UK. In his 20 year career, Chris has worked with everything from arts organisations to local government, the music business to regional parks, from big corporate organisations to community-led projects. He’s perhaps best known for starting Totally Locally, a free, open source marketing kit for towns to help keep the independent high streets of the UK (and now the world!) alive and thriving. Totally Locally has been taken up by over 50 towns in the UK and many across the world have joined in from Australia & New Zealand to France, Ireland, Italy and more. Many towns reported huge changes in the shopping habits and businesses collaborating; creating strong local economies. Chris’ favourite work is helping organisations and communities to collaborate to get things done.
  • Tom Tivnan
    The Bookseller
    Features and insight editor
  • Nicola Tuxworth
    Cheltenham Literature Festival
    Head of Programming
    After a varied career in publishing and writing, Nicola became Head of Programming for the world’s oldest Literature Festival in 2014. The Literature Festival celebrates its 70th birthday this Autumn. She has overseen a renewed focus on fiction, emerging talent and diversity in the programme, as well as growing the Festival’s reputation for timely and insightful debate in the area of current and international affairs. Nicola works with a team of 6 programmers to create a Literature Festival that is a broad celebration of the written and spoken word, presenting the best new voices in fiction and poetry alongside established literary greats and high-profile speakers such as Hillary Clinton and Sir David Attenborough. Recently she has been working with Cunard to programme the first ever Literature Festival on Sea, setting sail in November 2019.
  • Kate Worlock
    Outsell Education & Training
    Vice President & Lead Analyst
    As VP & Lead Analyst, Kate leads Outsell’s coverage and research of education information solutions in all areas of the education marketplace, including K-12, higher education, professional training, and human capital management. Kate’s reports have delivered market sizing data on a range of sub-segment topics, such as digital textbooks, English Language Teaching (ELT) resources, and big data solutions in education. Kate has served on the Content Division Board of the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) and on the board of the Data Committee of the PPA’s Business Media Group (formerly the UK Data Publishers Association, or DPA).
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