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Christian Lewis is leaving Vintage after 19 years to set up her own PR business specialising in literature and the arts after the division made her director of communications role redundant.
Vintage said the decision came "as a result of evolving business needs". Lewis will continue to deliver publicity campaigns for select Vintage books in a freelance capacity after her departure in March, including for long-standing authors Ian McEwan and Salman Rushdie. The publisher said there would be no further changes to the Vintage publicity department and it will continue to be led by Bethan Jones, the director of publicity.
Lewis joined Vintage in 2001, initially as publicity manager for Chatto & Windus and then as publicity director for Jonathan Cape. In 2005 she was promoted to divisional publicity director overseeing the publicity team responsible for all Vintage imprints. In her PR roles she has worked on many high-profile author campaigns including those for McEwan, Rushdie, Helen Fielding, Mark Haddon, Anne Enright, Yuval Noah Harari and Gordon Brown.
Vintage said: "In 2015 she stepped up to become director of communications, and over the last four and a half years Christian has brought the two teams together under her dynamic leadership, to create a world-class marketing and publicity department that excels in exploring new ways of working, adapts regularly to changes within the consumer landscape, and creates award-winning campaigns, including last year’s number one bestselling fiction title, Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments.
"As an integral part of the Vintage executive team, Christian has also long been involved in shaping Vintage’s strategy, helping over the years to launch new imprints (Vintage Classics, Square Peg and Bodley Head), leading on many key initiatives, as well as being an active and important senior voice in the wider Penguin Random House communications forum. In addition, Christian has also made a valuable contribution to Arvon, a charitable organisation that promotes creative writing to schools, vulnerable groups and individuals, as a board trustee over the past year. She will continue in this non-exec role, whilst aiming to widen her experience in the charity sector, supporting other charitable initiatives."
Faye Brewster, deputy m.d. of Vintage, said: "Christian has played a hugely important part in Vintage‚Äôs success for almost two decades. She leads from the front, and has always been positive, full of energy, wisdom, and integrity. Her work rate is second to none and she is highly respected by her colleagues, authors, agents, media and booksellers alike. In her management roles Christian has expertly led and generously coached her department, creating one of the premier campaign teams in the industry. And whilst I am very sad to be losing her as a colleague, I am extremely pleased that Vintage will continue to benefit from her first-class PR skills on a freelance basis. We wish her the best of luck.”
Lewis said: "I feel enormously privileged to have worked at Vintage with its inspiring authors over the past 18 years and I am extremely proud to have led a team of such exceptionally talented publicists and marketers from whom I have learnt so much. Although I will miss my wonderful colleagues from across Vintage enormously, I am delighted that I will continue to work with them in a freelance capacity. Having worked in-house for my entire publishing career, I’m very much looking forward now to a new challenge, setting up my own business, and hope that I will continue to learn and thrive within the publishing industry."
Lewis will remain at Vintage until 13th March. After this date, she may be contacted at ChristianLewisPR@outlook.com