Callil, Carmen (1938–)
Callil, Carmen (1938–)
Australian publisher. Name variations: Carmen Therese Callil. Born to parents of Irish-Lebanese descent, Sept 15, 1938, in Melbourne, Australia; father was a barrister and lecturer in French; Melbourne University, BA (1960).
Founder of Virago Press, moved to England (1963); after working for Hutchinson, Batsford, and Andrew Deutsch, founded her own company, Callil Book Publicity; with Ursula Owen and Rosie Boycott, co-founded Virago Press (1972), which was dedicated to the publication of women writers; began reprinting women's works (1978), initially focusing on English authors like Emily Eden, Antonia White, Angela Carter, E.M. Delafield and Margaret Kennedy; appointed managing editor and publishing director of Chatto & Windus, Bodley Head & Cape, when Virago was acquired by Chatto (1982); remained chair and managing director as company changed hands over the course of 11 years; worked as publisher-at-large for Random House (1993–94); also served on board of directors for Britain's Channel 4; writings include Subversive Sybils: Women's Popular Fiction this Century (1996), The Modern Library: The 200 Best Novels in English Since 1950 (1998) and Darquier's Nebula: A Family at War (2003).