Helena Gonda promoted to editorial director at Canongate

Helena Gonda has been promoted from senior commissioning editor to editorial director at Canongate, with immediate effect, in recognition of her “continued contribution to the company/excellent work this past year”.

Since joining Canongate two and a half years ago, Gonda has had an instant Sunday Times bestseller in Poyums by Len Pennie, a Waterstones Book of the Year in Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton, a William Hill Sports Book of the Year shortlisting in These Heavy Black Bones by Rebecca Achieng Ajulu-Bushell, a book shortlisted for BAMB Non-Fiction Book of the Year in Why Women Grow by Alice Vincent and launched A History of Women in 101 Objects by Annabelle Hirsch alongside an ambitious audio project.

Looking ahead to spring 2025, she’s publishing The Bright Side: Why Optimists Have the Power to Change the World by Sumit Paul-Choudhury, Food Fight: From Plunder and Profit to People and Planet by Stuart Gillespie, Hark: How Women Listen by Vincent, Foreign Fruit: A Personal History of the Orange by Katie Goh, and The Dry Season: Finding Pleasure in a Year without Sex by Melissa Febos, among other titles.

Jenny Fry, publisher and commercial director, said: “This is a much-deserved promotion for an outstanding editor and colleague, with an increasingly impressive track record of non-fiction publishing success.”

Gonda commented: “These past two years have flown by and I am thrilled to be forging my career at Canongate, surrounded by a passionate team. It gives me immense joy to continue working with such talented authors and to seek out fresh voices across the full spectrum of non-fiction publishing.”