Two months after stepping down as president and publisher of Simon & Schuster’s Atria Publishing Group, Judith Curr will join HarperCollins in the newly-created role of president and publisher of HarperOne, Amistad, and Rayo. Curr will start April 2 and report to HC CEO Brian Murray, and will sit on the company's executive committee.
HarperOne, HC’s San Francisco-based unit that specializes in publishing books in religion, spirituality, and personal growth, has been without a leader since Mark Tauber stepped down at the end of 2017. In heading that division, Curr is being charged with expanding HarperOne’s publishing program beyond its current editorial focus, and to grow the list from its current publishing rate of 50 books per year to 120 titles annually. According to HC, Curr is being tasked with building HarperOne’s fiction and nonfiction lists with titles that have “global appeal for both the HarperCollins English and foreign-language publishing programs.”
In addition, Curr will look to grow the Amistad and Rayo trade lists, which are HC’s multicultural and Spanish-language imprints, respectively. While at S&S, Curr oversaw Atria’s Spanish-language publishing imprint, Atria Books Español, and helped to launch 37 Ink, Atria’s multicultural imprint headed by Dawn Davis—who at one time was publisher of Amistad Books. Prior to Curr’s appointment, Amistad and Rayo had reported to HC's general books group.
Curr will remain based in New York, but will spend a portion of her time in San Francisco, where HarperOne will continue to maintain an office.
In announcing Curr’s appointment, Murray said he admired her “creative and entrepreneurial approach to publishing” and is excited to have her at HC, where she will bring “her tremendous experience, passion, and energy to the next set of global blockbusters across HarperCollins offices around the world.”
Curr, who said in a statement that she has great respect for Murray’s global vision, said her new role gives her the opportunity "to build upon the already successful and diverse HarperCollins imprints" and "perfectly combines my passions in publishing."
