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Kathryn Court |
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Kathryn Court, president and publisher of Penguin Books, is retiring at the end of the year after 42 years at the company. After working in publishing in London for a few years, she moved to New York and joined Penguin Books in 1977. After two years, she became editorial director; then editor-in-chief of Viking Penguin in 1984; senior v-p, publisher and editor-in-chief of Penguin Books in 1992; and added the title of president in 2000.
Allison Dobson, president of Penguin Publishing Group, wrote that as Penguin president, "Kathryn leads a team that has built a robust and storied Penguin Classics program; a massive and luminous backlist of Penguin reprints of Viking and Penguin Press front list titles; and a list of Penguin paperback originals which combine literary excellence and commercial quality. The Penguin Books that Kathryn leads today is a testament to her understanding of the marketplace for the best fiction and nonfiction writing, and to her tireless advocacy for writers and their readers through her work with the New York Public Library and her service on the board of the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses."
She has edited, published and worked with, among others, John le Carré, J.M. Coetzee, Dava Sobel, Craig Johnson, William Trevor, Sebastian Barry, Antony Beevor, Mary McGarry Morris and Reinaldo Arenas.
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| Brian Tart | |
As a result of Kathryn Court's retirement, Brian Tart's responsibilities will expand to include overseeing the Penguin Books publishing programs, and he will serve as president and publisher of both the Viking and Penguin imprints, effective at the beginning of next year. He became head of Viking in 2015, after serving as president and publisher of the Dutton, Avery and Gotham imprints.
In addition, Patrick Nolan is being promoted to v-p, deputy publisher Penguin Books.
Penguin Books will continue to be the home for trade paperback publications of Penguin Press hardcover editions, though this program now will report to Ann Godoff, president and editor-in-chief, Penguin Press.
Allison Dobson commented: "In many ways, more formally bringing together Viking and Penguin organizationally is rooted in the original merger of Viking and Penguin in 1977. While other considerations eventually altered that structural alignment, in recent years, the two programs have become closer than ever, with all Viking hardcovers published as paperbacks under the Penguin Books imprint. Viking and Penguin share publicity and marketing teams, and many of the editorial staff acquire and publish titles across both lists--a practice we will continue to encourage."