London’s 1000 most influential people 2011: Literati

Carol Ann Duffy

Carol Ann Duffy
Poet Laureate
The first female, self-proclaimed bisexual, Scottish Poet Laureate – and by far the most popular contemporary poet. She has published poems about climate change, WMD and David Beckham (and says she is “still waiting” for him to send her a pair of boots he promised). Her new collection, The Bees, is perfectly diplomatic.

David Nicholls
Author
Now in his mid-forties, Nicholls worked as an actor at the National Theatre and then as a film and TV scriptwriter, before turning to fiction and in 2009 hitting the jackpot with his third novel, funny but sad romance One Day, which has sold over a million and now been filmed with Anne Hathaway attempting a Yorkshire accent.

Dame Gail Rebuck
Random House, CEO
Formidable but charming, Rebuck just might be the most powerful woman in publishing, with a stable that includes authors from Dan Brown to AS Byatt. Also published memoirs of Tony Blair and James Corden. She now wonders if e-books are “substitutional” or “complementary” to print. Has intriguing sideline as director of Sky TV.

Victoria Barnsley
Harper Collins, CEO
Former founder of Fourth Estate who runs the books arm of Rupert Murdoch’s empire – and is as tough as her boss. Famous for her single arching eyebrow, she is married to Nick “Castle” Howard. Authors range from Sir Max Hastings to Conn Iggulden.

Mark Smith
Quercus, CEO
Stieg Larsson’s record-setting Girl With The Dragon Tattoo trilogy was a goldmine but Smith has managed to find new hits including the book of The King’s Speech. Now launching a series of new imprints including US/Canadian imprint Silver Oak. The good-natured Australian has become rich as Quercus shares have soared.

Ion Trewin
Booker Prize literary director
Ex-literary editor of The Times and publisher at Weidenfeld and Nicolson, he now runs the Booker and is a general éminence grise. A superb gossip, Trewin was the sympathetic editor of the late MP Alan Clark’s scurrilous diaries and wrote the old roué’s authorised biography.

…read more

No-risk publishers ‘missing out on Booker’

The organiser of the Man Booker Prize says major book publishers have missed out on this year’s award because they are “no longer taking risks” in working with new authors.

Ion Trewin, literary director of the Booker Prize Foundation, said financial worries had meant many larger publishers were “going for the tried and the trusted” and missing out on some of the country’s best new writing talent.

Speaking on the eve of the announcement of this year’s winner, Mr Trewin dismissed suggestions that the award had been dumbed down and readability put before achievement in literary fiction.

He said: “Most of the people who make the accusations haven’t read the books. The judges have read 138 books over the last seven months. None of the critics have read that number.

“There are a lot of well known names who have fallen by the wayside but those are the well known names the critics know, love or may be friends with.

“There’s a real sea change in fiction publishing in Britain at the moment. It says a lot about the state of our economic climate that the big publishing houses are no longer taking the risks that they used to. They’re going for the tried and the trusted.

“All the real invention – the new talent – is being published by new publishers who are prepared to take those risks and they are being rewarded by having four or five books on the shortlist this year.

Read more: