Penguin publishers in Scotland move

PENGUIN, the biggest UK publisher, yesterday announced the appointment of its first editor based in Scotland.

Judy Moir is a former editorial director of Canongate, the Edinburgh publishing firm. She is known for her commitment to developing Scottish writing.

Yesterday’s announcement came a day after Hodder Headline, another UK publishing giant, set up a Scottish office in Paisley.

Ms Moir left Canongate last summer after 16 years, saying she and owner Jamie Byng needed a break. Her split with the rising Scottish publisher was the talk of last summer’s book festival, and she later suggested Canongate was not doing enough to develop Scottish authors.

Ms Moir is to operate from her home as an "editor at large". She said yesterday she would be seeking out new Scottish work at "the upper end of the literary spectrum".

At Canongate she was celebrated for signing major Scottish writers such as Michel Faber and Louise Welch, and is now set to be one of the company’s competitors in the Scottish market. "It happens that authors may want to go to Penguin or Canongate, and as in many other occasions, publishers may bid for an author," she said.

Ms Moir singled out the product of Scottish creative writing schools, such as those at the Universities of Glasgow, St Andrews, and Edinburgh. "There’s lots of fine people emerging from there. There has been a lack of opportunities for them to find publishers in the past."

The Edinburgh literary agent Jenny Brown called the Penguin announcement, along with the establishment of Hodder Headline’s Paisley office, a positive sign. "London publishers are realising that they are not as aware of the good writing coming out of Scotland as they could have been."