Jenny Fry promoted to Canongate publisher, as Rafferty and Olusoga join board

Canongate’s Jenny Fry is being promoted to the expanded role of publisher and commercial director, enabling c.e.o. Jamie Byng to dedicate his time to commissioning and rights. The company, which marks its 50th anniversary this year, has also appointed two new non-executive board directors, business leader Anna Rafferty and historian David Olusoga.

Fry became commercial director in 2019 and added associate publisher to her title in January last year; she will now add the additional responsibility of the rights team to her existing role across editorial, publicity, marketing and sales. Byng will remain as Canongate’s c.e.o., with an emphasis on commissioning books, selling North American, film and TV rights, and managing Letters Live, the live stage show created by Canongate in 2013, now run in partnership with film and TV production company SunnyMarch and Shaun Usher.

Fry said: “I’m grateful every day for the privilege of working with and for such brilliant people and I’m as elated as I am awed by the trust that Jamie, David Young and Kate Gibb have placed in me.”

In further changes to the company’s leadership team, Anna Rafferty and David Olusoga have joined the Canongate Board this month as non-executive directors. Rafferty and Olusoga will sit alongside chair David Young, and the five executive board members: Jamie Byng, Jenny Fry, Kate Gibb, Francis Bickmore and Caroline Gorham.

Rafferty is vice-president at The Lego Group, and has previously worked as global digital director at BBC Studios and Pottermore, as well as spending 11 years as m.d. for the Digital & Audio Division at Penguin Books. She is also chair of the Women’s Prize Trust, responsible for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Olusoga is a British-Nigerian historian, author, presenter and BAFTA winning film-maker, professor of public history at the University of Manchester, and the author of several books including Black and British. He presents BBC history series " A House Through Time" and wrote and presented BBC series "Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners".

Byng commented: “Jenny Fry’s contributions to the business over the past few years have been incalculable, while the addition of Anna Rafferty and David Olusoga – both highly experienced and talented individuals – to the Canongate board makes our leadership team stronger than ever. In this our 50th year, it feels exciting to be taking such important steps as we futureproof the business and continue to build the company into an even more dynamic and stable home for all our authors and staff.”

Olusoga said: “I have watched Canongate’s publishing with growing admiration for many years, and have been continually impressed by the company’s creativity, passion and ability to punch above its weight, on prize lists and bestseller lists alike. I’m delighted to now have the opportunity to contribute toward the ongoing success of this truly inspiring independent, and look forward to meeting the full team very soon.”

Rafferty added: “I have enjoyed reading Canongate’s diverse, excellent, entertaining, brave and culture-setting publishing for decades. I am therefore honoured and utterly delighted to be invited to join the board and contribute to the company’s purpose and continued success.”

Last August, Canongate reported record turnover of £28m, more than doubling its results of the year before. Its 2023 highlights include Rick Rubin’s The Creative Act, new novels from Ayobami Adebayo, Tan Twan Eng and Mike McCormack, and a "devastatingly honest" memoir from John Niven.