Meet the Team
Sarah Emsley
M.D. & PublisherSarah Emsley joined HarperCollins in 2023 as Executive Publisher for HarperNonFiction and HarperNorth. HarperNorth is a thriving new division based in Manchester, expertly publishing a wide range of fiction and non-fiction inspired by the mission statement Books From The North For The World. Before joining HarperCollins, Sarah spent seven years at Transworld followed by twelve years at Headline, where she headed up the Non-Fiction team and published a raft of number-one bestselling brand authors including Matthew Perry, Matthew McConaughey and Bryony Gordon.
Genevieve Pegg
PublisherGenevieve Pegg joined HarperNorth, the Manchester-based imprint of HarperCollins, at its foundation in 2020. Previously she worked at Penguin, Orion and with indie authors and publishers. In her reading and her acquiring, she is always in search of page-turners, from bookclub stories to historical fiction, and from memoir to crime thrillers. At HarperNorth she publishes fiction and non-fiction from across the north for national and international audiences.
Jonathan de Peyer
Editorial DirectorJonathan de Peyer worked in independent publishing for over a decade before joining HarperCollins in June 2020. With a list spanning memoir and biography, politics, history, sport, nature writing, food, smart-thinking, true crime, pop science and music, he’s looking for surprising and engaging work from authors from a diverse range of backgrounds. He has published, amongst others, Stuart Maconie, Lisa Nandy, Nazir Afzal, Shashi Tharoor, David Goodhart, Andrew Harding, Pete Brown and Brian Groom.
Daisy Watt
Commissioning Editor – FictionDaisy joined HarperNorth from Jonathan Cape in 2021. Based in Sheffield, she’s looking for gripping, original fiction across a wide range of genres including reading group, crime and thriller, romance, historical and humour. HarperNorth titles she has published include The Engagement by Nasheema Lennon, Love & Other Scams by PJ Ellis, Fray by Chris Carse Wilson and The Burnings Naomi Kelsey.
Megan Jones
Assistant EditorMegan Jones is a HarperCollins Grad Scheme alumnus. Part of the founding team when HarperNorth opened its doors in 2020, she is now an Assistant Editor, supporting across a diverse range of fiction and non-fiction. Megan is also building her own list, looking for commercial fiction books from future northern stars and giftable zeitgeist non-fiction. She is particularly interested in rom-coms that’ll make you laugh out loud one moment and blush the next, gothic stories to make you shiver and exciting voices in the new adult space.
Alice Murphy-Pyle
Head of Marketing and PublicityAlice started her career as a journalist before moving into publishing at Simon & Schuster and later at Transworld. She is passionate about increasing inclusivity within publishing and has delivered campaigns for brand authors including Jilly Cooper, Bill Bryson and Romesh Ranganathan, and emerging brands including Shari Lapena and Lesley Kara.
Taslima Khatun
Marketing and Publicity AssistantTaslima joined HarperCollins in late 2022, and she is excited to begin her publishing career with the dedicated HarperNorth team in Manchester. Her current role is Marketing & Publicity Assistant, and she is thrilled to delve into north England’s literary landscapes. Previously, she worked as a bookseller.