Square Peg's Harper to join Bluebird and One Boat as editorial director

Mireille Harper is leaving Square Peg to join Pan Macmillan’s Bluebird and One Boat imprints as editorial director.

Harper, an award-winning editor, writer, sensitivity reader and publicist, will start working across both lists in January 2022.

Whilst still a trainee at Trapeze, Harper was the recipient of the Harry Barker prize–awarded for innovation and creativity in staff aged under 25. She then spent six months in marketing at Hodder Education, before joining Octopus Publishing as an editorial assistant in 2018. 

She moved to Square Peg in 2019 and has been leading the list since March 2020. She has managed the acquisitions and strategy for the imprint, commissioning ground-breaking titles such as Bitter by Alexina Anatole, Rough by Rachel Thompson, Empowered by Vee Kativhu, Dope Black Dads by Marvyn Harrison and The Mixed Race Experience by Natalie and Naomi Evans. 

At Vintage, Mireille also led the Free Books Campaign partnership. She was a judge for Lit in Colour's Creative Student Prize and worked with the creative responsibility team to sponsor Africa Writes' Lifetime Achievement Award. Outside of her fulltime role, she has collaborated with Punch Records, BYP Network, Content is Queen, ShoutOut Network, and others on their press campaigns. She also mentors students wishing to enter the publishing industry and offers editorial advice to aspiring writers. 

Harper is also author of Timelines from Black History (DK), and her writing on subjects from music, art and culture to lifestyle and travel has been featured by the likes of British Vogue, Digital Spy, Good Housekeeping, and others. She has also worked with DK, the Feminist Book Society, Bad Form and Dope Readers Club as a contributor, guest editor, sensitivity reader and publishing consultant. 

Harper said: "I am utterly thrilled to be joining the team at Bluebird. I admire their drive, passion, ethos and energy. I look forward to contributing more brilliant books to sit alongside incredible names such as Hassan Akkad, Jay Blades and David Harewood. 

“I'm particularly keen to work on topical narrative non-fiction, books which drive conversations, inspire us to take action and make changes to our lives, or draw our attention to subjects worth discussing. I am especially looking to work with writers from underrepresented backgrounds, and people with stories they want to share but who might not have thought of themselves as authors or envisioned turning their ideas and experiences into books. 

“I hope to continue to publish books creatively and non-traditionally, working to bring together storytellers and creators organically and uniquely. I am invigorated and feel inspired about what this next chapter will bring." 

Publisher Carole Tonkinson added: “We are thrilled to have Mireille joining us at Bluebird and One Boat. She is not only immensely talented, but her vision aligns perfectly with what we aim to do on our lists: start conversations, inspire change, and discover new voices—particularly those voices publishing has often failed to represent. We can’t wait for the fantastic contribution we know she will make to our team.”