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Alumna shortlisted for national publishing award

Wednesday, 28 March, 2018

Congratulations to Bath Spa University Creative Writing and Publishing graduate Kara Rennie, who was shortlisted for the 2018 London Book Fair Trailblazer Awards.

The annual awards celebrate talented publishing professionals under 30, who are demonstrating innovation and ambition in the book industry. They are run by the London Book Fair in partnership with the Publishers Association.

Kara's Bath Spa story

Kara graduated from Bath Spa University in 2012 with a First Class Honours degree. She now works as a Social Media and Community Manager at the Booksellers Association, managing all digital marketing and social content for their website, YouTube channels and book campaigns, including Books Are My Bag.

She said: "I love being connected to the book trade and regularly collaborating with booksellers, authors, publishers, readers and book bloggers."

Kara was nominated for the awards by her colleagues and was one of 30 publishing professionals to be shortlisted.

She added: "I was very excited when I found out I had been shortlisted for the Trailblazer Awards. The awards are a brilliant way to celebrate those in the book trade and it is a real boost to have early on in your career.

"Studying publishing at Bath Spa helped to kick-start my career. The course covers a wide variety of subjects and it really carves out a place for you in the creative world. You leave with an invaluable set of skills that prepare you for employment."

Katharine Reeve, Subject Leader for the BA (Hons) in Publishing said: "I remember Kara having multiple social media industry projects on the go in her final year. She is a talented digital publishing creative and has the energy and application needed to do well in the industry."

Publishing at Bath Spa

Bath Spa offers a creative and studio-based BA (Hons) Publishing course. Students have the chance to work on live projects and industry collaborations as part of their studies, and complete work placements and freelance work. Bath Spa Publishing students have completed projects for the Bath Film Festival, the National Trust and Penguin Random House, and graduates have secured employment with the BBC, Penguin Random House, and Taylor and Francis.

Final year Publishing students recently attended the Children's Global Media Summit, curated by the BBC, and created video reportage and multimedia content of the event for the BBC's social media channels.

This year Bath Spa launched an MA in Children's Publishing which covers children's and young adult publishing with a specialist focus on print, digital and international publishing.

For more information on studying publishing at Bath Spa University, visit our Publishing page.