Barry Cunningham (publisher)

British publisher

Barry Cunningham OBE (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

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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

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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

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* Awarded an OBE in 2010 for Services to the Publishing Industry.[11]
* 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) [12]
* Nominated for the Branford Boase Award in 2008 with Sharon Dogar (author of Waves) [12]

## References

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1. ^ Valerie Grove (6 May 2010). So Much To Tell. Penguin Books Limited. pp. 69–. ISBN 978-0-670-91885-0.
2. ^ Connie Ann Kirk (1 January 2003). J.K. Rowling: A Biography. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 75–. ISBN 978-0-313-32205-1.
3. ^ "Working with Roald Dahl helped me find Harry Potter". BBC. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
4. ^ Philip W. Errington (26 February 2015). J.K. Rowling: A Bibliography 1997-2013. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 3–. ISBN 978-1-84966-976-4.
5. ^ Karlin Sloan (12 June 2006). Smarter, Faster, Better: Strategies for Effective, Enduring, and Fulfilled Leadership. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 216–. ISBN 978-0-7879-8587-5.
6. ^ "That magical day when Barry met Harry". The Scotsman.
7. ^ "JK Rowling based her Casual Vacancy character on me, says man who set author on the road to riches". The Telegraph.
8. ^ Gerard P. Hodgkinson; William H. Starbuck (2008). The Oxford Handbook of Organizational Decision Making. Oxford Handbooks Online. pp. 92–. ISBN 978-0-19-929046-8.
9. ^ Barbara A. Lehman; Evelyn B. Freeman; Patricia L. Scharer (20 September 2010). Reading Globally, K–8: Connecting Students to the World Through Literature. SAGE Publications. pp. 59–. ISBN 978-1-4129-7392-2.
10. ^ Anita Silvey (30 October 2012). Children's Book-a-Day Almanac. Roaring Brook Press. pp. 69–. ISBN 978-1-4668-2804-9.
11. ^ a b "Queen's Birthday Honours - the full list. The Telegraph.
12. ^ a b c "Branford Boase Award Previous Winners". Archived from the original on 2 March 2019. Retrieved 12 June 2013.

## External links

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* 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