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Virago has appointed Carla Josephson as publishing director. She is currently deputy publishing director at the Borough Press,
Josephson will join Virago on 14th March and report to Sarah Savitt, publisher. With Savitt she will develop the fiction strategy for the list and will acquire accessible literary fiction, including historical, gothic, thriller and book club.
She will also lead "Ourshelves", the Virago podcast which was launched in 2020 and has notched up over 50,000 downloads, according to the publisher. Donna Coonan, editorial director for the Virago Modern Classics list, will report to Josephson.
She joined the Borough Press from Simon & Schuster in 2018, where she worked closely with authors ranging from Philippa Gregory to Graham Swift. Her first acquisition for Borough was the Costa Prize-shortlisted Joanna Glen, debut author of The Other Half of Augusta Hope. She has also published Emily M Danforth, Naomi Krupitsky and Nikki Erlick, as well as literary thriller authors Christina Sweeney-Baird and Carole Johnstone.
Her forthcoming titles include Emilia Hart’s Weyward (February 2023) and Krystle Zara Appiah’s Rootless (March 2023). She said: “I have loved my five years at Borough Press. I’ve been so lucky to work alongside supremely talented colleagues and am hugely proud of the wonderful authors I’ve had the honour to publish. It’s a real wrench to leave Borough but being a part of Virago has been a cherished dream since before I even began my career in publishing. I have been surrounded by Virago books my whole life and have long admired their list and their vibrant, feminist publishing. I am beyond thrilled to be joining their editorial team in their 50th-anniversary year.”
Savitt said: “I’m thrilled that Carla will be joining the Virago editorial team. 2023 is Virago’s 50th birthday and as we imagine what the next 50 years might look like for the list, it’s exciting to know that Carla will be bringing in wonderful new authors and ideas. She has fantastic taste, a passion for fiction that can reach a wide readership, a commitment to feminism, strong relationships across the industry, a flair for strategy, and impressive expertise in leading publishing teams for her books.”