Antonia Markiet, a longtime editorial director of HarperCollins Children’s Books, is retiring effective September 15. She has worked at the publisher for 50 years.
Markiet launched her career in publishing in 1973 at Harper & Row as editorial assistant to children’s publisher Charlotte Zolotow. Legendary editor Ursula Nordstrom was also a colleague. Three years after joining the team, Markiet assisted Edite Kroll, who edited Shel Silverstein; Markiet later became his main editor.
In addition, Markiet worked with Maurice Sendak, beginning in 1981 with In Grandpa’s House, and the two developed a close friendship over the years. Under her editorial guidance, a previously unpublished picture book by the late author-illustrator, Ten Little Rabbits, is due out from HarperCollins in February 2024.
Markiet has also been the U.S. editor of C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia. Other award-winning and bestselling authors and illustrators on her roster included Buzz Aldrin, Laura Bush and Jenna Bush Hager, Eric Carle, Soman Chainani, Lois Ehlert, Victoria Kann, Emeril Lagasse, and Laurence Yep.
