Philip Gwyn Jones joins Scribe UK

Philip Gwyn Jones is to join Scribe UK this month in the newly-created part-time role of editor-at-large.

Gwyn Jones was most recently executive publisher for Granta Books, and for Portobello Books, which he founded in 2004. He left Granta last year as part of a reorganisation, when Granta proprietor and publisher Sigrid Rausing took over full operational and executive control.

In his new role Gwyn Jones will look to buy for Scribe rights in fiction and non-fiction titles, principally by writers based in Britain and Ireland, and to undertake the initial structural edit of the acquired manuscripts. Scribe said he would also oversee publication in Scribe’s markets and take on a general ambassadorial role.

Henry Rosenbloom, Scribe’s publisher, said: “I’m thrilled to welcome Philip to Scribe. I’ve been a huge admirer of his for several years, and we seem to have uncannily similar tastes and values — as indicated by our joint acquisition, a few years ago, of Katherine Boo’s magnificent Behind the Beautiful Forevers.

“I had the idea for this job some time ago, without knowing whether Philip would be willing or able to take it on. As it happens, it seems like the right idea at the right time for both of us.”

Gwyn Jones said: “I’m just delighted to have this opportunity from Henry, whose taste, principles, and agility I’ve long admired. He is allowing me to concentrate on just a handful of acquisitions each year, and I’ll be focusing exclusively on the bold and original in literary fiction, and the urgent and persuasive in idea-led non-fiction — on books from these islands that might contend for prizes, in short.

“This part-time role at Scribe is ideal, as it will permit me to continue to work on various other projects also.”

Before his time at Granta, Gwyn Jones worked at HarperCollins UK for 15 years, first as editorial director of Fontana Press and then as publisher of Flamingo.

Scribe was founded in Australia in 1976 and started publishing in the UK last June.