Listener editor Finlay Macdonald will join Penguin as Commissioning Editor from February next year.

Macdonald’s brief will be to help develop Penguin’s non-fiction publishing list, with an emphasis on lifestyle subjects and current affairs. Penguin’s stable already includes bestselling authors such as Michael King, James Belich, Maurice Gee, Julie Le Clerc, Ruth Pretty, Witi Ihimaera, Patricia Grace, Lloyd Jones and Tessa Duder.

In a press release, Penguin Publishing Director Geoff Walker said:

Finlay will bring new strengths to our New Zealand publishing list. He’s an ideas man. Anyone who can come up with a fresh Listener cover story and cover design each week will be a terrific asset to a book publisher.

In his new job, Macdonald will be working closely with Walker and Associate publisher Bernice Beachman. Macdonald is quoted:

Working with words and with writers has always been the best part of any job I’ve had. To take on the challenge of a new industry but also to employ and build on the skills and experience I’ve gained in magazines and other media is a wonderful opportunity.

Penguin New Zealand currently publishes over 60 books a year across fiction, non-fiction and children’s books.