‘Queen of Literature’

Easy Jet In-Flight profiles Liz Calder, co-founder of Britain’s most successful independent publishing house, Bloomsbury Plc. Dubbed the ‘Queen of Literature,’ Calder is credited with discovering the likes of Salman Rushdie, Anita Brookner and Julian Barnes. The Bloomsbury stable is currently home to J.K Rowling’s blockbuster Harry Potter series, Margaret Atwood, Jeffrey Eugenides and Donna Tartt. Calder: “When we started out I think a lot of people thought, ‘Well, let’s see how this new company does. They might fall flat on their faces. They might not be there in a year’s time.’ But that was the element of risk. Twenty years on we’re in a very different state. We’re now one of the well-established houses and we walk with a big stick these days. We’re not the publishing house that’s dodging, ducking and diving. And although that’s good, I do miss it.” Liz Calder was born in England but grew up in New Zealand and has strong family ties to New Zealand.