Watt appointed as fiction commissioning editor at HarperNorth

Jonathan Cape's Daisy Watt has been appointed to the newly created role of fiction commissioning editor at HarperNorth.

The move is part of an expansion for the new Manchester-based division of HarperCollins, focusing on Northern authors and talent. Watt will start her new role on 24th May, reporting to HarperNorth publishing director Genevieve Pegg.

She is currently assistant editor at Cape, where she has worked with authors including Julian Barnes, Ottessa Moshfegh and Alison Bechdel, and published the Irish bestseller Life Sentences by Billy O’Callaghan. Now based in SheÔ¨Éeld, she said she will be looking for gripping, original Ô¨Åction across genres including reading group, crime and thriller, historical and humour.

Pegg said: “I’m delighted to welcome Daisy to HarperNorth and to increase our fiction commissioning. She’s got a wonderfully broad set of interests and we knew from our earliest conversations that she would bring some really exciting writing talent to the list.”

Watt added: “After three happy years at Cape I’m ecstatic to be joining HarperNorth, and I can’t wait to meet, publish and celebrate brilliant Northern writers alongside Oli [Malcolm, executive publisher], Genevieve and the rest of their talented team. I’m thrilled to be able to keep living closer to my family and my roots."

She can be contacted at daisy.watt@harpercollins.co.uk