Fitzcarraldo appoints Kearns as operations director as Sampey-Jawad is made director

Fitzcarraldo Editions has hired Kristina Kearns as operations director amid a number of promotions at the independent publisher. Meanwhile, associate publisher Tamara Sampey-Jawad has been made a director of the company and has joined the board effective November 2023.

Kearns was previously executive and editorial director at McSweeney’s and has joined Fitzcarraldo from Fern Agency, a Paris-based arts and publishing consultancy. Sampey-Jawad was Fitzcarraldo Editions’ first hire, as publishing assistant. She has been commissioning and editing books in English and translation for years, and her authors include Bushra al- Maqtari, Kirsty Bell and Adania Shibli. 

Moreover, Joely Day has been promoted to editor and production manager, and is now acquiring fiction and non-fiction across the contemporary and classics’ lists. Her first acquisition, Marie Darrieussecq’s Sleepless, translated by Penny Hueston, was published in September 2023, and as an editor she has worked in recent years on books by authors such as Kate Briggs, Annie Ernaux and Jon Fosse. 

Charlotte Jackson has also been promoted from publishing assistant to publishing executive, and will continue to support Tamara Sampey-Jawad, Joely Day and publisher Jacques Testard on editorial work, while taking on additional responsibility in production, among other things.

Fitzcarraldo Editions currently has seven full-time members of staff, including publicity director Clare Bogen, sales and marketing executive Joel Burton and publisher Jacques Testard. Ray O’Meara, the art director and designer, has worked for the publishing house on a freelance basis since its creation.