Hodgson leaves HC to join Corvus

Sarah Hodgson will join Corvus as publishing director after 20 years at HarperCollins.

Sara O’Keeffe, who has led the Atlantic Books imprint for the past eight years, has stepped down to pursue her own new business. Hodgson, currently deputy publishing director at HarperCollins, will take up her new post in mid-September.

Hodgson joined HarperCollins in 1998 as an editorial assistant for non-fiction. She moved to Voyager as an assistant editor in 2000 where she worked on authors such as George R R Martin, Kim Stanley Robinson and Ray Bradbury. She joined the crime and thriller list as deputy publishing director in 2010 and since then has commissioned many wonderful authors, including Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro and authors Stuart MacBride and Claire Kendal. Hodgson also successfully launched the KillerReads digital first list in 2015.

She said: “I’ve learned so much and worked with so many amazingly talented authors and colleagues over a long and happy period at HarperCollins, so I’m incredibly sad to be leaving. But it was impossible for me to turn down the role of publishing director at Corvus. It’s a dream job for me – the opportunity to manage an imprint and commission across the full range of commercial fiction is just too good to miss - and I’m hugely looking forward to joining the Atlantic family and working with the wonderful stable of authors at Corvus.”

Corvus said: “During O’Keeffe’s time at Corvus she presided over a number of successful publications including Holly Seddon’s debut break-out bestseller Try Not To Breathe, Megan Miranda’s All The Missing Girls and she brought major, established names into the fold including Minette Walters and Elizabeth Buchan.

“She has long been a champion of Irish fiction and built a strong list of emerging talent including Eithne Shortall, arts correspondent for the Irish Times and Edgar short-listed author Catherine Ryan Howard.”

O’Keeffe said: “After eight wonderful years at Atlantic, I have decided to leave the company to pursue a publishing related business project. Atlantic is quite simply the best place I have ever worked - populated with smart, imaginative, hardworking colleagues. But now it’s time for a fresh challenge (more on that in due course). I leave the company knowing that Corvus authors are in very safe hands with Sarah and I look forward to watching the list go from strength to strength.”

Will Atkinson, m.d. at Atlantic, said: “Corvus has grown by over 50% in the past four years, meaning it is a successful imprint on the move, vital to the well-being of Atlantic. These were big boots to fill, and finding someone of the calibre and, importantly, track record of Sarah is a thrilling moment for us.”