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Richard Charkin, Monica Ali and Jenny Brown make the King's Honours List
Richard Charkin, Jenny Brown, Di Speirs and Nicholas Poole have all received recognition in the King’s Birthday Honours List, along with authors Monica Ali, Joseph Coehlo, Jamila Gavin and Niall Ferguson.
Ali, made a CBE, told The Bookseller that the "totally unexpected" recognition was "a signal that literature matters, that reading is important, that we need novels and novelists".
Charkin and Brown were given an OBEs for services to literature; and Poole was also given an OBE for services to libraries, to the arts and to museums. Speirs was made an MBE.
Charkin, a recent past president of the International Publishers Association, was also former chief executive of Macmillan Publishers and executive director of Bloomsbury from 2007 to 2018. Charkin said: "It’s strange receiving such an honour. I am not sure what, if any, privileges it confers but so far the best thing about it is hearing from friends and colleagues in the books business worldwide. Thanks so much for the good wishes."
Brown is founder of literary agency Jenny Brown Associates, and was was previously head of literature at the Scottish Arts Council, presenter of book programmes for Scottish Television, and founder director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
Brown commented: "I’m absolutely delighted to have been recognised in this way. I feel fortunate indeed to have contributed in a range of roles connecting writers and readers at a vibrant period in the development of Scotland’s literature culture. . . I’m struck by what vitality there is here in Scotland, in our bookshops, festivals (now numbering 50), publishers and literature organisations, and especially among the remarkable writing community. I can look back over 40 years and, thanks to the efforts of so many people, see a transformed literary landscape and, despite all the challenges, feel encouraged and inspired by what lies ahead."
Poole is past c.e.o. of Chartered Institute of Library & Information Professionals, and current chief executive of Ukie, the trade association for the UK video games and interactive entertainment industry.
Audio executive editor for books at the BBC, Speirs was given the award for services to broadcasting and to literature. Speirs has produced numerous editions of Book at Bedtime over two decades and produced the first ever Book of the Week in 1998.
Ali was given a CBE for services to literature. She is the author of five books: Brick Lane, Alentejo Blue, In the Kitchen, Untold Story and Love Marriage, is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and in 2003 was named as one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists. She recently chaired the Women’s Prize for Fiction judging panel.
She told The Bookseller: "It was a huge surprise, totally unexpected, and it’s great for authors to be recognised because it’s a signal that literature matters, that reading is important, that we need novels and novelists. Now, perhaps more than ever, when opinions and attitudes are so polarised, we can look to fiction to provide nuance and complexity and help us see the world from other angles, other points of view."
Children’s Laureate Joseph Coelho OBE was recognised for services to the arts, to children’s reading and to literature.
Other authors on the honours list include Susie Dent (MBE), Rory Cellan-Jones (OBE) and Niall Ferguson, who was awarded a knighthood. Ferguson told the Oxford Mail, "When an individual is honoured by the King, implicitly his formative influences are the real recipients of the honour."
Other trade people given awards include Sarah Hosking (MBE), who founded Hosking Houses Trust, which supports women writers and artists; children’s writer Jamila Gavin (MBE); as well as librarians Sally McInness and Julie Kay.
