Molly Ker Hawn has been appointed director of the Bent Agency UK.
In Germany, Constanze Neumann takes over at Aufbau and the imprint Blumenbar as editor-in-chief for literary fiction on December, replacing Gunnar Cynybulk. She was editor-in-chief at Hoffmann & Campe until 2016, and has been working as a literary agent.
At Catapult, Morgan Jerkins has been promoted to associate editor of the magazine, while Megha Majumdar moves up to associate editor for the magazine and books.
It was early August when we reported that Donna Tartt had left longtime agent Amanda Urban at ICM for representation in the US and Canada by Nicole Aragi at Aragi Inc. Now Page Six thinks they have an “exclusive” report on the move, that adds anonymous speculation that Tartt “was unhappy with the deal made for the movie. Tartt wanted a shot to write it, and that wasn’t given to her — nor was she able to get a producer credit, which seems ludicrous.” Could be, though the $3 million deal with Warner Bros. for film rights to The Goldfinch was struck in 2014, and that ought to be Tartt’s signature on the deal.
HarperCollins is holding an “open house” for aspiring professionals who are “new to publishing” and looking for entry level jobs in January — though it’s not really “open,” since applicants need to submit an essay and wait to hear back.
Awards
David France won the Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction for How to Survive a Plague.
The Cundill History Prize was awarded to The House of the Dead: Siberian Exile Under the Tsars by Daniel Beer.
The NEA announced the recipients of its 2018 fellowships for creative writers and literary translators, totaling $1.2 million.
Scribner will go back to press for an additional 40,000 copies of Jesmyn Ward’s Sing, Unburied, Sing after the novel won the National Book Award Wednesday night.
International
France’s Bayard and investor Trustbridge Partners’ Trustbridge Global Media have partnered to launch a publishing house dedicated to children’s books in China, Bayard Bridge, headquartered in Beijing. They plan to publish up to 80 titles in the first year. The list will be built on the catalogs of Bayard, Milan and Tourbillon.