Phoebe Morgan to return to HarperCollins

Phoebe Morgan has been made editorial director, crime/thriller, at HarperFiction and will also take on the maternity cover for the post of editorial director at Avon, as she returns to HarperCollins.

Morgan was previously senior commissioning editor at Avon, before moving to take up a temporary maternity cover role at Orion imprint Trapeze in March. She will re-join HarperCollins on 30th September.

In her Avon role, Morgan will cover the maternity leave of publishing director Helen Huthwaite, and will report to publishing strategy director Oliver Malcolm. She will head up the Avon editorial team in Huthwaite's absence, taking over responsibility for both team management and strategic direction.

Malcolm said: "We are absolutely delighted to welcome Phoebe back to Avon. This is a fantastic opportunity for her to lead the editorial team, while I am sure many of our authors will be just as delighted as we are to see her return ‘home’."

In her HarperFiction role, Morgan will take over from Sarah Hodgson on her move to Corvus in September, and report to publisher Julia Wisdom. She will take over responsibility for a small number of Hodgson's authors, with a particular focus on acquiring new talent for HarperFiction's crime/thriller list.

Wisdom said: "I’m so pleased that Phoebe is joining the crime and thriller team at HarperFiction. She has excellent editorial instincts and boundless creative energy, and I’m sure will prove a terrific asset to the list. We’re much looking forward to working with her."

On Huthwaite's return to Avon after her maternity leave in 2020, Morgan will move over to focus solely on her HarperFiction role working with Wisdom, the crime/thriller team and her authors there on a full-basis.

Morgan said: "I've loved my time at Trapeze and will be sad to leave my Orion colleagues, but the opportunity to step into this dual role is one I couldn't turn down. The chance to manage a brilliant, close-to-my-heart team plus the opportunity to acquire for and build the legendary HarperFiction crime list with Julia is so exciting and I'm looking forward to this new chapter."