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Denise Johnstone-Burt will be retiring from Walker Books at the end of this year, after 25 years at the company.
Originally hired in 1998 by David Lloyd, one of the founding editors of Walker, she has progressed through the editorial departments to her current position as publishing director in the UK.
Johnstone-Burt has worked editorially on titles across a range of genres and age ranges, with authors including Patrick Ness, Anthony Browne, Emma Yarlett and Petr Horacek, as well as Jennifer Bell, Thomas Taylor and Ross Montgomery. She has also established third-party non-fiction partnerships for Walker as well as in-house packaging, including the Shakespeare’s First Folio for Children with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, as well as the Panorama Pops line.
Johnstone-Burt said: "Retiring after nearly 30 years at Walker, having worked with the best authors, illustrators and creators in the business, will be a hugely emotional wrench and I will miss it enormously. I have been supported through my wonderful career by the best team in the business and am only sad that I will not be around to work with them and Belinda Rasmussen, as Walker goes from strength to strength in the future."
John String, chairman of Trustbridge Global Media, added: "Denise has played a leading part in setting the direction of the publishing for a significant part of our output and represented Walker admirably to the wider world in the UK and internationally. She has artfully steered her list to capitalise on our strengths, grow market share in key categories and build a more global list, key elements of Walker’s success over time."