The Globe and Mail has hired House of Anansi Press senior editor Jared Bland as its new books editor, effective March 4. Bland will report to Focus section editor Julie Traves.

Anansi president and publisher Sarah MacLachlan hired Bland in July 2011 as managing editor and to oversee the publishing house’s poetry program. In February 2012, Anansi dismantled its poetry board “ comprised of poets Ken Babstock, Karen Solie, and Adam Sol “ and Bland took over managing the list and handling acquisitions.

In March, Melanie Little, Anansi’s senior editor of Canadian fiction, left the company to pursue her own writing, and Bland was promoted to senior editor, responsible for acquiring poetry and Canadian fiction.

In an email to Anansi staff, MacLachlan says she will be hiring to replace Bland in the not too distant future.

Originally from Springfield, Illinois, Bland studied English literature at the University of Toronto, where his graduate work focused on poets Al Purdy and George Johnston. He was hired as an intern at The Walrus in 2007, and a year later was promoted to managing editor.

Lisan Jutras, who has been with The Globe and Mail for five years, has been named deputy books editor. Jutras brings a decade of publishing experience to the position, including two years as an in-house copy editor at McClelland & Stewart.

Former Globe and Mail books editor Martin Levin, who had been in the position since 1996, is now obituaries editor. Former deputy books editor Jack Kirchhoff is being reassigned as a key copy editor for the newspaper’s Report on Business section.