Barry Cunningham (publisher) explained

Barry Cunningham (born 19 December 1952) is a British publisher, who worked for various publishers including Penguin Books and Bloomsbury before setting up Chicken House publishing in 2000.^[1] He is most well known for signing J. K. Rowling and publishing Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in 1997.^[2]

Early life and education

Cunningham was born on 19 December 1952 in London. He was educated at Malvern College before studying English Literature at Cambridge University.

Career in publishing

Cunningham began working at Penguin in 1977 and held the position of marketing director in 1989. As marketing director for Puffin, Cunningham travelled around the UK with Roald Dahl.^[3] He later joined Bloomsbury,^[4] where he initiated Bloomsbury Children’s Books.^[5] While in this position he signed J. K. Rowling and published Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.^{[6] [7] [8]}

In 2000, Cunningham left Bloomsbury to start the Chicken House, a publisher of children’s fiction that specializes in new writers. Barry also published the books of New York Times bestselling author Cornelia Funke.^{[9] [10]}

In 2010, Cunningham received an OBE in recognition of his contribution to children’s literature.^[11]

Notable awards

• Awarded an OBE in 2010 for Services to the Publishing Industry.
• Winner of the Branford Boase Award in 2000 with Katherine Roberts (author of Song Quest)^[12]
• Winner of the Branford Boase Award in 2003 with Kevin Brooks (author of Martyn Pig)
• Nominated for the Branford Boase Award in 2008 with Sharon Dogar (author of Waves)

External links

• Chicken House Publishing
• http://www.thebookseller.com/profile/business-profile-barry-cunningham.html
• http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/arts/books/childrensbooks/article3736888.ece
• http://www.viewfromheremagazine.com/2012/03/barry-cunningham-interview.html

Notes and References

1. Book: Valerie Grove. So Much To Tell. 6 May 2010. Penguin Books Limited. 978-0-670-91885-0. 69–.
2. Book: Connie Ann Kirk. J.K. Rowling: A Biography. registration. 1 January 2003. Greenwood Publishing Group. 978-0-313-32205-1. 75–.
3. News: Working with Roald Dahl helped me find Harry Potter . 20 July 2024 . BBC.
4. Book: Philip W. Errington. J.K. Rowling: A Bibliography 1997-2013. 26 February 2015. Bloomsbury Publishing. 978-1-84966-976-4. 3–.
5. Book: Karlin Sloan. Smarter, Faster, Better: Strategies for Effective, Enduring, and Fulfilled Leadership. 12 June 2006. John Wiley & Sons. 978-0-7879-8587-5. 216–.
6. http://www.scotsman.com/news/that-magical-day-when-barry-met-harry-1-1068487 "That magical day when Barry met Harry"
7. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/9569195/JK-Rowling-based-her-Casual-Vacancy-character-on-me-says-man-who-set-author-on-the-road-to-riches.html "JK Rowling based her Casual Vacancy character on me, says man who set author on the road to riches"
8. Book: Gerard P. Hodgkinson. William H. Starbuck. The Oxford Handbook of Organizational Decision Making. 2008. Oxford Handbooks Online. 978-0-19-929046-8. 92–.
9. Book: Barbara A. Lehman. Evelyn B. Freeman. Patricia L. Scharer. Reading Globally, K–8: Connecting Students to the World Through Literature. 20 September 2010. SAGE Publications . 978-1-4129-7392-2. 59–.
10. Book: Anita Silvey. Children's Book-a-Day Almanac . 30 October 2012. Roaring Brook Press. 978-1-4668-2804-9. 69–.
11. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/honours-list/7822829/Queens-Birthday-honours-the-full-list.html "Queen's Birthday Honours - the full list
12. Web site: Branford Boase Award Previous Winners . 2013-06-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190302171834/http://www.branfordboaseaward.org.uk/branfordboaseawd.html . 2019-03-02 . dead .