After a successful third year running the SYP mentorship in the North, we are back in 2026 with both Into and Ahead streams. Our mentorship program offers a structured platform to enhance your skills, expand your network, and navigate the publishing landscape with confidence.
Apply Now
The next round of applications for the Northern branch opens on 18 May 2026 at 09:00 and closes on Sunday 21st June 2026 at 23:59. Don’t miss this opportunity to kickstart your publishing journey!
If you’re ready to embark on this enriching experience as a mentee, submit your application through our website.
Apply for the mentorship Into Stream.
Apply for the mentorship Ahead Stream.
Meet the SYP North Mentors for 2026
Emma Ferguson (she/her)
Senior Commissioning Editor at Emerald Publishing
I’m a Senior Journals Commissioning Editor for Emerald Publishing, having started at Emerald in 2021 as a Commissioning Assistant. In my day-to-day role, I run a portfolio of journals in HR and Organization Studies, line manage one of our Commissioning Assistants and lead our Manuscript Transfer Service.
Georgina Bulga (she/her)
Assistant Development Manager for Cambridge University Press and Assessment. Secretary & Social Media Lead for the Children’s Books North Network.
Georgina works as Assistant Development Manager in the International Education department at Cambridge University Press and Assessment. She has a passion for children’s books and has volunteered at events such as The Northern YA Literary Festival and Pathways to Publishing at The Portico Library. And is currently volunteering for the Children’s Books North Network as Secretary & Social Media Lead.
Benjamin Powell (he/him)
Lean Transformation Manager at Taylor & Francis
Ben has over 10 years experience in the publishing industry, working in different roles within Global Operations at Taylor & Francis Group. Ben is currently a Lean Transformation Manager, providing expertise in project and change management, process design and transformation, to stakeholders across the business. Alongside this work, Ben is an experienced mentor and reverse mentor to senior and executive leadership.
Outside his daily remit, Ben has worked for over 7 years in the inclusion and diversity space, helping establish and now co-leading Taylor & Francis’s colleague-run Pride network. He also founded and leads the LGBTIAQ+ Cross-Publisher Collective, which currently brings together 11 Pride networks across different publishing houses.
Emma Leask (she/her)
Production Editor at Bloomsbury Academic
I am a Production Editor in Bloomsbury’s Academic department, after getting my first publishing job here in August 2023 as a Production Assistant. I completed my Master’s in Publishing in 2023 at York St John University where I also set up a micro press with a friend within which we have published two anthologies together. I am looking forward to another year of mentoring after my first year being a mentor last year!
Josh Moorby (he/him)
Key Account Director, Hachette (Little, Brown)
I studied my MA in publishing at the University of Lancashire, and I currently work in the Hachette UK sales team, covering the Little, Brown and Octopus lists.
Tolu’ A. Akinyem
Founder of The Roaring Lion, Newcastle.
Tolu’ A. Akinyemi (also known as Tolutoludo) is a multiple award-winning Nigerian British writer of twenty-four books in the genres of poetry, short stories, children’s literature, and essays.
In 2020, he won the Best Indie Book Award for his poetry collection, A Booktiful Love. His collection of short stories, Inferno of Silence, won the 2021 IRDA Discovery Award for short stories and Next Generation Indie Book Awards (2021) for Best Cover Design (Fiction).
A former headline act at the Allen Valleys Folk Festival, Great Northern Slam, Crossing The Tyne Festival, Feltonbury Arts and Music Festival, Havering Literary Festival, Gateshead Central Library Black History Month event, and the Woolwich Centre Library National Poetry Day event. He was also a guest poet at the Havering Libraries Black History Month event.
His works and poems have been featured on BBC Sounds, Spark Sunderland, 57th issue (Volume 15, No. 1) of the Wilderness House Literary Review; The Writers Café Magazine Issue 18; Lion and Lilac; Agape Review; Black Moon Magazine; Calla Press; African Writer Magazine; Football in Poetry 2 Anthology; and elsewhere. His poems have been translated into Greek. He is the founder of The Roaring Lion Newcastle, a UK-based book publisher.
George Forster
Publicity and Marketing Officer at Comma Press
George Forster has a background in creative copywriting as a staff writer and columnist reporting on film and TV for Flip Screen, an online entertainment publication. He was also a scriptwriter and researcher for Bedtime Stories, a horror/true-crime YouTube channel while studying for his BA in screenwriting at the University of Central Lancashire. After a stint as a teaching assistant back home in Norwich during the pandemic, George returned to the North and to study, graduating from Manchester Metropolitan University with an MA in publishing in 2023.
Sam Telford
Poet and Publisher at Kulvert Books
Sam Telford (b.1992, Gateshead) is a poet and publisher living and working in Newcastle upon Tyne. He is the author of four collections of poetry: Back to the Bridge, Tabbash!, Newcassel (Kulvert, Newcastle) and A Dream of the Sea (Cob Editions, Gateshead) He has collaborated with the poets Mark Wright on Hotel Lobby and Joel Everett on Hua! Hua! Hua! (Kulvert, Newcastle). His third collaboration 26 Poems for Cash with Samatar Elmi is slated for release in 2026. His poetry is marked by a colloquial register and a minimalist style shaped by the British Poetry Revival and, in particular, the American Black Mountain poets. Recurring concerns include urban life, overheard speech—often abstracted in its selection—the philosophy of working class life, and the act of writing itself.
As part of Kulvert he has published fifteen poets in over thirty books since 2024.
Kate Southam (she/her)
Senior International Sales Support at Hachette Learning
I’ve been with Hachette Learning for two years this summer, and am in a part of the industry I never knew much about, much less expected to be working in! I was the first in my family to go to university, and I didn’t know anyone in publishing (before taking part in the SYP mentorship!). I get to support customers around the world, and love being able to be involved in a range of different projects!
Jenny Sharman (she/her)
International Sales Manager, Europe and India at Harper Collins
Jenny Sharman is the International Sales Manager for Europe and India at Collins, the education and reference division of HarperCollins Publishers UK. She is responsible for driving sales and sector growth across numerous export markets, primarily working with international-curriculum schools, supply partners and English-language bookshops to promote Collins’ print and digital learning resources. Her main responsibilities include developing and executing international sales strategy; managing key accounts and nurturing customer relationships; providing training and operational support for regional teams, and travelling internationally to represent Collins at conferences, events, and client meetings. Jenny’s role requires broad cultural awareness, cross-border relationship skills and strong commercial insight to strengthen Collins’ presence in the international education space.
Zoë King (she/her)
Senior Rights Executive for the Little, Brown list
Zoë joined Hachette’s Sheffield office as a Rights Assistant in 2022, and now works as a Senior Rights Executive for the Little, Brown list. She licenses a range of subrights including translation and audio rights, and has previously worked across the John Murray and Dialogue lists too. Originally from the Scottish Highlands, she first moved to Sheffield to work at a translation company and when Hachette opened their Sheffield office, made the jump across to publishing. She was named a Bookseller Rising Star in 2025.
Charlotte Hutchinson (she/her)
Senior Publicity Manager, John Murray Group
I have been a Publicist for over a decade working at both small independent publishers and big corporates. My current role is with John Murray Group working primarily on non-fiction with the occasional fiction campaign thrown in. My role is incredibly diverse; one day I’ll be working with national treasures, the next with super smart academics, it never gets boring. I am originally from Doncaster, South Yorkshire and currently work out of Hachette’s Sheffield office. I’m very passionate about publishing expanding beyond London so am delighted Hachette is leading the charge and hope other big publishers follow suit!