Anne Perry wins Kim Scott Walwyn Prize

Hodder & Stoughton editor Anne Perry has been awarded the Kim Scott Walwyn Prize 2014.

Perry is the second American winner in a row, following Foyles head of marketing Miriam Robinson’s triumph last year.

The Kim Scott Walwyn Prize celebrates the professional achievements and promise of women who have worked in publishing in the UK for up to seven years.

Walker Books’ publisher Denise Johnstone-Burt, co-chair of the prize committee and judging panel, announced Perry as the winner at a ceremony this evening (13th May) at the Free Word Centre in Farringdon, London.

Perry has worked for Hodder & Stoughton since 2012, and was first hired as assistant editor, commissioning genre fiction, developing Hodder’s backlist and digital genre publishing, and building the publisher’s online profile amongst science fiction and fantasy fans. She was promoted to editor within a year, and was described by associate publisher Oliver Johnson as “one of the most talented and innovative young editors in the business”. Perry is also the founder, along with her husband Jared Shurin, of The Kitschies, the UK genre awards for speculative and fantasy fiction.

Johnstone-Burt and Catherine Clarke, co-chairs of prize advisory committee and the judging panel, said: “Anne Perry was the stand-out candidate from a superb shortlist. The judges marvelled at the speed, imagination and determination with which she has championed genre fiction in this country.

“Anne not only publishes excellent science fiction and fantasy, she also writes it brilliantly. She actively seeks out new readers and has set up the Kitschies Awards, already widely recognised for the quality that it rewards in her chosen field. She is the acme of today’s multi-talented and multi-tasking publisher - a fearless pathfinder who has set a standard to which we should all aspire."

Viv Bird, chief executive of Booktrust, which manages the prize, said: “The Kim Scott Walwyn Prize recognises emerging talent among women in publishing, and this year’s winner, Anne Perry, has more than demonstrated both achievement and innovation, through her work as editor and establishing the Kitschies Awards. Anne is a well-deserved winner.”

Perry wins a £1,000 prize, sponsored by the Society of Young Publishers, and a two-day course of her choice, courtesy of the Publishing Training Centre (PTC).

The other contenders for the prize, who all get a one-day training course at the PTC, were Melissa Cox, children's new titles buyer at Waterstones; Lynsey Dalladay, community manager at Penguin Random House; Sarah Hesketh, freelance project manager and events and publications manager at The Poetry Translation Centre; and Hellie Ogden, literary agent at Janklow & Nesbit.