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James Edmund Byng (born 27 June 1969) is a British publisher. He works for the independent publishing firm
Canongate Books
Canongate Books (trading as Canongate) is an independent publishing firm based in Edinburgh, Scotland.
It is named after the Canongate area of the city. It is most recognised for publishing the Booker Prizewinner ''Life of Pi''. Canongate was n ...
, where he is the CEO and publisher.
Early life
Byng grew up in the village of
Abbots Worthy
Abbots Worthy is a small village in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England. It is in the civil parish of Kings Worthy.
Abbots Worthy lies on the A33 about to the north of Winchester. Abbots Worthy is included within the civil ...
in
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
, England.
["The real Byng"]
''The Scotsman'', 2 June 2006. The second son of the 8th
Earl of Strafford
Earl of Strafford is a title that has been created three times in English and British history.
The first creation was in the Peerage of England in January 1640 for Thomas Wentworth, the close advisor of King Charles I. He had already succe ...
and Jennifer May, he is brother to the author
Lady Georgia Byng
Georgia Byng (born 6 September 1965) is a British children's writer, educator, illustrator, actress and film producer. Since 1995 she has published thirteen children’s books, and co-written and co-produced one film. Byng has won The Stockton Ch ...
, and through his stepfather, Sir
Christopher Bland
Sir Francis Christopher Buchan Bland (29 May 1938 – 28 January 2017) was a British businessman and politician. He was deputy chairman of the Independent Television Authority (1972), which was renamed the Independent Broadcasting Authority in th ...
(the former chairman of the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
,
British Telecom
BT Group plc (trade name, trading as BT and formerly British Telecom) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is th ...
and
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...
), he is the half-brother of
Archie Bland
James Franklin Archibald "Archie" Bland (born 7 October 1983), is a British newspaper journalist who writes the Guardian's daily morning newsletter First Edition.
Bland was previously the deputy editor of ''The Independent'', a national Britis ...
, print journalist and former deputy editor of ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
''.
Education and family
Byng was educated at
Winchester College
Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...
, an independent boarding-school for boys in the
cathedral city
Cathedral city is a city status in the United Kingdom.
Cathedral city may also refer to:
* Cathedral City, California, a city in Southern California, United States
* Cathedral City Cheddar, a brand of Cheddar cheese
* Cathedral City High Schoo ...
of
Winchester
Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...
in Hampshire,
Southern England
Southern England, or the South of England, also known as the South, is an area of England consisting of its southernmost part, with cultural, economic and political differences from the Midlands and the North. Officially, the area includes G ...
, followed by the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
.
["Jamie Byng: Great giveaway by the bad boy of books"]
''Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...
'', 5 December 2010. While attending the university, he ran a
funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
, reggae, and
rare groove
Rare groove is music that is very hard to source or relatively obscure. Rare groove is primarily associated with funk, R&B and jazz funk, but is also connected to subgenres including jazz rock, reggae, Latin jazz, soul, rock music, northern soul ...
night club named "Chocolate City" (after the
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
classic) at The Venue with his first wife,
Whitney McVeigh
Whitney Osborn McVeigh (born 1968) is an American multimedia artist living and working in London. Born in New York City, she grew up in London from the age of seven.
Early life
McVeigh is the daughter of Pamela Osborn and Charles McVeigh III, ...
, with whom he has two children – a daughter Marley and son Leo. Whitney McVeigh is the daughter of a
socialite
A socialite is a person from a wealthy and (possibly) aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having traditio ...
mother and her father is an American banker.
Byng and McVeigh separated in 2001, and in 2005 Byng married literary agent Elizabeth Sheinkman, with whom he has two children, Ivy and Nathaniel. Byng separated from Sheinkman in 2016 and married Silvia Gimenez Varela in 2021 and they have one child.
Publishing career
After graduating, he convinced Scottish publisher Stephanie Wolfe Murray to give him a job at Canongate, then a respected but still somewhat marginalised Scottish company founded in 1973,
[Libby Brookes]
"Posh and books"
''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', 1 November 2002. which he joined as an intern. When Canongate was on the verge of bankruptcy in 1994, Byng, then in his mid-20s, instigated a buyout, aided by his business partner Hugh Andrew, his stepfather (former
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
chairman