if:book team

Chris Meade
is Director of if:book.
From 2000 to 2007 he was Director of Booktrust, the UK reading promotion charity which runs the Bookstart scheme and a host of projects, prizes and websites to encourage the discovery and enjoyment of reading. Previously he was Director of the Poetry Society where he set up the Poetry Cafe in Covent Garden and the lottery funded Poetry Places project which ran residencies for poets at London Zoo, the Millennium Dome, a gas platform, a high street store, a solicitor's office and many more community settings. In the 1980s he was a pioneer of reader development, promoting public libraries as 'imagination services'. Chris is currently studying for a masters in Creative Writing & New Media at De Montfort University and is a member of Friendly Literature Organisations (FLO), a consortium supported by Arts Council England with whom he has been exploring the creative potential of new media for readers and writers.

Bob Stein
is Co-Director and Member of if:book.
He is Director and founder of the Institute for the Future of the Book (USA) and founder of The Voyager Company. For 13 years he led the development of over 300 titles in 'The Criterion Collection', a series of definitive films on videodisc, and more than 75 CD ROM titles including the CD Companion to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, 'Who Built America', and the Voyager edition of 'Macbeth'. Previous to Voyager, Stein worked with Alan Kay in the Research Group at Atari on a variety of electronic publishing projects. 11 years ago, Stein started 'Night Kitchen' to develop authoring tools for the next generation of electronic publishing. That work is now being continued at the Institute for the Future of the Book.

Sebastian Mary Harrington
is an Associate of if:book. Mary has written commercially for clients including Microsoft, the European Union, The Economist and Sony Playstation, alongside four mercifully unpublished novels, some published but thankfully obscure poetry and one guerrilla screenplay that has shown at the NFT and National Portrait Gallery. When not investigating new online literary forms with the Institute, she is co-founder of UK web startup School of Everything (chosen by Seedcamp as one of Europe's hottest startups of 2007) and co-founder and creative director of cult London art event ARTHOUSEPARTY.

Sasha Hoare
is an associate of if:book.
A writer, film-maker and highly experienced literature project manager, Sasha is Children's Laureate Co-ordinator at Booktrust and was Literature Education Officer at the South Bank Centre; she recently made a series of short films for the www.everybodywrites.org.uk website.

Toni Le Busque
is an Associate of if:book. Toni is a digital artist and writer. She has a Post Graduate degree in Fine Art and an M.A. in Creative Writing and New Media from De Montfort University. Born in Australia she has lived in several European countries and moved to the UK in 2000. She edits the biva.co.uk website and her work can be seen at lebusque.com

Sue Horner
Member / Trustee

Sue works at the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority; she has a particular interest in English and the arts for ages 0-19.

Bill Mayblin
Trustee

Bill is a graphic designer who has worked on a number of books including "Introducing Derrida" and "Introducing Empiricism".

Fiona O'Brien
Trustee

Fiona is currently assistant director of the National Year of Reading and previously worked for the London Library Development Agency and BBC Education.

Others recently working with if:book london include:
Peter Collingridge and James Bridle of Apt Sudios,
Lisa Gee, writer and editor of the Orange Prize for Fiction website,
Toby Jones, writer and actor, (W and Frost/Nixon)
Jo Klaces, Creative Agent at Queensbridge School, Birmingham,
Cindy Oswin, writer, performer and director,
Sue Thomas, Professor of Creative Writing & New Media at De Montfort University,
Bill Thompson, journalist and digital guru,
Tim Wright, new media writer and consultant.