Baird-Smith awarded Lanfranc Award for Education and Scholarship

Robin Baird-Smith, publisher at Bloomsbury Continuum, has been presented with the Lanfranc Award for Education and Scholarship by the Archbishop of Canterbury at a ceremony held at Lambeth Palace on Thursday 22nd June.

The Lanfranc Award for Education & Scholarship was first awarded by Archbishop Justin Welby in March 2016. It is named after Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1070 to 1089, who was a scholar and teacher.

It was presented to Baird-Smith in recognition of half a century’s work in religious publishing, publishing the works of archbishops, bishops, popes, cardinals, the chief rabbi, as well as many Anglican and Roman Catholic clergy.

Baird-Smith has been a significant force in religious publishing since he joined Darton, Longman & Todd in 1968. In positions at Collins, Constable, Duckworth, and latterly at Bloomsbury Continuum, he has worked to keep religious publishing alive on mainstream publishing lists. 

He has published books by Rowan Williams, Justin Welby and Pope Francis, among others. He has also been the publisher and editor of scores of books of spiritual and doctrinal importance by members of the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church. 

Baird-Smith "discovered" the late Rabbi Lionel Blue, and published The Dignity of Difference (Continuum) by the late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks.

His forthcoming list demonstrates the range of his life as a religious book publisher: a spiritual work by Rowan Williams, a last work by Pope Benedict XVI, and a memoir by the politician Frank Field, Politics, Poverty, and Belief.