Orion's Forrester to become David Higham literary agent

Orion Fiction’s senior commissioning editor Jemima Forrester is moving to David Higham Associates to become a literary agent.

Forrester moved to Orion over four years ago from Headline, and her acquisitions have included recently acclaimed debut Shtum by Jem Lester, and the 2016 Richard and Judy Book Club pick The Samaritan by Mason Cross.

She will begin at David Higham on 19th September after being headhunted by its head of books Lizzy Kremer. She will work mainly in commercial fiction and accessible literary fiction.

When asked about the advantages of hiring a former publisher, Kremer said: “For me, it is more about hiring Jemima. She has a real hunger for commercial fiction.”

She added: “I think it is good for authors to have agents with publishing experience and by that I mean insightfulness. As agents we look at the long term of authors’ careers, we don’t just plan the next book. That is a strategy and I think that is the kind of agent Jemima will be, she is an excellent editor communicator and negotiator and on top of that, has a lot of charm.”

Forrester said she was “thrilled” to be joining David Higham as a literary agent.

“I have long admired them from the other side of the fence and the opportunity to work with them as I build my list as a literary agent was too good to resist," she said. "I will miss all my lovely colleagues at Orion, but I hope I’ll be selling them some books in the not too distant future.”