Begum joins Aurum as senior commissioning editor

Nira Begum has been appointed senior commissioning editor at Aurum – part of the Quarto group – effective 27th February 2023. 

Currently senior editor at HQ, Begum’s track record of acquisitions includes the Sunday Times bestselling Wintering by Katherine May. She has also worked with authors including Edith Eger, Myleene Klass, Marisa Bate, Katy Brand, Emma Barnett, Kate Fall, Owen O’Kane and Nova Reid. 

In her new role, Begum will help build the Aurum list in a wide range of non-fiction genres from memoir, self-help and psychology to current affairs, nature and humour. 

Denise Bates, UK adult group publishing director, said: “We are thrilled to welcome a commissioning editor of Nira’s calibre to Aurum. She brings a wealth of experience and expertise in narrative non-fiction publishing, and her plans to help build the highly regarded Aurum list are genuinely exciting.”

Begum added: “I’m delighted to be joining the brilliant team at Aurum, particularly at such an exciting time for the imprint and Quarto. It’s a fantastic opportunity for me to contribute to the list, and I’m really looking forward to building on Aurum’s previous successes and publishing thoughtful, conversation-starting and all-round outstanding books.”

Recent Aurum titles include Wyl Menmuir’s The Draw of the Sea, winner of the Roger Deakin Award, and John Volanthen’s Thirteen Lessons That Saved Thirteen Lives, the nail-biting story of the Thai cave rescue in 2018.