Barry Cunningham (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

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. He later joined Bloomsbury,[3] where he initiated Bloomsbury Children’s Books.[4] While in this position he signed J.K Rowling and published Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.[5][6][7]

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.[8][9]

In 2010, Cunningham received an OBE in recognition of his contribution to children’s literature.[10]

Notable awards
  • Awarded an OBE in 2010 for Services to the Publishing Industry.[10]
  • Winner of the Branford Boase Award in 2000 with Katherine Roberts (author of Song Quest)[11]
  • Winner of the Branford Boase Award in 2003 with Kevin Brooks (author of Martyn Pig) [11]
  • Nominated for the Branford Boase Award in 2008 with Sharon Dogar (author of Waves) [11]

References
  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. Philip W. Errington (26 February 2015). J.K. Rowling: A Bibliography 1997-2013. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 3–. ISBN 978-1-84966-976-4.
  4. 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.
  5. "That magical day when Barry met Harry". The Scotsman.
  6. "JK Rowling based her Casual Vacancy character on me, says man who set author on the road to riches". The Telegraph.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. Anita Silvey (30 October 2012). Children's Book-a-Day Almanac. Roaring Brook Press. pp. 69–. ISBN 978-1-4668-2804-9.
  10. "Queen's Birthday Honours - the full list. The Telegraph.
  11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2019-03-02. Retrieved 2013-06-12.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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