Dundurn Press has a new publisher.

Meghan Macdonald, who joined the independent publisher in June 2022 as manager of publishing operations, has assumed the role of publisher, or chief publishing officer, as of February 1.

Macdonald takes over the helm from Kwame Scott Fraser. In November, Dundurn announced that Fraser would be stepping down as president and publisher to relocate to Jamaica, where he will continue to acquire titles for Dundurn as editor-at-large.

“Dundurn is an exceptional company, and it can be even more so because of the people who are here,” Macdonald told Q&Q. “I genuinely can’t wait to work with everybody and move the whole thing forward.”

Macdonald will continue to manage Dundurn’s grants and reporting, and will work with the rest of the leadership team – associate publisher Kathryn Lane, COO Chris Houston, and CFO Graham Matthews – on strategic planning and innovation. Macdonald and Houston will jointly take over CEO responsibilities from Fraser, and Macdonald will support Houston in sales and marketing with communications, infrastructure, and project management.

Macdonald says she is most excited about “all of the brain-cracklingly good thinking parts” that will be involved in her new role.

“I get the best of both worlds,” Macdonald said. “I get to keep doing grants and contracts … and then I get to pull together all of the random threads that may or may not come up over the course of a day into something more strategic and forward-thinking.”

Jason Martin, chair of the Dundurn Press board, said in a statement that since joining Dundurn, Macdonald “has made effective changes in nearly every facet of our business.”

“She’s demonstrated an unfailing excitement about Canadian stories. She will build on our strengths and find new areas where we can continue to innovate,” Martin said.