Meet the 2019-20 SYP Scotland Committee

Posted on May 23, 2019 in Scotland

SYP Scotland recently held our 2019 AGM, and with the freshly appointed team feeling enthusiastic and not-yet-burned-out, we thought it would be the perfect time to introduce the committee. Come and meet these lovely faces at our first event on Thursday 6th June at Mad Hatter’s in Edinburgh – it’s a pub(lisher’s) quiz and teams will be picked from a hat, so feel free to come solo or with pals. More details and sign up info is available here, so please register to attend so we have an idea of numbers. We can’t wait to meet you!

Rebecca Wojturska – Co-Chair

Rebecca Wojturska works as a Journals Publishing Editor at Edinburgh University Press. She has three degrees and managed to write a dissertation on Gothic literature in each of them (including her MA Publishing one). She reviews books for The Skinny and Sublime Horror and runs a wee press called Haunt Publishing in her spare time. She likes nothing more than reading and crushing her enemies at board games. Find her tweeting @Becky_Wojturska.

Sarah Barnard – Co-Chair

Sarah Barnard works as Senior Bookseller and Events Coordinator at the Portobello Bookshop. She is originally from the Midlands, where she worked in public libraries for nearly three years before moving to Scotland to study MSc Publishing at Edinburgh Napier University. Her main interests are bisexuality representation, choral music, fictional witches and the Decemberists. She also blogs very occasionally about young adult fiction, and tweets incessantly @slouisebarnard.

Marija Katiliute – Treasurer

Marija Katiliute is an MLitt Publishing studies graduate and it’s her second year as Treasurer for SYP Scotland. Her interests include science fiction books (Becky Chambers, John Wyndham), Muse, baking, veganism and house plants. She is currently obsessing over Ancient Greek books and retellings. You can find her on Twitter as @kat_marija and on Bookstagram as @novel.marija.

Sam Johnson – Membership Secretary

Sam Johnson is an Editor at the FLB Group. Originally from Staffordshire, he moved to Edinburgh in 2017 to pursue a career in publishing and study MSc Publishing at Edinburgh Napier University. His main interests are getting stuck into a decent history book, Fencing (Swords, not actual fences), travelling, and is a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes. In his spare time he also reviews history titles on his blog. You can find him on Twitter @SamJ234.

Alice Fischer – Events Officer

Alice Fischer is a bookseller and Assistant Manager at the Portobello Bookshop. She moved from France to the UK in 2014 to study for the final year of her Licence (BA) in History, and after two years living in the cold, historic city of York, she made the move to the colder, historic city of Edinburgh to commence an MSc in Publishing at Edinburgh Napier University. She likes making notebooks, going to gigs, and collecting house plants. She is (sometimes) on Twitter @alicesfischer.

Sonali Misra – Conference Lead

Sonali Misra, an author and editor, has worked for four years for publishers such as Hachette Book Publishing India and Scholastic India. She won the University of Stirling’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities Studentship and will pursue her PhD in Publishing Studies in October 2019. She is the Co-founder and Head of Fiction of The Selkie, an international online literary magazine that promotes the writing of underrepresented communities. You can find her on Twitter @MisraSonali.

Kirsten Knight – Shadow Panel Coordinator

Kirsten Knight is an MA English Language student at the University of Edinburgh. She spends her summers bookselling at the Edinburgh International Book Festival and reading as much YA fantasy as possible. Her bookcase is organised by size then author, and she has never completed a Goodreads reading challenge. She can typically be found writing about words in the library, hiding in the Lighthouse bookshop, or (t)wittering from @kirstenmknight.

Lauren Murray – Mentorship Scheme Lead

Lauren Murray is Editorial Project Leader at Collins Learning, HarperCollins Publishers. She completed her PhD in Classics at the University of Edinburgh in 2015 before embarking on a career in publishing. She has worked with Edinburgh University Press, Orson & Co, Freight Books and Nosy Crow across educational titles, digital books, fiction, non-fiction, picture books and novelty. Lauren is passionate about the world of children’s publishing and she loves reading and writing young adult and middle-grade fiction.  She is an intermittent tweeter @Lauren_d_murray.

Niamh Anderson – Blogger

Niamh Anderson is a bookseller at the Portobello Bookshop. She is a 2019 History graduate from the University of Edinburgh, where she was Editor-in-Chief of The Student newspaper and worked in a pie shop. She now spends her time reading women’s writing, researching women’s lives, and performing emotional labour by explaining emotional labour to men. She can be found Bookstagramming @niamhreadsbooks and Twittering @niamh_anderson.

Alice Piotrowska – Communications Officer

Alice Piotrowska is a doctoral researcher at the University of Stirling, where she works in collaboration with Publishing Scotland and HarperCollins to examine the last five decades of Scottish publishing. She previously graduated with an MSc in Publishing from Edinburgh Napier University and a BA in English Language and Literature from Queen’s University (Canada). She writes book reviews, does freelance marketing design, and runs social media channels for SYP Scotland. Tweets as @AlicePiotrowska.

Hannah Fields – Communications Officer

Hannah Fields is a writer and editor from Texas. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Publishing at the University of Stirling. She has worked on various publications from children’s books to award-winning magazines. Her interests include poetry, podcasts, weightlifting, blogging, and all things bookish. You can follow her on Twitter @thehfields.

Shilpa Sheetal – Student Liaison Officer

Shilpa Sheetal is a current postgraduate student studying for MSc in Publishing at Edinburgh Napier University. Flying all the way from India a year ago, she is now juggling her time between coursework, internships and getting lost in the city of Edinburgh. She enjoys reading YA, food memoirs, fiction, medical thrillers and self-help books. In free time, she listens to lo-fi music, watches movies and cooks. She occasionally writes book reviews on her blog and tweets @e_bonkers.

Yasmin Hackett – General Member

Yasmin graduated from Edinburgh University in 2018, where she studied History. Since then she’s been writing freelance for the comedy section of The Skinny, working part-time in a cafe, and has been a volunteer at Shelter. She began a Publishing MSc at Edinburgh Napier University in September 2019. In her free time she loves reading (fantasy and translated fiction mostly), seeing live comedy, yoga, and eating nice food (sushi especially). You can find her tweeting @yasminhackett.

This post was originally published 23.05.19, but was updated 10.09.19 to reflect the committee’s changing employment.