Bryce to replace Paterson as Picador Poetry editor

Colette Bryce has been appointed editor of Picador Poetry, succeeding Don Paterson who is stepping down after 25 years.

Originally from Northern Ireland and now resident in Newcastle, Bryce is an award-winning poet whose five collections and Selected Poems have been published by Picador. Her work has won a Cholmondeley Award and the Pigott Prize for Irish Poetryand been shortlisted for the T S Eliot, Forward, and Costa poetry prizes.

She has worked as an editor of poetry at several journals, including Poetry London and Poetry Ireland Review.  She has also taught poetry widely, most recently as lecturer in creative writing at the University of Manchester.

Bryce, who starts the role early this month, said: “It is a joy and an honour to take on the stewardship of this excellent list. It’s hard to imagine the poetry of this century without the leading contribution of Picador, which has always epitomised an editorial vision for poetry that not only speaks back to its own time but has the power to resonate with readers of the future. I’m excited to work with the emerging poets who are renewing and refreshing the art for our seismic times. A phrase from Eavan Boland comes to mind: ‘new energies at the threshold of an old art’. It is these new energies—and the plurality is important—that I’ll be seeking out in my reading at Picador.”

Paterson announced he was departing in January, saying that it felt like the right moment to hand over the reins as the list marks its 25th anniversary. He has overseen the poetry list since it was first set up by then Picador publisher Peter Straus and Jon Riley in 1997.

He said: “I’m delighted to be passing the Picador Poetry torch to Colette Bryce, who arrives with not only a considerable reputation as an editor but as an educator, mentorand nurturer of new talent. Most importantly, as one of our most valued contemporary poets, she also brings an insider’s expertise, eye and ear—as well as the respect of the poetry community.

“Colette has a bold and ambitious vision for the future of the Picador list and a deep commitment to publishing across the entire range of an increasingly diverse and various artform. I have no doubt that Colette is exactly the right person to find the new poets our readers need as well as the new readerships our poets deserve.”

Philip Gwyn Jones, Picador publisher, said: “We had an incredibly strong field of applicants for this key post in the world of poetry and their ardour, skill and vision as poets and as editors demonstrated just how alive with creativity poetry publishing is in the UK just now. However, for us, one candidate stood out as having that decisive extra breadth and depth of vision and experience, and an exceptional combination of attention and affinity, and that person is Colette Bryce. The future of Picador Poetry is very safe in her hands and all of us look forward to seeing how she will honour, diversify and enhance the calibre of the list in the coming years.”