Northern Highlight - Jennie Roman

Northern Highlight

Jennie Roman

Editor

Where are you based, and how would you sum up the place in three words? 

I work from a chilly outbuilding at home, which is a thimble-sized cottage in a village near York. Working from home feels special to me and I'd sum it up as calm, colourful and cosy. It's a good backdrop for thought.

What is special to you about working with children's books, and what is your favourite thing about it?

I never stopped reading children's books and I love to advocate for their importance for readers of all ages to anyone who will listen, but their central magic is of course how they can affect children and broaden their imaginative horizons and instil in them all the good stuff that modern life perhaps threatens to erode. To be part of the process that puts books in children's hands – and working hard to make them as good as possible – has never got old for me.

Tell us about the most recent book you've worked on or come across in your job. 

I'm generally working on several edits at a time, so this will quickly become out of date, but I'm currently working on a Peter Rabbit short story collection for Puffin (development editing and some writing), plus an adult non-fiction title for Penguin (because I also do a lot of work on titles for grown-up children).

If you could be transported to anywhere in the North/Scotland right now, where would it be? 

The Highlands please, as I've never been, and I am hungry for those big vistas.

 

What literary events have you attended or been involved with recently in the North/Scotland?

I keep an eye on events like York's Festival of Ideas and Literature Festival. But if I'm invited to work events, they tend to be in London.

Name your favourite children’s book set in the North/Scotland.

It has to be The Secret Garden. When I read it as a child it blew my mind that here was a story set in the north with characters who spoke like people I knew. As I've got older, the idea of the locked-up garden and the healing power of nature means more and more, and sharing it with my children was very special for me.

What advice would you give to aspiring publishing professionals living in the North and Scotland?

It can be done. There is a lot of passion and pride up here. Working remotely has changed everything.

What would you like to see from children's publishing in the North and Scotland?

Most of my work is with publishers based in London and travelling down is expensive, so I'd love to see more publishers based in the north. And as a parent/editor/writer/human, I'd like to see books that emphasise the local over the national and the international.

Who are your favourite Northern/Scottish children’s authors?

I think those with distinctive northern working-class voices and stories, maybe poets especially. I also have a special fondness for Berlie Doherty, who was the first author I met as a teen.

You can contact Jennie at:

jennie.roman.editor@gmail.com